Georgia football recruiting: Even at less than half-strength, the All-American ‘Dawgs stand tall in Texas

Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has the latest with Georgia’s four All-Americans out at the All-American Bowl out in Texas. There’s a good little story brewing up here with these guys this week kicking up dust near the Alamo.

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SAN ANTONIO, Tex. -- There’s at least the curiosity about whether or not the All-American Bowl might be a little peeved at Kirby Smart and his back-to-back national championship-seeking Bulldogs.

Just a little bit.

The ‘Dawgs saw nine of their All-American signees named to the prestigious annual event. The annual made-for-TV affair will be televised live on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST on NBC Sports.

They didn’t all make it to the Alamo. Some of them went to early bowl practices and stayed for the opportunity to work out and “DawgWalk” and be on the sidelines for the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

Then they opted to remain in Athens this week to prep with the team for the national championship push.

It meant an undersized unit had to go represent in Texas. Those ‘Dawgs weren’t getting any reinforcements, but that looks like it hasn’t mattered.

The four ‘Dawgs that made it have represented Georgia just fine.

Does that sound like a San Antonio story? Except these guys look to continue to overwhelm and not get overrun on Saturday.

“We’re ‘Dawgs, man,” Hall said on Wednesday. “That’s just in our name, right? We’re done. We come out. We ball. That’s what we do. Peace and Monroe had great days yesterday. We all had great days today, too. We didn’t have all our ‘Dawgs out here, but we still had four ‘Dawgs out here.”

“That’s showing proof of why they recruited us,” Hall said. “Just because of the body of the work we put in and how it translates to the field for us now.”

That’s a group of 4-star OT Monroe Freeling, 4-star DL Jordan “Big Baby” Hall, 4-star TE Pearce Spurlin III and 4-star IOL Kelton Smith.

Those are the sixth, eighth, 12th and the 19th-highest rated commitments in the 2023 signee class this cycle.

The event was slated to be a showcase for the only two 5-star signees in the class with EDGE Damon Wilson and CB A.J. Harris. Those were the top two highest-rated signees in this 2023 group.

Harris remained back in Athens. Wilson arrived in Texas earlier this week but is no longer with the All-Americans in Texas due to an unforeseen issue.

C.J. Allen, another All-American linebacker with a most promising future, was also on the squad but he opted to follow the same path as Harris. He was the nation’s No. 78 overall recruit and the ninth-highest-rated signee in this year’s class.

The same goes for talented TE Lawson Luckie. He was also with the team for Ohio State prep and got to walk and wear a Georgia jersey on the sidelines of the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

That’s the nation’s No. 8 TE and the 14th-highest-rated Bulldog signed in 2023. Imposing early enrollee DT Jamaal Jarrett was another 4-star and another All-American. He’s the nation’s No. 172 overall recruit.

Jarrett hurt his foot during bowl practices. He was cast in a boot and riding around a wheelie at Mercedes-Benz Stadium back on New Year’s Eve.

That’s no slight to these young men. It is understandable for all of those to want to remain with the ‘Dawgs and be a part of a historic time in Georgia football history.