This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star WR Brady Marchese at Cartersville High. He’s the nation’s No. 47 WR and the No. 411 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 63 WR and No. 420 overall.
CARTERSVILLE -- When one goes to write a story about an under-the-radar-wide receiver, there are a few questions to get answered.
Georgia has a track record panning for under-the-radar receivers in North Georgia and coming away with gold.
For the Dawgs and 3-star Brady Marchese, perhaps the biggest question was why they took the nation’s No. 47 or 63 (depending on the service) WR so early in this cycle.
Ladd McConkey was offered weeks before the late signing day in 2020. Landon Roldan didn’t get his offer until the summer prior to his senior year. Marchese was offered in January. He committed to the Dawgs last Saturday at a practice visit.
Why? How?
Those answers come as soon as one gets into Purple Hurricane territory at Cartersville High. The stat sheet and a few metrics flash obvious signs of an SEC receiver:
- 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds
- 22 mph recorded speed in-game on the GPS
- Playing big versus Top 5 teams (130 yards against Cedartown and a P4 secondary; 180 yards and three TDs against eventual state champ North Oconee)
- Marchese ran a 4.40 laser two years and 15 pounds ago at Coastal Carolina
- 44 catches for 1,051 yards and 11 TDs as a junior
One teacher at Cartersville called him that “fast little thing.” The strength coach made a good joke about Marchese needing to do some curls first so he’ll look jacked in the photo shoot.
The new UGA commitment with a unique last name of Italian heritage (Mar-Kay-Zee) didn’t have the time for those curls, but he still looked like he never skips arm day.
Then there were the buzzwords that a poll of four members of the coaching staff had to say about him.
“Charisma.”
“Fire.”
“Goes right after everybody’s best player.”
“Toughest guy in the room.”
“Wants to surround himself with the best players and the best coaches.”
“Not in love with all the recruitment stuff.”
“Can make plays for us in the flow of the game without having to feed him the ball.”
“Gets better every year and got better through last year but still has a lot of room to get better and a high ceiling.”
“Humble heart and a great servant leader for our kids.”
“Makes an impact when he’s blocking. He doesn’t have to get the ball.”
“He’s going to earn the other team’s respect. He will not be disrespected.”
The Hurricanes had a 3-star DB last season who signed with Ohio State. That’s as good as it gets, but 6-foot-4 Jordyn Woods covered him once last year.
Once. He never did again.
As it turns out, the stories were just getting started.
“He’s played the ‘X’ for us,” Cartersville coach Conor Foster said, “I think we’ll be able to move him around some this year. I think he’s the kind of kid who can play inside or outside. He’s so physical. I think what really sets him apart is his physical play. He really blocks his tail off.”
“He’s the type of ball who catches the ball and gets vertical in the quick game. I think he’s the guy who adds value in special teams. He’s just a football player, man. He’s a tough guy. If you blew the whistle and said give me the toughest guy in the room right now in the middle of the logo, Brady’s the kind of kid that jumps up there first and will fight anybody that shows up.”
“That’s what you want in a football player, but it is hard to find in a wide receiver.”
It gets harder and harder to find kids that love ball and love to compete. That’s a worry for Kirby Smart and the Georgia staff. There are not enough kids who love competing, no matter how talented they might be.
The future early enrollee loves ball, but he also averaged 24 yards for each of his 44 catches last fall.
Foster brought up his team trying to hang with North Oconee in the playoffs last November. The Titans went 15-0 and gave up an average of 9.4 points per game. They beat Cartersville 28-26, but they saw Marchese score three times on their defense.
There was only one team in those 15 games (Eastside) that scored more on the Titans than Marchese did.
“You look at a couple of plays against North Oconee,” Foster said. “We’re down a couple of scores there in the third quarter. When you’re in that situation you don’t call plays, you call players. We go right to Brady and he gets us right back in the game with two electric scores.”
“He’s running away from guys that have big-time Power 4 offers. I think you just look at the biggest games and the biggest moments. That is when he shines the brightest. That’s when you really can elevate that star status. I think Georgia certainly values guys that can play in those types of environments.”
The trip yields an avalanche of intel. The sort Georgia finds first in the state and values as much as any 5-star its signs.
It fosters a more informed question: How could Georgia not try to get him to commit as soon as possible?
As it turns out, the Dawgs made that very clear before his practice visit last weekend.
“I think it was like maybe two or three days before,” Brady Marchese told DawgNation. “Before I went down there, they texted me, and they texted our receiver coach and said, ‘How are we going to get him to commit to the Dawgs?’ and I saw that, and I sent it to my Dad. He was like, ‘Dude, that would be awesome’ and we had already planned to go down to that spring practice anyway.”
“I just think that after he said that and then me like also being interested in them a lot, too. That’s what pushed me to do this. For sure.”
Brady Marchese: The moment he had to commit to Georgia football
James Coley has been on a year-long heater recruiting receivers for Georgia. He gets after it and gets it done. That was evident by what he did in the 2025 class. He led the way in signing at least four or five receivers in that class with more NFL potential than anybody the Dawgs had at WR in 2024.
When he went to see Marchese at Cartersville in January, there was something he had to find out. Besides all those metrics and his game film.
It was what DawgNation basically did this week. That’s when Georgia made up his mind about Marchese being an anytime take for the class. To be one of the “How do we get you to commit to the Dawgs?’” level targets.
He spoke to Foster and the staff and got all those stories.
“Coach Coley told me what he likes to hear is he likes to talk to coaches,” Brady Marchese said. “If they say that the kid is not a competitor or things like that, he’s just going to walk right out.”
The Cartersville staff let it be known Marchese might be the toughest guy in the room, among other things.
The best one of those was from last season. That’s when somehow word-of-mouth or social media or Instagram Live spread the following boast: A Cedartown player made an ill-advised statement. Marchese wouldn’t get five yards on their defense.
When Marchese heard that, the word incensed would apply to describe his mood. He was dialed in all week at practice.
The newest Georgia Bulldog commit finished that contest with five catches for 131 yards. The big highlight was a 50/50 touchdown grab in the end zone.
“I’ll get a little chirpy on the field,” Marchese said. “That’s for sure. I’m not going to let anyone just run me down and not say something. I’ll say something, but I definitely just let my game do the talking. Like if someone’s talking something to me, then I’ll show them what they want to see for sure.”
Why did Brady Marchese choose Georgia football so early?
While we hope to have established why the Bulldogs would want Marchese, there’s another question to resolve.
Why did Marchese want to be a Dawg? Especially so early? NIL has yet to be discussed. His official visit won’t be until June 6. He said Georgia Tech and West Virginia were the two teams he also strongly considered.
When he went up to Georgia’s first padded practice last Saturday, there was no plan to commit.
“I did not,” he said. “It was a thought. For sure. My Mom, Dad, and I talked about it on the way up there. Just to say, like, if it feels right. Then do it.”
“But I saw enough. I committed right after practice.”
The way the Dawgs practiced sealed his commitment. He knew in the midst of that practice.
“I’d probably say just halfway,” Marchese said. “Just seeing how Kirby runs things out there. That’s what definitely got me for sure.”
He doesn’t care about how close Athens is to Cartersville. He doesn’t care about wanting that move far away from home college experience.
Marchese wanted what he saw on the practice field that day.
“It felt like home to me,” Marchese said. “For sure. The way they get after it. Nobody gets after it the way that Georgia does. Just the thing of playing against the best of the best every day.”
He told Smart at a practice meeting he might have some news coming for him later that day. When Smart got to speak with him, he echoed that text message.
“How are we going to get you to be a Dawg?” Smart told Marchese.
“I’m all in,” he replied.
That was it.
Check out his impressive junior film below:
SENTELL’S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
