Obviously, the first thing that stands out is the quality of this class. As Ari Wasserman ($$) notes, the Dawgs were the only team in the country this week to sign ten top-100 recruits.
Further, Georgia signed top-100 players from Florida, Texas, Virginia, Missouri, California, Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee. The program’s recruiting has truly gone national in a way hardly any of us could have expected when Smart took the job. So, yeah, it’s hard to get upset about not putting a fence up around the state. (And before some of you go on about wanting kids who want to play at UGA, remember what Smart said at his presser — for the most part, these out of state recruits are finding Georgia and reaching out, not the other way around.)
The other thing I find striking about this class — and this is a purely subjective observation on my part — is how tailored it is to addressing this past season’s roster shortcomings (obviously, I use that term lightly, given that Georgia went 12-1).
Start with the fact that roughly 40% of this class plays in the trenches. When you play in a line of scrimmage league, you aren’t going anywhere if you can’t match up there. I’ve already posted something about the size they’ve brought in on the o-line; there’s plenty of that on the d-line, too. Not sure I see any immediate starters in the group, but give them a year or two in the program, and it’s like we’ll see their names bubbling up in the two-deep.
Georgia signed three running backs (and is in the hunt for Etienne in the transfer portal, although that’s a story for another day). You may think that’s a department that already had a decent amount of talent accumulated, but Kirby saw all the injuries that impacted the offense and had a different opinion.
There’s a similar story with the linebackers, particularly on the outside. The two kids from Texas are flat out studs and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get early playing time. Inside linebackers may not have been as an immediate a need, but Schumann’s gonna Schumann, regardless. It’s not hard to understand why Dumas-Johnson made his decision to leave.
As far as I’m concerned, the sizzle in this class comes in the secondary, where Georgia managed to sign the top cornerback and the top safety in the country. And there’s more behind those two. Smart has never been shy about starting true freshmen defensive backs and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Robinson force his way onto the field sometime next season.
Disappointments? Sure, there are always going to be some. Losing Raiola at the last minute stings, but Puglisi is more than a decent consolation prize. I could wish for a little more help at wide receiver, but it looks like for the second straight year, the staff will shore things up there in the transfer portal. In other words, these are minor quibbles.
In short, another dominant effort by Smart. I hope I never get jaded about it.
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