Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. This edition marks the return of the Intel to a morning time slot. We will share the latest thoughts from 4-star defensive tackle target Jaelin Humphries.
Jaelin Humphries has always struck me as a purposeful young man. He already knows that he wants to major in business and learn how to become a successful entrepreneur.
The nation’s No. 13 defensive tackle prospect for 2019 (per the 247Sports composite rankings) can already see himself as a homebuilder one day. That vision includes the notion that he will sell those homes, too.
Perhaps he’ll have “Humphries Homes” one day? He can see that, and he’s already preparing for that life after football.
When it comes to where he will pick up those academic tools to shape his future, it sounds like UGA is not setting the pace.
“I still like Georgia,” Humphries said. “We still stay in contact. … My relationship with Georgia is pretty good. [Defensive line coach] Tray Scott and I talk a lot. We communicate and text and stuff.”
He also checks in regularly with first-year assistant coach Dan Lanning. Humphries referred to the popular new addition to the staff as “his area recruiter.”
Humphries took the first of his official visits over the weekend to Florida, and it sounds like all those mock classes for 2019 on the DawgNation message board might need tweaking.
While the Bulldogs are in it, Humphries does not make it seem like they are a contender.
That is important for another reason than the fact Humphries is an in-state product at a position where the Bulldogs need 3-4 elite prospects in this cycle.
He shared a little bit of insight into his current thinking.
“All of those schools [pursuing me] have a pretty fair chance here,” he said. “There are maybe one or two that stick out, but they all have a fair chance and a pretty good chance of me committing to them.”
Which officials have been set for Jaelin Humphries?
Humphries has thought of making his commitment on senior night at Mountain View in early November.
“I’m looking at that a different way now because I sat down and had a conversation with my coaches and stuff and they basically told me if I wait that long, then the slots at my position at the schools I want might be taken up. So it will probably be like June. [It will be] late June or early August when I will make my decision.”
That’s an aggressive reset. Why? He said it was because he was about ready to make up his mind.
“I know pretty much enough right now to make my decision,” he said.
Really?
“I could probably make my decision tomorrow if I had to,” Humphries said.
The nation’s No. 201 overall prospect has set the following officials:
- He took his second visit to Florida over the weekend
- LSU for this weekend on June 8-June 9
Humphries plans to enroll early in January 2019. Which schools will get the other three visits?
“I know that I want to get one out to both Nebraska and Miami,” he said. “Well, mostly Nebraska because I haven’t been out there to visit Nebraska. Nebraska is just someplace that is mostly different. I want to go out and visit someplace different.”
There’s a reason for that.
“They weren’t able to give me an official visit for the summer,” Humphries said. “The last class used up all their official visits for that. I have to wait until football season starts until I can get back and get a visit up there.”
If we’re charting his visit traffic to this point, he’s probably seen UGA more than any other school. That’s probably to be expected given his proximity to Athens from Gwinnett County.
South Carolina would be the other contender for that distinction. Count Humphries among those that doesn’t see the value in spending an official visit for a campus that is only a tank of gas away.
“If it is close enough to me, then I’ll drive to it,” Humphries said. “That doesn’t mean those schools are falling out of favor for me. If they are close enough to home where I can drive it within like four hours, my family and I will just head out.
“I just want to use my officials to places that I can’t easily get to like Florida and Nebraska and the schools which are way out there.”
Taking an updated look at the top 10 for Jaelin Humphries
Texas was his dream school growing up, but it didn’t even crack his top 10. He also said he still has the most questions regarding Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Nebraska inside his top group.
The 6-foot-4, 292-pound senior said he isn’t sure about which camps he will attend this summer. He also felt that he would drive back to both Auburn and Florida State this month for unofficial visits before the dead period hits in late June.
Humphries established his top 10 schools list on May 19.
Which school is recruiting him the hardest? He said it would be either Florida or LSU. How hard are the in-state Bulldogs coming after him?
“They are coming at me pretty hard but it is mostly LSU and Florida and a little bit of Auburn, too,” he said.
Humphries very well could line up and be an effective guard on Saturdays, but he said that the schools he has in mind have all left that role up to him. With that, he favors the ability to shed blocks rather than block.
The majority of the schools smartly tell him that they would rather see him on defense.
Does he think that the in-state Bulldogs are recruiting him enough to land him?
“They are recruiting me hard, but they could recruit me a bit harder,” Humphries said. “It has fallen off a little bit, but they are still recruiting me hard.”
Which schools have done the best job (so far) of selling their football homes to Humphries?
“I would say Auburn, LSU and Florida,” he said.
He could make this decision soon. Humphries felt that he needs to check in with a few more schools and coaches and see how they are feeling.
But his new commitment timeline theory might have a built-in escape clause. Humphries said the notion of a silent commitment would allow him to lock down his spot and still preserve that memory of making his public commitment on his senior night.
Bulldogs crack top 5 for North Carolina standout Josh Harris
While the Humphries update doesn’t seem very encouraging for DawgNation, the DT front did get some recent good news.
Josh Harris, the 6-foot-5 DT prospect from North Carolina, placed the Bulldogs in his final group on May 31. Harris rates as the nation’s No. 15 DT prospect for this cycle.
He’s also a tad heavier than Humphries at around 310-315 pounds.
It is an impressive final group with North Carolina, N.C. State, Ohio State and Tennessee also joining the Bulldogs. Those schools will all receive official visits from Harris, and he’s already been to Athens earlier this year.
Tray Scott continues to make inroads with top prospects from the Tar Heel State. Harris also was expected in town over the weekend for another unofficial visit.
This recruitment, and that of 4-star North Carolina defensive lineman C.J. Clark, now become much more important in the 2019 cycle.
Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as former Georgia All-American LB Roquan Smith found the ball after the snap.