What Kirby Smart said about each position group for 2021 signing class

The early signing period has come and gone, with Georgia having all 20 of its commitments sign with the 2021 class.

Georgia’s 2021 signing class saw them land four 5-star prospects, eight prospects who ranked in the top-100 prospects overall and 11 who come from the state of Georgia.

The Bulldogs have the No. 4 class in the country, trailing only Alabama, Ohio State and LSU. Georgia does still have room and time to add to the class with National Signing Day being on Feb. 3. One of Georgia’s top targets, 4-star safety Terrion Arnold, is still unsigned and considering the Bulldogs.

Following the excitement on Wednesday, Georgia coach Kirby Smart spoke about the various position groups for Georgia and what Georgia brought in at those respective positions.

Quarterback: Georgia signed Brock Vandagriff

On landing another 5-star quarterback in Vandagriff

“Quarterbacks want to play at Georgia. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they enjoy playing at Georgia. Criticism is going to be there in everything we do, but the opportunity to play at the University of Georgia and be a quarterback—I can just start naming all the quarterbacks who have played here who been really good, and who those kids look up to and idolize, a No. 1 overall pick [Matthew Stafford]. Those kids want the opportunity to do that. They want the opportunity to win championships, and you putting yourself in the conversation about being able to win championships is always going to put you at the forefront of every quarterback’s in the country list. When they start talking about where [they] want to go, they want to go win a championships; at least that’s what the best quarterbacks want to do, and Brock [Vandagriff] never shied away from that. He wanted an opportunity to play close to home. He wanted the opportunity to play near his family. His dad is a coach right here in town. His mom is a teacher. He’s got sisters who are really good athletes. He wants to be able to play in front of them, so I’m excited about what he can do. He’s been a leader for his program. They’re still in the playoffs. He’s been productive, and we’re excited to see what he can bring to the University of Georgia.”

On Brock Vandagriff’s ability to run and what sets him apart from other athletes…

“He’s a really good athlete. He’s tough. He’s a competitor. He grew up playing the game. [He’s] not afraid to take a hit, to deliver a blow. One of the first stories I heard about him when I got here was how he covered kickoffs maybe in the eighth or ninth grade and wasn’t afraid to hit people. When you look at a quarterback nowadays, that’s one of the things you have to say and that’s the new deal when you look across the NFL. The arm angle, the ability to have mobility to escape—the game has changed. The athletes upfront are explosive, fast, pass-rushers. They come in attack mode. They play pass first, not run first. When you look at the success maybe Kyler Murray has had, or guys in the NFL, you right away say, ‘The athleticism is the overriding factor.’ You want to have someone that can do those things, but they have to have the ability to process all of the information, to put you in the right situation to make plays, to change plays, to do a lot of things. We think he is a good athlete, and he’s shown that over his career. He’s a little dinged up right now. He’s dealing with some injuries, but you get those things when you run and you get out of the pocket a lot. That’s one of those things that you have to be able to protect him, but he’s got to be able to make good decisions on where to slide.”

On the balance of power shifting in the SEC East based on quarterback play

Obviously that game, we didn’t play well enough and they out competed us and out played us. I’m very comfortable with where we are in terms of the team and program. So much of a game falls, and I hate to say it, falls on the quarterback position. At the quarterback position, they make a decision every play and they’ve got a really good quarterback. They have a guy who has played for a long time. We caught him on a younger year the year before that, we caught Felipe [Franks] one of his younger years before that and we’ve had Jake Fromm prior to that. So, we had a lot of experience at that position but I’m not pointing or blaming anything, I’m just comfortable where we are. I think the SEC East will always be competitive and it’s one of those things that we know we have to win that to get to the big show.”

Running back: Georgia signed Lovasea’ Carroll

On having more mid-year enrollees, like Carroll, than usual:

“This will be the largest mid-year class I think that we’ve ever signed here at Georgia. We expect anywhere from 14, 15 to 16 in the next couple days. It’ll be somewhere around that number as guys finish up their requirements to possibly enroll early, and when you’re talking about 20 signees and possibly 16 enrolling early, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that. Maybe someone else has done it in the country, and it’s certainly the new trend. I think it will continue to be that way. I think COVID probably caused some of that, as well. But it’s a very well-rounded class.”

Wide receiver/tight end: Georgia signed Adonai Mitchell, Jackson Meeks and Brock Bowers

On whether there were any players who signed that Smart and his staff were not able to meet face-to-face…

“The answer to that question is really tough because I can’t think back to all of them. I would think that every one of these kids had been to a game, or been to a camp or been here at some point in time. I know that someone like Adonai Mitchell, he was here as a sophomore in camp, so he was really, really young. We had experienced camp with him but at that time he was young. We liked him but we didn’t get to see him after that for a while. Looking down the list, I would say yeah, we’ve seen every one of these guys face-to-face at some point.”

Offensive line: Georgia signed Amarius Mims, Micah Morris, Dylan Fairchild and Jared Wilson

On what Georgia signed in its four offensive linemen:

“Yeah, you know, that was an area that was, I would say, heavy-loaded last year, if you look at the sheer numbers. I don’t know if you can ever have a year that is not heavy-loaded. This might be, [and] I don’t know this for facts, [so] don’t quote me on it, but it could be our smallest number of signees at that position, maybe besides the very first year. I don’t know. Four is the bare minimum to me, because you are trying to sign an offensive line class with every year because with the numbers, attrition, the transfer rules—If you have five every year and you have four signing classes, you’re supposed to be four deep—well, nobody is deep at the offensive line position. We have seen that this year with teams that can’t play us because of injuries on the offensive line or COVID[-19] on the offensive line. That’s a depth position that we always target. It’s a developmental position. I say it every year, ‘Offensive lineman, it’s really hard to come in and play.’ I am really excited about this group. They are athletic. They have great size. They are really bright, good kids. Jared Wilson was one of the guys that we targeted early on—size, width, hand-size, athleticism—really good target and works really hard. He comes from a really athletic background family. He’s a great kid. All of those guys, I can’t say enough about each one of them. Matt Luke is excited to get those guys in and start coaching them.”

Defensive line: Georgia signed Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Jonathan Jefferson and Marlin Dean

On what Smart would like Georgia to add to the class:

“We’re looking for a complete class, I want good football players. I want good people with high character and a balanced class. A balanced class is quota at every position, if anything I’m looking for someone who can change the game for us. Someone who can be a dynamic playmaker, not another offensive lineman— I’m looking for the best available player. I would love to get another defensive back [and] another defensive lineman. I always want to get two pillars. I’m talking about a guy who won’t give up the point and can make a run or make it hard to run against. Those are always hard to find in defensive linemen, which is who we love to have. You’re not going to find those in January because they’re gone, but there’s a different market available when people decide to leave or transfer. It can go both ways; it could happen to us, and we could benefit from it.”

Linebacker: Georgia signed Xavian Sorey, Smael Mondon, Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Chaz Chambliss

On landing 5-star prospects in Mondon and Sorey:

“We’re really excited about those two guys and I think their versatility is their greatest factor. Both of them have really dealt with injuries throughout this year and that’s something you always have to take into consideration. No different than the NFL does with our players. You do your injury research, you check into them, you see where they are and both of those guys were on our radars as juniors but neither one of them got to have the senior year they wanted because of injuries. You take that into account. We know as well as anybody, what those injuries are. Ron [Courson] and the medical staff feel great about those guys bouncing back. In a lot of ways, it can be a blessing in disguise. Maybe not for their high school coach, but it can be a blessing in disguise for us because we’re getting kids that maybe aren’t even as developed as they’re going to be when they get here. If you’re asking me where they’re going to start at, I’m not even going to answer that question right now because that’s not the most important thing. The beauty is both of those guys will be here mid-year, which is a really key element to success in our defense. Getting guys to be here and get that exposure and go through spring practice.”

Defensive backs: Georgia signed Nyland Green, David Daniel, Kamari Lassiter and Javon Bullard

On meeting needs for the class:

“I’m pleased with what we got, and I’m excited about the guys we get to coach in that position. We got some guys coming in that I feel great about, and I think the guys we got early were really good players, really high-character players when you look across the board. I think the guys we finished late with are really great players. A lot of really good football teams wanted those guys to join their team. With not having camp, that’s one of those positions that’s harder to evaluate, and we were very pleased that we got to see guys’ workout footage. Guys sent us tape over the summer, and it made the decision so much clearer and easier to really target the guys you wanted and go out there and get those guys.”