It is getting harder and harder for Georgia football to recruit elite talent

The future of the Georgia football program will be in town on official visits this weekend. But those 12 honored guests will be a stark contrast to the loaded official visit weekends of the past.

It’s the latest sign that it has gotten harder for everyone, including Georgia, to recruit elite talent. The Bulldogs currently have the nation’s No. 24 recruiting class for the 247Sports Team Rankings.

Kirby Smart’s program has signed an average top-3 national recruiting class since he became head coach in 2016.

The Bulldogs currently only have one commitment (4-star OT Kelsey Adams) among the state’s 20 highest-rated prospects for the 2027 cycle. That one is also Charmin-thin right now. Adams just saw LSU and North Carolina. He plans to visit Mississippi State this weekend and could also see Auburn soon.

That specific trend won’t be reversed easily. The current 247Sports Composite rankings for the state show that 25 of the state’s 28 highest-ranked recruits are already committed. There are only two UGA commits in that lot.

It’s getting harder to get the elite guys to visit right now, much less commit. Georgia had nine prospects scheduled to take official visits earlier this year, but those targets will no longer be in Athens. The majority of those were with prospects who have already shut down their recruitments after an early commitment.

What’s the sign-of-the-times stat for this weekend? Four-star Tennessee ATH Tae Walden will be the only top 100 prospect that Georgia will host this weekend.

He’s being recruited to play DB, but he was an All-Region WR, an All-Region PR and also the region defensive player of the year. His tape shows he’s a weapon in space as he also caught 10 TDs at receiver.

This will be Georgia’s third straight heavy weekend of official visitors. There’s one more docket next week, but who knows how many of those scheduled visitors will make the trip. The go-to move now is for schools to try to get their prized targets to shut down their recruitments on each official visit.

By the time this weekend is over, just about every big-time college prospect has already been on at least three or four official visits by now. They’ve already seen their top choices.

Georgia started picking up some of its in-state OVs this morning, using Sprinter Vans to bring them to Athens for their official visits.

What’s the need to know for this weekend’s guests? The quick-as-a-hiccup update on the weekend flows like this:

• As stated earlier, Walden is the only Top 100 target in town. That is rather low for a typical OV slate in Athens, but the Bulldogs only had one of those (5-star RB commit Kemon Spell) elite Top 100 prospects in town last week. This is a different recruiting cycle for the Dawgs on many fronts, including that one.
• For comparison’s sake, the Dawgs did get four Top 100 overall prospects in town for officials on May 29. That said, they are only expected to sign one of those at this time. That’s 5-star TE commit Jaxon Dollar. The Dawgs still had five Top 200 overall recruits in town a week ago. That’s the same number of top-shelf targets expected in town this weekend.
• The crucial recruiting pitches needed for this weekend will be in the defensive backfield. Georgia is set to host 4-star Douglas County safety Adryan Cole, 4-star IMG Academy cornerback Censere Gaylord, 3-star Miami Central DB T’ari Miller and 3-star Columbia safety Rashaad Silver, along with Walden. That’s half the group in town this weekend.
• That seems important given that the Dawgs currently have zero DB commitments among their 13 pledges for the current cycle.
• This weekend will feature two commits in 4-star QB Colton Nussmeier and 3-star OL Ty Johnson. Nussmeier, a lefty from Texas, recently committed to UGA. Johnson is a UGA legacy. His father, Travis, was on the same Bulldog teams as current staffers Mike Bobo and Kirby Smart. His father also roomed with Smart. Johnson committed to UGA back in March.
• 4-star Ohio LB Brayton Feister is a high school do-it-all who is built like an action figure. Georgia and Oregon are his top schools, but the Ducks have built up an edge. Feister was also in Athens for G-Day. The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder can bench press 455 pounds and squat 605. He’s also been measured with a 41-plus vertical leap.
• Feister’s high school production has few peers. He had 133 tackles, 39 TFL and 13 sacks as a junior. He also forced four fumbles, picked off two passes and scored two defensive TDs. He also ran for 1098 yards and 17 TDs.

Check out the full list of official visitors below:

Optimal scenario: The Dawgs earn eventual commitments from Walden, Gaylord and Cole. Gaylord has long favored UGA as one of his top schools. Georgia and Ohio State have long been seen as the teams to beat for Cole. LSU is also in the mix there.

Most likely scenario: The program really impresses Walden, but he still leaves town with some more thinking to do. The Dawgs eventually sign either Cole or Gaylord. Not both. Hector and Silver jump at the opportunity to join the 2027 class. Georgia also becomes the team to beat for Young-Casario, too.