In-state DB Quinton Newsome plans to be back at UGA soon
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. The play sheet Sunday calls for a check-in on one of the defensive backs UGA has offered in the Class of 2019. That’s North Gwinnett senior Quinton Newsome.
Quinton Newsome is seen by some as a combo defensive back, but he thinks he’ll play safety on Saturdays.
Newsome is a 3-star recruit and the nation’s No. 82 overall prospect at safety, and he holds an offer from Georgia.
Newsome recently released his top 7 and he placed the Bulldogs in there, along with a lot of elite programs. He even wore a pair of Alabama gloves on Saturday and Sunday at the Cam Newton Foundation 7-on-7 Memorial Day tournament at Shiloh High School.
Top 7 🙏🏾 ( no order ) pic.twitter.com/83Fd1mmvVs
— Quinton Newsome (@Qnew_2019) May 23, 2018
He lined up at cornerback at the event on Sunday. Newsome drew some tough assignments, including 5-star receiver and Georgia commit Jadon Haselwood and Auburn commit George Pickens, at the event.
“That helps me a lot with my cover skills and everything,” Newsome said. “I need to get better in playing the ball in the air and playing through the receiver and be aggressive and everything.”
Newsome didn’t pick up his first offers until maybe halfway through the 2017 regular season. That’s why his recruiting isn’t as mature per se as the journeys for his classmates D.J. Turner and Warren Burrell.
Turner plans to make his college commitment on June 25. Look for Burrell to also make his sometime prior to his senior season.
Newsome said he’s working on establishing some semblance of a timeline.
“I have been trying to schedule a couple of officials,” he said. “I want to take at least a couple of my officials before I commit.”
He said that he already has scheduled an official visit to Alabama.
“I feel pretty good about Alabama,” he said. “They always make me feel at home when I visit there.”
Quinton Newsome sheds some light on his top 7
Was it easy?
“It wasn’t too hard because I was pretty confident in the teams that I put in there,” Newsome said. “It wasn’t too hard to eliminate all those other teams. I felt like I could play at all those teams in my top 7.”
Nebraska is the one school that’s probably not coming after him as hard as the others. He also has the most questions about a potential career with the Cornhuskers.
“We still talk a lot and everything,” Newsome said. “But we just don’t talk a lot as I do with the others.”
Which schools are really digging in?
“I talk to Ole Miss like every day,” Newsome said. “I talk to Alabama a lot. Auburn. Basically everyone else in my top 7.”
How does he feel about Georgia?
“I feel really good about Georgia,” he said. “I plan on visiting there sometime this week or next week.”
What does he need to see?
“I’ve already been there recently and everything,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay with the players and have a good time. I haven’t really had the chance to visit with all of those guys yet.”
Newsome said that he likes the coaching staff at UGA the best.
“I feel like Coach [Mel] Tucker is a great coach and everything,” Newsome said. “I feel like I would be able to learn a lot going there to play for him. Just be able to learn something from the DBs that are out there now. Because that Georgia defense is so good now and everything.”
He also likes Ole Miss. But he hasn’t visited there yet.
What did Stetson Bennett say about Jake Fromm and Justin Fields?
DawgNation reported on Saturday night that reserve quarterback Stetson Bennett IV was moving on from UGA. He was the much-heralded No. 3 QB coming out of spring practice.
Tucker loves him. So does Lorenzo Carter, Roquan Smith and Malik Herring. Count Mecole Hardman Jr. in the group, too.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 😩 https://t.co/ITQsIU9gBw
— Mecole Hardman Jr. (@MecoleHardman4) May 26, 2018
Bennett will shine at his junior college stop and then his next stop back into major college football. He’s just that talented of a player. Strong arm. Accurate. Very good speed and wiggle.
He’ll just have to overcome his lack of height and size. He might be right at 6 feet and maybe 180-185 pounds. But he had a good answer for that heading into UGA as a preferred walk-on.
“Their main concern is obviously height,” Bennett told DawgNation then. “But like I’ve told them I’ve been this height for two years. I’m pretty comfortable with it.”
Bennett had several classy responses in his DawgNation interview, and his answer to what he saw between Jake Fromm and Justin Fields in spring drills was probably what one might expect him to say.
“They both are unbelievable,” Bennett said. “I’m not going to or can’t give you any material here. But both of those guys are unbelievable. Jake is the guy right now. He was the national championship guy. He took us to the national championship and he has got everybody’s trust.
“But if something happens. God forbid an injury. It is football. Whatever. I hope Justin can live up to it and go in there and be prepared and play well. Right now I think that’s in the coaches hands and they will see whoever is the best fit for this team to win.”
A top 8 to pay attention to from Devontae Dobbs
In case you missed it, 5-star offensive lineman Devontae Dobbs dropped his top 8 last Friday. Dobbs ranks as the nation’s No. 3 tackle in the 247Sports composite rankings but just as easily could wind up as an elite guard.
Or even a swing lineman. The Michigan resident could line up at either guard or tackle on Saturdays. The 6-foot-5, 285-pound prospect doesn’t have that elite size UGA seeks at tackle.
Dobbs is an interesting young man. He wants to study the science of dreams when he goes to college. Or at least try to through a psychology major.
That he included Georgia among his top 8 didn’t surprise me one bit. Dobbs has taken two unofficial visits to UGA since last summer. He’s really established a relationship with UGA line coach Sam Pittman, and so have a few members of Dobbs’ circle.
Yes, that is the very first time I’ve ever written about that when it comes to an elite high school athlete and his recruiting process.
I am truly blessed to be put in this position. I want to thank all of the coaches that offered me a full scholarship. However, at this time I will be focusing on the 8 schools listed below. pic.twitter.com/ufgBJWXRTw
— Devontae Dobbs (@Devontae_Dobbs) May 26, 2018
Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as former Georgia All-American linebacker Roquan Smith found the ball after the snap.
