One of the most highly ranked signees in Georgia’s lauded 2017 class never saw the field. In this day and age, that was unusual.
Wilson was the No. 16 overall prospect nationally in 2017 by the 247Sports Composite. Fourteen of the top 15 players saw action as true freshman, with only Stanford quarterback Davis Mills redshirting.
His position coach had a reason for that. He wasn’t ready.
Wilson, from Poly Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y., had a hard time in the August heat in preseason practices after arriving last summer. Wilson “wilted a little bit,” coach Kirby Smart said at the time.
“He wasn’t ready to play,” Pittman said. “Pretty simple. He wasn’t there yet and by the time we felt like he was heading in that direction it was late in the season so we decided to keep him there, but we’re pleased with all the guys we signed last year.”
No shame in that, and the big thing there, anyway, is that Pittman now thinks he’s good to go. This may be one factor for the change of heart: “Wilson was about 354 pounds when he signed and was listed at 345 pounds by Georgia on the roster but said he was down to 327 by the end of the season.”
A kid about whom several of his teammates noted early on moved well has dropped almost thirty pounds under supervision? Yeah, I’d kinda like to see how Wilson looks now…
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UPDATE: Here’s Netori Johnson’s redshirt story. Conditioning for high school offensive linemen is a big story, which makes Andrew Thomas’ success last season that much more impressive.
Get The Picture 
The Black Atlas. Ya know he may be a freak.
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If Mays enters Spring ready to go, it could be a great position battle on the right side.
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If Mays is ready to go, but Wilson is the man at RT, then I would consider moving Mays to LG to beef up that side of the line. We need some nasty over there.
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I thought I saw him on the sideline of the OU and Bama games. Looked noticeably trimmed down and firmed up, yet still an absolute mountain of a man.
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Yeah, I saw him, too. He’s really trimmed down and fit looking. Looks like a linebacker who’s been hit with gamma radiation to increase his size by 50%.
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Let me study about this for a minute……..
So you are telling me that UGA had a 5 star offensive lineman that did not play because he “wasn’t ready”, redshirted another last season. (#74), and still played ala-damn-bama to the breadth of a gnat’s ass for a national championship?
The defense made The Nick Saban pull his hat rabbit out to eke out a win in a national championship game?
These be heady times, Dawg Fans. Could it be that our days of wilderness wandering are over?
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Ain’t nothin’ in the world wrong with a 5 Star lineman marinating for a year. It’s like whole hog at 250degrees….it may take a long time, but when it’s ready, it’s gooooooood.
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They way we’re recruiting we could rotate 2 sets of offensive lines!
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You know that’s not so crazy. Dooley used to do that. Called it the “jet team.”
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I am always super proud when something like this comes up. I am sure playing football with a chronic illness is very tough, but I also know that he is getting the very best support from our sports medicine people because they are the very best.
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There aren’t a lot of Trinton Sturdivants out there.
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Or Andrew Thomases
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I think left side is even more of a challenge. Andrew hung in there well. Trinton was a star. So sad his knees wouldn’t hold up.
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TS was a hell of a player before he got hurt. I’m glad Thomas didn’t have to play on the left side because of Wynn (still don’t understand why Pittman had Catalina on the outside with Wynn at guard last year). I think Thomas is going to be a star if he stays healthy. Just don’t know if he’ll be as good of a dancer as Sturdivant. 😉
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To me, these two stories illustrate a big part of what makes this coaching staff different. Everyone has S & C coaches, and nutritionists, and medical staff, but it seems more integrated here. The coaching staff can recruit top level talent, but if they are not ready yet, the staff can explain that and successfully sell why it is in their best interest to not play right away. Just not sure there was that kind of integrated attention to detail in the past.
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I don’t think they ever had the bodies to do that. Welcome to the process.
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Damn, that’s heartbreaking to hear a kid as young as Netori having diabetes. I hope Courson and the S&C staff set him up with good nutrition habits for the rest of his life.
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Did it say what kind of diabetes? I assumed it was just juvenile diabetes, but it could be Type 2. Fortunately, Phil Southerland, the founder of the all type 1 diabetic pro cycling team, Team Novo Nordisc, is a Georgia grad, and I’m sure is on the mother to help our staff if they need it.
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same. I assumed it was type 1 as well.
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I read it as he was just diagnosed with it when he got to campus, with him stating his blood sugar was up slightly. If that’s the case, it’s more likely type 2.
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Back in the day when Nebraska was a (the?) dominating force in CFB, one of their distinguishing characteristics was that they replaced 5 5th-year seniors on the line with 5 more the next year.
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We redshirted a 5 star OT that was rated #16 player (Isiah Wilson) in the nation and then signed a 5 star OT that was rated the #16 player (Cade Mays) in the nation for him to compete against.
The highest rated OT’s Richt signed in 15 years were Austin Long (67th player overall, 7th OT) and John Theus (17th overall, 3rd OT).
It really is incredible what Pittman and Kirby have done in such a short time…
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Smart had signed more 5 star OL in his first two full classes than CMR did in his entire time at UGA. Let that sink in for a moment.
But, as our rivals will say, CMR also recruited well, so what Smart is doing is no big deal.
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I’m just floored. Signed top linemen like Thomas, Wilson et.al. last year, and followed that up with Salyer, Mays & more this year. Even the most optimistic Pollyanna couldn’t conceive of such riches just a few seasons ago. Incredible!
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Be still my heart. Is this our beloved Bulldawgs we are talking about 5 star OLmen having to fight for playing time…you know that saying about the rich seem to get richer? A very good problem to have!
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I sat behind the UGA bench at the Rose Bowl and both Johnson and Wilson are looking incredible. They are ridiculous athletes at their size. I don’t know how either doesn’t play significant minutes next year. If they don’t, the guys in front of them will be killing it to beat them out.
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Not surprised that Wilson was a “project” of sorts, despite his potential (which has a significant influence on 247’s rankings) 3-4 years down the road. We were just fortunate enough to have enough talent to spend that time letting him come into his own. He should be good and hungry after watching that fantastic season unfold. Encouraged that he made good progress early enough for the coaches to have a decision to make. That bodes well on next year, lot of talent fighting for playing time.
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