This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star Waylon Wooten at Grasyon High School. He ranks as the nation’s No. 103 DL and No. 966 overall prospect for 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking has him as the No. 90 DL and No. 926 overall.
Waylon Wooten is a 3-star DL at Grayson High. That star ranking should not sway the evaluation here.
He’s a multi-year starter for one of the top programs in Georgia, if not the nation. The rising senior has a host of options heading into his official visit stretch later this month.
Georgia and Ohio State are among that lot. Those are the big fish, but there are others.
Wooten is not quite at the 6-foot-2 mark. He weighs 315 pounds and has the sort of arms Mr. Fantastic or Stretch Armstrong would value. There’s also the passion with which he plays the game.
“Waylon Wooten is the heart and soul of our football team,” Grayson head coach Greg Carswell said.
He said Georgia was his dream school growing up. Ohio State was the program he felt was his leader at one point. He can’t say that anymore.
He’s been considering a potential July 4 commitment date, but now feels he will be committed before America’s next birthday party. His OV schedule looks like this:
- May 29: Ohio State
- June 5: Georgia
- June 11: Florida
- June 19: Purdue
Will it eventually be an arm-wrestling match between the Dawgs and the Buckeyes?
“Close to it,” Wooten said. “I’ll say Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Nebraska and Purdue. They are all up there in the same boat. I feel like with God, my family and I will make our decision very soon, but I’ll say all the schools are at the top right now.”
He’s probably been to UGA “close to 20″ times. Georgia views his role in their defense as a Christian Miller-type talent. The Dawgs offered him in August of his sophomore year. Ohio State came a year later.
His favorites all see him playing anything from a zero to a “3″ tech. He wasn’t sure what might happen if he “feels it” on one of those early Ohio State or Georgia visits.
“I haven’t thought about that, but once God gives me that chance and he talks to me when we’re talking, I think he’ll let me know where I need to go,” he said.
The pull for UGA starts at the very top.
“Kirby, man,” Wooten said. “That’s my Dawg, man. I feel like out of all the schools, he was one of the first ones to come get me when I was in the tenth grade. I will say Kirby [Smart] and I have a real good relationship with. That’s a one of none. Stands alone. That’s a dream school for me.”
Why would he choose UGA?
“The family atmosphere,” he said. “Then how they attack and how they get their D-linemen to the league.”
Who will be the hardest coach to say no to? His answers to that one were multiple.
“It is really hard saying no to Kirby, and I would say [Ohio State defensive line coach] Larry Johnson and coach Tray Scott, and man, I don’t know who else,” he said. “It is going to be hard to say no to all the coaches who are recruiting me. I’ve built a great relationship with all of them.”
What does he like best about Ohio State?
“Just the plan of how they say I could come in and they could use me my first year,” Wooten said. “How could I compete and get into the first or second deep on their depth chart. It would be a great first year.”
It is logical to think that his choice will come down to those two schools, but he stops short of fully saying that.
“I feel like you got to see everything for itself,” Wooten said. “Let it all stand alone. You can’t just pick one school or two schools because those are the ones you always see playing on TV. I’ll say development is key. The development of getting to the league is key. That’s our main goal. Those are the types of programs you should go look at. That’s who you should want to play for.”
He went to back-to-back spring practices in Athens.
“That showed me that you are going to have to come in and put your head down,” Wooten said. “You are going against the best O-linemen in the nation. If you can compete with those guys, you can compete with anybody.”
Miller is another plus for the Dawgs here.
“That’s my Dawg,” Wooten said. “That’s my big brother. He tells me you are going to have to come in, put your head down, attack every day and you’ll get what you want.”
The weekly DawgNation.com “Before the Hedges” program is available as an Apple podcast.
Waylon Wooten: Breaking down an impact DL
Wooten is seriously motivated. He wants to “get to the NFL and retire my Mom” with the next phase of his football career. His mother, Latoria, means a great deal to him.
The 3-star is sidelined for the spring after labrum surgery. He’s expected to be cleared for contact work by the end of June.
“He is way ahead of time in recovery,” Carswell said. “He’s doing everything he’s been asked to do. He’s doing double time in his therapy. He’s hungry and is going to get back as fast as possible.”
He is fun to watch on film. What does it say about his game?
“This man is going to come out here every single night, put his hands on somebody and dominate the line of scrimmage,” Wooten said. “That’s the mission.”
He succeeds at it. Check it out below.
“He comes with fire, passion and energy every day,” Carswell said. “He comes in with a mindset to win and to get his brother’s better. He’s a kid who is infectious to the team. He’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever had as a coach. He’s like my little baby baby. I love that kid.”
“Then most of all, outside of what he brings to the game. His actual game speaks for itself. He has some of the longest arms I’ve ever had a chance to coach. ... He also has elite feet. He has elite functional movement inside and does a great job of understanding blocks and what’s coming at him and how to defeat them. He’s a student of the game.”
While he’s been out this spring, he’s been serving as a de facto assistant defensive line coach. He takes over the meetings while Carswell is working with his other coaches,
“He can run the meeting and he’s holding everybody accountable,” Carswell said. “He’s like the big brother to everyone in the room already.”
If it does end up with between Georgia and Ohio State, that’s quite a feat for a 3-star DL.
“When you are a 6-foot-2 defensive lineman, you don’t really get the opportunity to have those two schools as what you are choosing from, but he’s worked his ass off to earn that. So I’m so so proud of him.”
