This Sentell’s Intel rep shares the latest with a way the ‘Dawgs are continuing to stand out on the recruiting trail with their No. 1 class for the 2024 cycle.
“Find big people. Or people who can fight through other big people. That’s how you build a program.”
Kirby Smart has said something to that extent over and over. He believes the SEC is a line-of-scrimmage league. That’s not just lip service after another victorious press conference.
The back-to-back defending national champions are hunting an unfathomable third title this season. That hasn’t happened since Minnesota in the 1930s.
How do the ‘Dawgs do it? What is the secret sauce? It seems like one building block is evident with the way the Georgia football program is recruiting its next class of standouts.
This next wave of student-athletes will either extend the eyebrow-raising streak of 28 straight wins or they will stack up wins for the next big winning spree.
We can find that with a good look at the way this top-ranked class has been put together.
Georgia’s class now has 28 public commitments. It includes 12 future ‘Dawgs that will either play on the offensive line or the defensive line. That’s an impressive accounting of what Smart and his staff feel is vital to win those big games in December and early January.
There are 12 future line of scrimmage players (LOS) in this class, but the staff is not done with that yet. Look for the ‘Dawgs to even add at least two or three more big people among the finishing touches to this class.
How does that differ from the other top-rated classes in the 247Sports Team Composite rankings?
The following is a list of the other top 10 recruiting classes and how much those programs are emphasizing high school (LOS) prospects to play along the defensive line, on the EDGE at defense end, the interior offensive line and at offensive tackle.
- No. 1 Georgia (SEC): 12 of 28 commits (6 OL, 6 DL) = 43 percent
- No. 2 Ohio State (Big 10): 6 of 23 commits (3 DL, 3 OL) = 26 percent
- No. 3 FSU (ACC): 7 of 22 commits (3 DL, 4 OL) = 32 percent
- No. 4 Alabama (SEC): 6 of 20 commits (3 DL, 4 OL) = 30 percent
- No. 5 Florida (SEC): 7 of 19 commits (3 DL, 4 OL) = 37 percent
- No. 6 Oregon (Big 10*): 9 of 24 commits (5 DL, 4 OL) = 38 percent
- No. 7 Oklahoma (SEC*): 9 of 28 commits (5 DL, 4 OL) = 32 percent
- No. 8 Notre Dame (Independent): 8 of 23 commits (4 DL, 3 OL) = 35 percent
- No. 9 Texas (SEC*): 7 of 20 commits (4 DL/3 OL) = 35 percent of its class
- No. 10 Texas A&M (SEC*): 7 of 20 commits (3 DL/4 OL) = 35 percent of its class
Those percentages ring true. The seeds for the next powerful Georgia football team are going to be sown up front.
The ‘Dawgs have a bigger class than all these teams, but they are putting it together with an emphasis on both lines.
The ‘Dawgs have the highest percentage of line-of-scrimmage players (LOS) as well as the sheer numbers there with room to sign a bigger class. Which programs have the next-highest ratio? It makes sense to see former Kirby Smart assistant Dan Lanning building up his team that way with 38 percent of his current class.
Lanning has seen the blueprint. Texas is also right there at 38 percent.
That’s a pretty sound belief that championship teams are not built by getting big-time trench players via the transfer portal.
It doesn’t stop there.
The Kirby Smart recipe: It is not just getting more big people
Georgia is not only stacking up its line of scrimmage prospects for 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027.
It is also a measure of quantity and quality. The ‘Dawgs not only pace all the top recruiting classes in the nation in terms of guys that will play on the lines, but they are getting more of the top 200 prospects. Those are the truly elite players in this recruiting class.
Check out the number of top 200 commitments the ‘Dawgs are bringing in to win in the trenches.
- No. 1 Georgia (SEC): 6 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 2 Ohio State (Big 10): 3 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 3 FSU (ACC): 2 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 4 Alabama (SEC): 3 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 5 Florida (SEC): 3 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 6 Oregon (Big 10*): 3 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 7 Oklahoma (SEC*): 3 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 8 Notre Dame (Independent): 3 top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 9 Texas (SEC*): 2 Top 200 overall DLs/OLs
- No. 10 Texas A&M (SEC): 4 Top 200 overall DLs/OLs
This isn’t a one-year blip for Smart’s program. Check out the percentage of LOS signees the program has stacked up over the last several recruiting cycles.
- 2023: 10 of 26 (38%)
- 2022: 12 of 30 (40%)
- 2021: 7 of 20 (35%)
- 2020: 10 of 25 (40%)
- 2019: 10 of 24 (41%)
- 2018: 10 of 26 (38%)
If anything, it looks like Smart is adjusting to the times. He knows the portal isn’t one-stop shopping to find impact players in general, much less big people. That’s why there is a slight uptick of more prep DLs/OL signees in this class
While the ‘Dawgs might look to add a couple of big DLs through the portal to add some maturity to the defensive front next season, that’s not the best place to stock the depth charts of the next championship Bulldog defense.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
