This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 4-star TE Brayden Fogle of Lexington High School in Ohio. He ranks as the nation’s No. 9 TE and the No. 162 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 10 TE and No. 159 overall.
Brayden Fogle had a full-circle moment this past weekend in Athens. He remembers when he first came to UGA for a camp before his junior year. He wanted to see if he was good enough to earn an offer from the Dawgs.
He was an All-State basketball player who earned his region’s Player of the Year honors as a sophomore. The 6-foot-4 prospect had caught 12 touchdowns in his first two seasons.
Fogle camped with the Dawgs and held his own. He impressed Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley to the point he’d get an offer. When he was walking back to the parking garage after the camp, he soaked in all things UGA.
This could be a place, he thought. A place where he could see himself playing college football.
When Fogle took his OV this past weekend, it was a different question: Was this THE place?
That’s the question that will be rolling through his mind after that UGA official. It will be there for a while; he has at least one more official visit on his calendar.
Fogle liked the chicken wings he had to eat and the “elite level” shrimp he had on the kebabs at dinner, but he wanted to find out if he could see a future for himself eating inside Sanford Stadium.
“I knew I loved Georgia from the first time I went there, and I don’t think that will change,” Fogle said.
What does he like best about the Dawgs now?
“The people and the culture they have down there are pretty one-of-a-kind,” Fogle said. “Although there are good people and pretty energetic people, but they also know what they are talking about. It has an amazing coaching staff, but the culture is so football-based, and for that football program, the standards are exceptionally high. So every year, you know that you are going to have a chance of winning that national championship. I think that’s the most exciting thing is knowing that you are going to get that opportunity and to do it alongside great people.”
What grade will he give the Dawgs for hosting them on his official?
“I will give them a 10 out of 10,” he said. has an amazing coaching staff, but the culture is so football-based, and for that football program, the standards are exceptionally
Brayden Fogle: What he wanted to learn on his OV
What was the biggest question he got answered this weekend?
“I just wanted to get a feel for how much they thought I would fit them if that makes sense,” Fogle said.
He was at LSU last weekend. The Tigers certainly wrapped him up and made him feel the love.
“I was really trying to figure out how much I would fit and if they thought I would be successful there,” Fogle said. “I talked to Kirby [Smart] and coach [Todd] Hartley had a presentation he put me through about me and some of the stuff he sees from me, and then I felt pretty good.”
He wanted to know, after the Mark Bowman news, if Georgia still wanted to add another TE to the class along with solid 4-star commit Lincoln Keyes. There was that, but also the wrinkle there with recruiting 5-star TE Kaiden Prortho.
Prothro could very well be a WR in Athens. That’s where his weight is trending right now. But that could change.
Fogle feels like he got that answer.
“They think I could be the next great Georgia tight end,” Fogle said.
There’s a way to look at it like this. What if Prothro (not by any means a sure thing) does choose UGA, and then he becomes a receiver? If the Dawgs just sign Keyes and Prothro, then that leaves them with just Keyes at the tight end in this class.
That doesn’t seem likely given UGA’s usage of its tight ends and its affinity for using multiple TEs in a lot of formations.
The Dawgs also look for a few variants of tight ends. They aim to sign players with different skill sets, such as the size athlete who will maul opponents in the trenches and make plays. That’s Keyes in this class as a prototype “Y” tight end.
They also want to find a basketball player-level athlete who trends more toward a skill guy than a perimeter blocker as his main skill set. Hartley seeks complementary TEs and not skill duplication. He looks for high-level prospects in both, but wants to find one that skews toward making guys miss and creating separation as much as running them over or being tougher to bring down.
Prothro projects as more of a pass-catching weapon. Keyes could be seen as a “Y” tight end. Fogle’s film and skill set look more like the guy who could be a combo at both.
Brayden Fogle: What’s next for the elite TE?
He’s down to a final four of LSU, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Penn State. He’s not sure if he will still take an unofficial visit to Notre Dame soon, but he knows he will still visit the Nittany Lions.
After that, the 6-foot-4, 234-pound rising senior will really chew on that topic. He’s looking to zero in on a July commitment date to one of those lucky schools.
The Dawgs definitely gave him something to think about. He said he’d like to have his decision made this summer before his senior season in Ohio.
What is he looking for in the ideal college fit?
Great people: “Do I want to go to your school and be around you for three or four years? I have to enjoy my time, and that includes being around people I enjoy being around and who have my best interests.”
Great development: “Obviously, I want to pick somewhere that is going to get me to the NFL.”
National title contender: “I want to win a national championship. That has been my goal since I was 10 years old and I watched Ohio State win a national championship.”
How does Georgia check those boxes?
“They check those boxes as well as anyone,” the future business major said.
Brayden Fogle: What Georgia values in his game
Fogle took DawgNation on an insider’s view of his official. It was like we were the ones writing the notes down on his iPad.
That’s what he did throughout his time at UGA.
“He had his four things,” Fogle said. “I’ve got notes if you really want to hear them. Hartley said he’s got four subcategories he looks for in every tight end. He said I can check all of them.”
An explosive threat: “Games now are usually heavily won or lost by the team that makes the most explosive plays or gives up the fewest explosive plays,” Fogle said.
“He said he sees a very good amount of explosive plays and thinks he could use that in their offense right now.”
Competitive excellence: “Can you make the one-on-one plays when your number is called?” Fogle said. “Can you make plays when you are being counted on by your coaches and teammates?”
“He showed me a lot of the one-on-one clips I had and the late game clips for touchdowns that I had.”
Physicality: “Which is a lot of the blocking stuff,” Fogle said. “He said I have some pretty good blocks on my tape. He showed me some clips. He said my film showed him that I am willing to go block people.”
Smooth operator: “Which is like how well can you move for your size? A lot of tight ends can’t move very well. He said that’s one of the things that I excel at, and then my versatility. He showed me clips of me on defense, of me returning kicks, and all that stuff. Just showing how many different ways I can be used and how much that will benefit them and me at Georgia.”
That “smooth operator” stuff is validated by his time on the basketball court. Fogle was named his conference’s Player of the Year as a sophomore. He was also tapped for the Ohio All-State team on the basketball court. Fogle has Division I offers in both basketball and football, but his future is on Saturdays in the fall.
He put up a monster junior football season with 59 catches for 792 yards and five touchdowns. He had 33 catches for 529 yards and eight scores as a sophomore in 2023. He also had 18 catches for 270 yards and four scores as a freshman.
What does Georgia value in his game?
“Extreme versatility and just an all-aroundness to my game,” he said.
We appreciated his use of that last term. That’s a good way to describe how Hartley values his TEs. He broke it down with DawgNation back at the Sugar Bowl Media Day.
Check out Fogle’s junior tape below:
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
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