Georgia finished first in the recruiting rankings in the 2018 class. Expect the Bulldogs to be right at the top in 2019, too. DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell will answer a Recruiting Question of the Day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can ask him your questions on Facebook Live, Twitter or the DawgNation Message board forum. Previous QODs can be found on our question of the day archives page.
QUESTION OF THE DAY
This question comes from @ReelDawg via the DawgNation message board forum:
Who are the top 5 uncommitted recruits for 2019 that have a strong interest in the UGA football program?
This one isn’t too hard to figure out by scanning the 247Sports composite rankings. Just look at the top uncommitted recruits to find the prospects who have taken multiple trips to Athens who also continue to express an interest in the Bulldogs.
That’s a lot of names. Especially a lot of those elite names. I’ll aim to simplify the matter by limiting the matter to the nation’s top 50 prospects. I’ll also use a filter that forecasts whether the Bulldogs could conceivably be among the recruit’s top four or five options at this time.
- Darnell Wright/5-star T/Huntington HS/Huntington, WVa. — Wright is the nation’s No. 1 tackle and the No. 2 overall prospect for 2019. The Bulldogs need a couple of top tackles to really spruce up their 2019 class, but could Wright be one of them? Programs such as Alabama, Ohio State and Tennessee are associated with Wright, but don’t discount the Sam Pittman factor. Georgia’s ace offensive line recruiter has reeled in a 5-star tackle who one thought the program could get in back-to-back classes so far with 5-star Isaiah Wilson from Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2017 and 5-star Tennessee legacy Cade Mays in 2018.
- Trey Sanders/5-star RB/IMG Academy/Bradenton, Fla. — Sanders rates as the nation’s No. 1 running back for this class and as the No. 7 overall prospect. Florida comes up often with Sanders, given that the program agreed to accept his brother, Umstead Sanders, from the junior-college ranks as a preferred walk-on for this fall. Sanders has taken multiple trips to UGA this spring, and the Bulldogs should be seen as a factor in this decision.
- Devontae Dobbs/5-star OL/Belleville HS/Belleville, Mich. — This one might read a lot like the Wright entry. Dobbs camped at UGA last summer, loved it and then returned for another recent unofficial visit. He rates as the nation’s No. 3 tackle for 2019 and as the No. 10 overall prospect. He’s a swing tackle who likely would develop into a more elite player at guard. Does UGA need another guard in the 2019 class? Probably not. But there’s been a good relationship forged here between Pittman and the Dobbs camp. Michigan State, where he has a lot of friends and connections, currently is the popular prediction for Dobbs.
- Travon Walker/5-star DT/Upson Lee HS/Thomaston, Ga. — Walker rates as the nation’s No. 3 defensive tackle for 2019 and as the nation’s No. 23 overall prospect. There are 10 predictions on the 247Sports Crystal Ball feature, and each one points to Georgia. Walker is the former teammate of Georgia junior David Marshall an,d the program has been relentless in its recruiting approach. Alabama, Clemson and South Carolina are other contenders.
- Lewis Cine/4-star S/Trinity Christian/Cedar Hill, Texas — This is not a conscious attempt to raise eyebrows. There are several names among the nation’s top 35 prospects — think Clay Webb, Zacch Pickens, Andrew Booth, Nakobe Dean and Brandon Smith — that could fall here before Cine. But most of those decisions seem to be very contested bouts at this time. The rosiest potential outlook for Georgia might be to place within the top two or three contenders for most of those players. Cine recently told DawgNation he felt that only Georgia and Penn State were recruiting him hard enough to land him. Cine was also at G-Day. The chase to sign Cine as the nation’s No. 3 safety and No. 43 overall prospect doesn’t seem to have the same degree of difficulty that’s attached to each of those other individual pursuits.
Thanks to @ReelDawg for the question.
