BREAKING: 4-star CB Chris Peal has made his college decision

Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has today’s news with versatile 4-star CB Chris Peal from North Carolina. He ranks as the nation’s No. 21 CB and the No. 177 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings. The On3 Consensus views him as the nation’s No. 21 CB and the No. 172 overall recruit.

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Chris Peal made his commitment to Georgia this afternoon. He’s a 4-star defensive back and another worthy snug fit for the championship-level defenses to come in Athens.

Strip away the rankings here, though. Look past that low 4.4 and sub-4.3 blistering times in the 40.

The thing to know here is that Peal plays with a purpose.

He plays, and likely always will play, to honor the memory of his brother. A.J. Peal was nine years older than him when his life was taken far too soon.

Peal shared that story in the midst of his live commitment decision.

“My why is mainly my older brother,” Chris Peal said. “I’m wearing his number actually. No. 12. That’s his number. I hold it close to my heart. He passed away last year in August due to some gun violence. I’m really playing for my brother. I want to be great for him. I want to make it to the league for him. I pray to him every day.”

The new Bulldog commit will do things before every game to honor his brother’s memory.

“I pray to him before every game,” Chris Peal said. “I ask him to watch over me and tell him that I am playing for him every game. He inspired me in football. He taught me a lot of things. He taught me how to play football. He taught me you have got to hit them first. You’ve always got to be aggressive. He taught me a whole lot of things.”

“I always watched him in his high school games as a little kid. I was playing around and sometimes I would watch his games when I wasn’t playing around with other kids at those games. I loved going to his games.”

His older brother was a running back. That’s what Chris first started playing.

When Peal lost his brother, Providence Day coach Chad Grier went over to his house that night.

“The most tragic thing had just happened in his life,” Grier said. “It was horrific and it would be horrific if it happened to anybody. They were so close.”

“I go to the house that night and part of this is his wonderful Mom. When Chris came downstairs if you didn’t know you wouldn’t have known anything had happened. He’s just so stoic and so strong he just internalizes a lot. I want him to externalize some things in his life, but he was just so gracious and kind. I’m expecting to go over there and going to need to love on him and encourage him. It was hard to do that because he handled it with such grace.”

“It was killing him inside, but that’s him. He just owns things and is so mature beyond his years. His Mom is the same way.”

Peal’s mother, Isatta, has been a great blessing to his development.

“His mother is a great mother,” Grier said. “She’s a single Mom. Just finds a way to get things done.”

Peal’s brother left behind a daughter he never got to meet. His fiance was pregnant at the time of his death. She’s got an uncle that will always be there for her.

“That little girl is just so precious to Chris and to that family,” Grier said. “She’s just so precious to that fine family.”

4-star CB prospect Chris Peal has been timed electronically at 4.38 seconds in the 40. (Jeff Sentell / DawgNation)

Jeff Sentell, Dawgnation

4-star CB prospect Chris Peal has been timed electronically at 4.38 seconds in the 40. (Jeff Sentell / DawgNation)

Jeff Sentell, Dawgnation

Chris Peal: Why he was a highly-sought recruit?

Why did the Georgias and the Michigans of the world want to sign Peal?

“He’s 6 feet and 2 inches tall and 190 pounds and runs a 4.3 in the 40,” Grier said. “I didn’t want to believe it when I saw that 40. It was on my watch and I didn’t believe it. I used to roll my eyes at coaches saying they had guys who ran a 4.3 in the 40. That’s just not really possible for a high school kid. Then I checked my watch. We had another coach with a 4.3 on his watch. Then he went and ran it on laser three times and we’re like ‘Oh, I guess you are a 4.3 in the 40 guy now’ with all that.”

“He’s just a great kid. He’s a no-risk kid. He’s academically going to get it done and be great in your locker room and he is not going to get in trouble. He’s just a great human being and just a quality person.”

Peal said he was timed at a 4.38 in the 40 at a National Preps Camp before his junior year.

“I also ran a 4.3 at South Carolina, too,” he said.

He has said that he was not planning to be an early enrollee at Georgia. He’s rated as a cornerback by most of the services and will likely start out there in Athens.

“Probably a corner,” Peal said. “Some people say safety but I am not sure.”

The big thing is he wants to be known for more than just a fast 40 time.

“I hope they see that I’m not just speed,” Peal said. “A lot of [college coaches] when they see me they might say yeah he’s real fast and we can fix everything else. I try to not just be just about speed. I try to focus on all the other attributes that they would look for in a good corner. I try to fix my hips and have better ball skills.”

He had a long jump of 22 feet, 5 inches prior to this season. Peal can pair that with a broad jump of 10 feet and 3 inches. That’s without much warm-up. Peal also noted his best time in the 100 meters came in at 10.5 seconds.

His decision has been pretty much the same schools since this summer. Peal took his official visit to UGA back in the first week of June. He’d been talking to Georgia, Michigan State, N.C. State and South Carolina the most. Those were his best four recruiting relationships.

Peal said he had a “fun” official visit in Athens and enjoyed spending time with his peer recruits and the current Bulldogs.

What does he like the best about Georgia?

“I like that they are sending so many people to the league,” Peal said back in July. “That’s a big thing and I like how coach [Fran] Brown shows me how much he actually wants me. He texts me every day and tries to call me whenever he can.”

“That’s a big thing. I feel like I am really wanted at Georgia.”

Peal and his mother were also in a group text chat with Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

“Coach Muschamp also sends me and my Mom motivational quotes in a group chat every morning,” Peal said. “That was very big for me, too. That and them being national champs. Then seeing how they develop people. You see how big of a reality that could be for you to go really far in football also.”

5-star EDGE Damon Wilson is at the center of this photo wearing the No. 11 jersey. CJ Allen (second from left), Gabe Harris (fourth from left) and Chris Peal (fith from left) are all also expected to be in Athens to join him as well for the Auburn game. (Courtesy photo - Instagram)

Courtesy photo, Dawgnation

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Chris Peal: What this commitment means for the 2023 class

Peal becomes the 13th-highest-rated commitment for Georgia in its current class. That’s based on the 247Sports Composite ratings. He’s now the fifth DB commitment for 2023. It is interesting to note that all of those DB prospects all rank among the nation’s top 200 recruits for this cycle.

That’s a lot of high-level DBs.

He’s the 22nd public commitment and his decision now extends Georgia’s hold on the No. 2 class in the country over Notre Dame (23 commits) by a 295.03 to 289.34 margin. Alabama (23 commits) still holds the nation’s top class with its 310.10 tally on the 247Sports Team Composite rankings.

He also becomes a contender for the fastest man in the class along with 4-star S Joenel Aguero and 3-star Pennsylvania WR Yazeed Haynes. Those three young men have all posted times within that low 4.4 and high 4.3 range in high school.

Peal is also an electric playmaker on offense. He’s used to making a lot of plays for his team in that regard. He has 508 rushing yards on 7.6 yards per attempt and seven scores in nine games. There’s also his worth as a receiver out of the backfield with 301 yards receiving and three touchdown catches.

He’s grabbed 22 receptions this year to build that yardage total at an average of 13.7 yards per catch.

The 4-star will make his name on the defensive side in Athens and he has 27 tackles, 10 passes defended. Peal even used that speed to block a field goal on defense this season.

He’s scored 24 times and collected 113 total tackles and 39 passes defenses with three interceptions during his last three years at Providence.

There’s a level of variance to the rankings for Peal to note here.

As stated above, he’s regarded as a 4-star and a top 180 overall prospect for the 247Sports Composite and the On3Consensus. Rivals ranked him as a 3-star safety and the nation’s No. 46 prospect for that position. ESPN slots him as a 4-star CB, the nation’s No. 28 prospect at that position and the No. 209 overall prospect nationally for 2023.

Check out his junior year highlight reel below.

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