This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star Demar “DJ” Dotson Jr. at Oak Grove High in Mississippi. He ranks as the nation’s No. 75 OT and the No. 849 overall prospect for 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking has him as the No. 72 OT and No. 932 overall.
DJ Dotson will take his official visit to check out Georgia this weekend. There’s a curiosity there for a couple of reasons.
The first is that he’s been a big target for longer than most might think. He was down on the field early with the 2026 core commits and 2027 elite targets last September for the Alabama game. That was a pretty big tell for a 2027 3-star from Mississippi. To see him down there shoulder-to-shoulder around the UGA All-American commits and 5-star targets.
The second little tidbit is that he’s had this official visit to see UGA scheduled for this weekend since mid-February. When Georgia offered him a year ago, it had a sizable impact.
“That was my first major offer,” Dotson said. “I felt like ‘Wow. This is incredible.’ Just to get an offer from the University of Georgia. That was incredible. That was not my first SEC, but also my first powerhouse school. I feel like it was the beginning of my rise. That was the beginning of it."
There’s also the notion that he’s an NFL legacy. While the fact that his father, Demar Dotson, played 12 years in the league will show up on a lot of his online prospect profiles and a few stories, that’s not the half of it.
His namesake has the coolest NFL origin story. Dotson found a way to play on Sundays despite only playing one season of football. That was one college season. He was on the team, but never appeared in a college game.
“My Dad jumped right into the NFL,” DJ Dotson said. “He didn’t play any high school ball. No college ball. His first time actually playing for real was in the NFL.”
How does that happen? Well, he was a hooper at Southern Miss.
“He played basketball all the way until his final year of college,” Dotson said. “Then played some football. They saw such a big frame. Even though he just played scout team D-line in college. But they saw that big frame, you know? That helped him. Somebody helped him out. Trained him up a little bit. He got a call from the Bucs. Tryouts. Practice squad. Then he made the 53-man roster.”
“To this day, it’s an incredible story.”
The 6-foot-7, 340-pound Dotson said his father played on some field goal teams in college. That’s it.
“But for the real action,” Dotson said. “That was in the NFL.”
His father was listed at six feet, nine inches. Dotson, because of his hair, might look as tall as he does standing side by side. He’s right around the 6-foot-7-plus mark.
“I feel like I have an advantage over other people,” DJ Dotson said. “He’s able to tell me about all the game, but also off-the-field stuff and what comes with that. What you have to avoid when it comes to playing football at a high level. Just telling me how to protect myself and stay safe, that comes with all the dangers with such worldly problems.”
“He also tells me what I’ve got to work on. He sees it. He’s played 12 years [in the league] so he knows what I’ve got to do to get to that level.”
Mix all of that intrigue together. Now lump it in with the fact that Dotson has really liked the thought of playing in Athens for quite some time.
“Georgia is fantastic in producing tackles for the NFL,” Dotson said. “So I feel like even though the game keeps changing, I feel Georgia is still one of the best schools at producing tackles. They’re always a winning program. Stable coaching. Coach Kirby [Smart] isn’t going anywhere. The O-line coaches aren’t going anywhere. It’s a stable home for them and I feel like I can really develop to the best of my ability playing with somebody like Georgia."
Georgia got the first OV. It was scheduled way back in February because, well, the program asked first.
“I also felt like it was a priority to put Georgia first,” Dotson said. “Just to have them on the list first.”
Is there a chance that Georgia gets him to shut it down after this weekend?
“You know my initial goal was to go through all my official visits,” he said. “I’ve already told Georgia I was going to go through all of my official visits so I am going to stick to my word with that and finish out all my official visits.”
Georgia coach Phil Rauscher went over to see him in Mississippi twice during the spring eval period.
“He told me if I come in and do what I need to do that I could see the field earlier in my career,” Dotson said. “I’ve got to come in and work hard. Obviously. It is a different ball game in college. But he told me to come in, do what I got to do and I’ll be good. That will be good.”
Dotson also came to Athens to check out a spring practice. He impressed the Georgia offensive line staff with his recall of some of Georgia’s players and terminology.
He’s been waiting on this OV. Look for him to pop up in those OV pics wearing the all-black UGA uniform combo.
“I’ve been waiting for it for so long,” he said. “It’s finally coming up and I’m so ready for it.”
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DJ Dotson: What does the recruiting picture look like?
Dotson has UGA this weekend. He’s got the following visits left for June.
- June 5: Ole Miss
- June 9: LSU
- June 12: Georgia Tech
- June 19: Auburn
He’d wanted to try to slot in an official visit to LSU for a mid-week visit. The Tigers were his dream school as a youth, but they did not offer him until May 19.
Georgia sees him as a tackle here. Not as a hybrid tackle who can also play fast at guard.
He said that no school is recruiting him harder than UGA right now, but did say some schools were coming just as hard as the Dawgs. Dotson will be a mid-year enrollee in January of 2027.
He picked up his offer last summer at a UGA camp. The eyeball evals are always the strongest offers.
He’s also been to Athens for a spring practice and the Alabama game last fall.
Dotson will arrive in Athens on Friday at noon. What will the Dawgs need to do to lock down his commitment this summer?
“When I go up there, just show me love,” Dotson said. “I’ve felt the love around the players and they need to make it somewhere that feels like home. That’s what it is all about. At the end of the day, I’ve got to go there for three, four and maybe five years.”
“Of course, I want it to feel like home. If I go there and it feels like a place that I could stay and call it a home, that will probably be the biggest thing for me.”
Check out his junior film at Oak Grove High in Mississippi.
What matters to him about the way he plays the game?
“I feel like my film shows a person who has a high ceiling who has lots of potential,” Dotson said. “Who has the measurements and the physicality, but who at the same time also has some things that he has to work on. Things that when he works on them, that is going to make him a top tackle.”
“But I feel like my film shows great potential and a high ceiling.”
