This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star Woodward Academy senior Blake Stewart. He ranks as the nation’s No. 35 S and the No. 432 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking sees him as a 4-star recruit, the No. 35 S and No. 395 overall.
Blake Stewart is visiting Georgia on Saturday. The Woodward Academy senior will be making his first UGA gameday trip this fall.
A visit like this one, we must admit, feels very much like old times.
There are just 20 days until the early signing day. Stewart is now going through a second recruitment after he decommitted from Clemson on October 27.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Stewart said. “Everybody texting and stuff. Phone is blowing up. But I prayed for this. I’ve got to take full advantage of it.”
Miami is a team to watch. The Dawgs are a contender. Vanderbilt received an official visit in June and a recent unofficial visit. Georgia Tech has ramped up its interest. Syracuse just got into the mix. Michigan remains a contender.
Stewart is a highly versatile football player. Woodward Academy co-defensive coordinator Ryan Davis says Stewart is the closest thing to Travis Hunter he’s seen in the state since the future Heisman winner went to college.
The 3-star safety prospect leads his team in receiving (41-520-7 TDs) and took a kickoff back this season. He’s got an impressive one-handed Pick-6 this fall, where he was in the box, the offense ran a bootleg the other way, and Stewart ran across the field to snatch that turnover.
His 39 tackles are third on his team. That pairs nicely with his three interceptions. Stewart will strike you in the run game, but he also leads Woodward with 10 touchdowns this season. He also scored on a punt return, a kickoff return and another interception return as a junior.
He projects as a nickel or safety in college. That’s what he wants to play.
“I’m looking for somewhere I can go that fits my style of play,” he said. “Somewhere that I can be myself and just play. I want to play early if I can. If the coaches see that I can play early with that, so I can step on the field and dominate.”
Stewart will have to figure things out quickly. He will get his first real good look at Georgia on Saturday, coming down the home stretch of this recruiting cycle.
This used to be the norm. There used to be about a half-dozen seniors in Sanford Stadium for a mid-November home game, trying to nail down their decision.
That’s now almost universally what happens in June and July, but that will be Stewart’s world until the early signing period opens on December 3.
How does he feel about the Dawgs?
“They produce DBs and they have a great DB coach (Travaris Robinson) that puts people in the league every single year,” Stewart said. “So I definitely want to be a part of that right now.”
“T-Rob” needed to see him play this year to be sure he was a Dawg.
“I had to prove to him that I could really tackle and hit,” Stewart said. “Once he saw that, he was like ‘Yeah you can come here and have an impact early and play in the SEC as a freshman if I do what I need to’ there.”
If the Dawgs do become a major factor down the stretch for Stewart, it will start this weekend with facetime with the coaches and a chance to see the campus and facilities. He needs to check off all those basic things.
There is a lot of discovery necessary for the Dawgs in the acclimation process, but the program has already impressed him on the surface.
“Definitely the development piece,” he said when asked about what stands out about UGA. “I’d say the development piece, and of course, they are winning games and putting people in the spotlight on a national level.”
It will be an unofficial visit. He’s not sure if he will need any more official visits.
Why is Vanderbilt a contender?
“It would definitely help me with life after football with their degree,” Stewart said. “But I also see somewhere in Vanderbilt that I can go in and play early if I do what I need to. Just really the chance to be on the field and play. We’ve also got one of our former Woodward players (sophomore safety CJ Heard) up there, so I could team up with him if I choose to go there.”
Miami got an official back in June. There is a lot of buzz around the Hurricanes.
“They have a strong coach,” he said. “As soon as their new coaches came in, they put the DBs straight to work. You can tell with them, as they are improving their DBs, and they are no longer the weakest link, as they were last year. They are kind of the strongest link right now.”
Blake Stewart: This weekend will determine a lot for him and UGA
Georgia hasn’t prioritized Stewart this cycle. Especially since he was committed to Clemson from July 13 to October 27 of this year.
What would constitute a strong visit for the Dawgs on Saturday?
“I guess really just talking to them,” Stewart said. “After the game, just seeing how things play out and like their future for me. Just asking those types of questions.”
Georgia looks to have room for at least one more DB in this class. That will depend on whether it comes from the high school or portal pipelines. The uncertain nature of 4-star CB commit Chace Calicut adds to the potential for late action here.
Stewart is motivated by that development piece for his future.
“I‘ve got a dream,” he said. “I’ve got a goal that I set when I was a little kid. I want to get to the highest level there is to play and be the best at what I do.”
The Dawgs do love to find DBs with ball skills that can run and hit. Especially with the instincts Stewart shows on the field. The fact that he’s made plays on both sides of the ball in space is also a credit to his game.
“The coaches that see him know he’s intelligent,” Woodward Academy assistant coach Ryan Davis said. “So, being a football player in this day and age, with the schemes and the things the college coaches want to do, they want a smart kid on that back end. His ball skills and instincts are hard to recreate. He has those things naturally. He brings the physicality that allows him to play safety. He can play corner. He can play nickel. He can play slot receiver. He can run kicks. From what I’ve heard, he’s a four-down safety in college. He doesn’t come off the field.”
“He’s that type of kid. That’s what makes him attractive to these types of schools.”
Davis believes that Stewart is fast. Fast enough to run a 10.8 or 10.9 in the 100 right now. If he ran track this spring, he’d get down to the 10.6 or 10.7 range.
He also holds a 3.4 GPA at Woodward Academy.
He’s the sort of kid that can flip from corner to safety to nickel in a drive. But then he can look to the sideline, catch the eyes of his coaches and react to what they’re seeing and make a play. That just comes naturally.
“You can get a kid that maybe has speed,” Davis said. “Or ball skills. But he’s not quick. Or he doesn’t have the change of direction that Blake has. Or his instincts and intelligence. Blake has kind of the total package. He’s as close as you can get.”
Check out Stewart’s senior film. The one-handed interception that he turned into a Pick-6 is the first clip.
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
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