Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings at least four days a week. This offering will be a get-to-know briefing on weekend official visitor Kenny McIntosh. The Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) standout has been on officials to Auburn and Oklahoma earlier this season.
Kenny McIntosh will be one of several official visitors on UGA’s biggest in-season recruiting weekend. His University High Sharks (9-1) will not play again until Nov. 16. That means his official visit will begin at some point on Friday.
He rates as the nation’s No. 10 RB prospect and No. 186 overall on the 247Sports Composite. Do you feel there may have been times this season when UGA could have used a big back with his 215-plus pounds in short yardage situations?
Those that do will watch this visit closely.
“Georgia has definitely been preaching to me how they need a big back over 200 pounds,” he said. “They said they have been needing that and I see how they need that. They need a four-down back who can stay in there and block and run routes. They’ve been preaching that to me for the longest now.”
Here is an opening cache of quick-hit Intel with Mr. McIntosh:
- Shared his height and weight at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, respectively.
- McIntosh picked up his “Blueprint” nickname in youth football. He estimates he was seven or eight years old at the time.
- His older brother, R.J. McIntosh, played on the DL for Miami. He was picked by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Another brother, Deon, signed with Notre Dame in 2016. He’s now at the JUCO level at East Mississippi Community College.
- “Kenny Mac” is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. It runs in his family.
- When asked about his pedestrian times in the 40-yard dash, he showed a lot of maturity in addressing those questions.
- It is doubtful that a perfect visit this weekend will be enough to inspire a public commitment. McIntosh plans to sign on the old-school National Signing Day but might make a public commitment prior to that Feb. 6 date.
- The University High standout has released a top 8 but it sounds like he’s down to Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Oklahoma.
- It seems the Oklahoma official ranks as a tick or two more entertaining than the Auburn trip for the LSU game this season. Why? “The atmosphere at Oklahoma was just amazing,” he said. “Being around those fans and all the players and the coaches was something. The fans were awesome. They knew me. They were all over me and took pictures and showed a lot of love. Auburn was pretty much like that, but just not as much as it was at Oklahoma.”
What stands out to Kenny McIntosh about UGA?
First of all, we need to cover that “Blueprint” nickname with clarity. That is a good one.
It was not a nod to a timeless Jay-Z album.
That was bestowed on him by a public address announcer from his youth ball days.
“We were playing with my older brothers and all those guys had nicknames like ‘Touchdown Tyson’ and other names,” he said. “We had an announcer at our games and there was one particular play. I was balling that day running all over those boys. I just heard him call me ‘Blueprint’ and it just stuck from there.”
He’s not exactly sure of its origin.
“It was basically I guess that I played a bunch of positions he felt that I was like a blueprint,” McIntosh said. “The blueprint on the field was the guy that showed you how things were supposed to get done. I never asked him about it, but we think that was what he meant by that.”
How does he feel about UGA heading into this official? He knows it is a cradle for elite backs.
“I know that [Georgia] is known as ‘R.B.U’ in some people’s eyes,” he said. “I know that they run the ball. They will definitely run the ball and get the backs involved early in the game.”
Georgia assistant coach Dell McGee apparently has his Google Drive flex on point when it comes to slideshows and highlights clips. Or at least somebody in Athens does.
“I’ve been up there before and they told me how they want to use me in their offense and that’s pretty much what I want to know from every school,” McIntosh said. “They showed me how they would use me in their offense. To be honest, Georgia was the main school that really broke it down to me.”
“My parents and I thought about it and they loved it. We really loved how they had film of me playing in a ‘Google Drive’ or whatever it is called already and they showed me all their data on NFL players and stuff on the guys who had been through Georgia.”
McIntosh said he does not have a private leader. McGee has once again distinguished the program by the work he has done here.
“That’s my guy right there, man,” McIntosh said. “I talk to him almost every day. He played ball [at Auburn] with one of my [high school] coaches so my coach and I talk about that. How he was a ‘DB’ back in the day and how they used to get along and how real he was back then.”
“Our relationship is great with just me and [coach McGee] alone so that just takes it to another level with all of that. I can see it continuing to build.”
How UGA has recruited Kenny McIntosh this cycle
The shoot-from-the-hip thinking might be that the Bulldogs came back to McIntosh and other targets like 4-star RB Noah Cain after 5-star RB commit John Emery Jr. chose to de-commit on Oct. 2.
That “hot take” will be frosty. McIntosh feels UGA has consistently pursued him.
“Coach McGee has been talking to me for a while now,” he said. “Coach McGee and I have never fallen off.”
He described what that might feel like. Ohio State was a contender at one time, but he feels that program trailed off after picking up two pledges at his position.
When they lost one of those, the Buckeyes came back around to check on him.
“That never happened with Coach McGee,” he said. “We kept talking even when UGA got a commitment at running back. Even if he was still committed, that wasn’t going to change the fact of me going to Georgia if that’s the best place for me.”
McIntosh made that very clear.
“My Dad told me to never be scared of other players on a team no matter how good they are,” he said. “They put on their pants the same way that I do.”
“Competing isn’t a thing to me. I’ve got two older brothers. one of them went to Notre Dame and the other one is in the NFL. I’ve been competing and trying to get as good as them and all the older boys their age all my life. Competing is nothing to me. I expect to be competing. My iron has already been sharpened by iron growing up in my neighborhood playing with all the older boys.”
McIntosh wants to wear No. 1. That’s been a special number for him all his life. If he winds up at Georgia, he may have to wait to inherit that one from Justin Fields, though.
The program’s ties in South Florida now allow the chance for established relationships between current Bulldogs and the next wave of talent in that area. McIntosh, whose first name is actually Kenneth, says he has a line of communication with freshman RB James Cook.
“James Cook and I talked a while ago,” McIntosh said. “He said it was awesome and it was amazing up there.”
He also had a conversation with elite CB target Tyrique Stevenson about UGA.
“That’s my boy,” McIntosh said. “He and I were just on the phone with one other the other day. He and I talked one time about going to Georgia. We said that was the place to be and stuff. We have been talking for a while about that.”
Kenny McIntosh in a nutshell
It bears taking a minute to evaluate his film and to share his thinking on those slow 40-yard dash times.
Slow feet don’t eat in South Florida. And they especially don’t return punts. But the viewer will find McIntosh doing just that on the first clip on his junior year highlight reel.
McIntosh has been clocked around the 4.8-to-4.9 mark for the 40 on the laser at the Nike Opening and at other places. He moves a lot better than a 4.9 guy on film in those clips.
I did like how he owned up to those times. He didn’t blame an injury or a slip or nothing of the sort.
“I haven’t really taken the time out to train for the 40 and work on the stance and stuff like that,” he said. “My brothers have been doing stuff like that. I haven’t really focused on that, but the work at that right there is coming. I’m definitely going to take the time out there to focus on that and get that right.”
He sees himself as one of those four-down RBs. Especially the 4th-and-1 option.
The 4-star prospect said he doesn’t get many wake-up hits from defenders. “Kenny Mac” feels he can break out the hit stick, but also run by or make that defender miss in the open field.
“To be honest I’m known for a little of both,” he said. “Running around or through them or shaking people. I can do both, but I prefer shaking them.”
McIntosh didn’t mind claiming the title that he was the best football-playing brother in the family. That’s with one brother he signed with Notre Dame and another who just got drafted up by the NFL.
He said he was born to excel at the game and came out of the womb making plays with a ball in his hands.
“The youngest brother is always the best,” he said. “You can ask them that, too. They will say that as well. They know it is true.”
McIntosh likes to dress well. He’s got an affinity for designer clothing. Look for him to dial in the wares of a business, communications or public relations major at UGA this weekend.
“My main goal after my education is to win a Heisman Trophy,” he said. “I definitely want to go to a school that’s known for winning Heismans.”
Did you watch “Before the Hedges” show this week?
The weekly live DawgNation “Before the Hedges” recruiting show is not just a Facebook thing.
It will stream on Twitter and YouTube, too. This week offered the chance for Brandon Adams to shepherd a discussion about the biggest recruiting visit weekend of the year.
This week’s show has:
- Recruiting target RSVPs for Auburn (officials and unofficials)
- Audio from 5-star Nakobe Dean and McIntosh previewing their officials
- Definitive thoughts from 5-star Christopher Hinton about Michigan
- A new “Reel Talk” segment on 4-star junior WR Jermaine Burton
- The weekly ‘”6-Pack” game where Brandon shows off his UGA football I.Q.
- The revised “Speed round” where we take as many of your questions as we can
We crammed more into the show this week than most find on a late-night Waffle House plate.
Quick UGA recruiting hits on a few 2019 commits
- 4-star junior college DE Jermaine Johnson is vastly talented. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder has rare agility, acceleration and speed for a man his size. But his second season at Independence Community College will not have a storybook ending.
- The Pirates (now Netflix-famous with the new incarnation of “Last Chance U” this year) are the not-so-proud owners of an eight-game losing streak. The Pirates (1-9) have dropped six of those contests by less than 10 points.
- Johnson still has 38 tackles and 4.5 sacks in his nine games this year at Indy.
- Georgia 2019 commit Xavier Truss plays for the state championship in his classification on Sunday.
- The 6-foot-7 Truss is the highest-rated player in Rhode Island high school football history. But doesn’t it seems a bit weird to hear of a state title game for a UGA commit this early in November?
- 2019 QB commit John Rhys Plumlee got a healthy dose of respect from the recruiting industry. He is now classified as a 4-star dual-threat QB. That’s a departure from his status as an ATH on the 247Sports Composite ratings. Plumlee now rates as the nation’s No. 8 dual-threat QB.
- The Oak Grove (Miss.) senior has completed 140 of his 215 attempts (65 percent) for 2,036 yards. He has put up 24 touchdowns passes against just two interceptions. Plumlee has also used his 4.4 speed to amass 922 rushing yards and 100 carries for another 12 touchdowns.
- Those totals are a big leap from his junior year. He threw for just 14 touchdowns along an injury-riddled year in which he also was picked off nine times. Plumlee will also play baseball at UGA.
- Bulldog commit Rian “Trouble” Davis is out with a season-ending ACL injury, but the prospect has seen his ratings rise despite that. He slots as the nation’s No. 3 OLB prospect on the 247Sports Composite ratings. The Wekiva High School senior (Apopka, Fla.) will start out at ILB for the Bulldogs.
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.