Georgia took care of several heavy issues on national signing day.
The Bulldogs bulked up by signing seven players who weigh at least 300 pounds, including Isaiah Wilson, a 6-foot-7, 350-pound, five-star offensive tackle out of Brooklyn who was the No. 16 rated prospect in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Georgia signed 26 players, including six who were early enrollees. That gave the Bulldogs — with two five-star, 18 four-star and six three-star signees — the nation’s third-ranked class, behind Alabama and Ohio State.
“We think we attacked a lot of areas of concern for us,” coach Kirby Smart said. “I think we did not deviate very far from our size criteria. When you look at certain positions, you want to get certain size guys. We were able to do that.”
The Bulldogs signed 12 of the state’s top 20 players (according to 247Sports), including No. 2 Richard LeCounte (safety, Liberty County), No. 4 Andrew Thomas (offensive tackle, Pace Academy), No. 5 Jake Fromm (quarterback, Houston County) and No. 6 DeAngelo Gibbs (safety, Grayson).
Georgia’s border wasn’t completely sealed, though.
Aubrey Solomon (Lee County), a five-star defensive tackle (No. 3 in Georgia), chose Michigan, four-star defensive end Markaviest Bryant (Crisp County) went with Auburn and linebacker Leonard Warner (Brookwood) is going to Florida State.
Solomon also considered Alabama and USC, and Bryant had LSU among his favorites.
Greater Atlanta Christian quarterback Davis Mills, the state’s No. 1 recruit, will go to Stanford.
Wilson and Thomas (6-5, 338 pounds) join Justin Shaffer (6-4, 350), D’Antne Demery (6-6, 312), DeVonte Wyatt (6-3, 301), Netori Johnson (6-4, 334) and D’Marcus Hayes (6-6, 321).
All except Wyatt signed as offensive linemen.
“I think it’s exciting any time you get a group like that,” Smart said. “I’m very impressed with the stature of those guys. They’ve got to do a good job of controlling (the weight) between now and arrival here. Those guys can’t get too big.”
Georgia Tech
Four-star linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling (6-1, 209) and cornerback Tre Swilling (6-foot, 185) are not only sons of former Georgia Tech All-American Pat Swilling, but also two of the Yellow Jackets’ highest rated signees.
Jordan-Swilling was the No. 9 player in Louisiana and Swilling was No. 17 in the state. They both played at Brother Martin in New Orleans.
“I think it says a lot about what Pat’s experience here at Georgia Tech was as a player,” Tech coach Paul Johnson told the AJC. “I think he talked a lot about what the education meant for him and how it set him up for after his playing career was over and helped him to get to where he is now.”
They were joined by Newton linebacker Jaquan Henderson (6-1, 197), and Buford linebacker T.D. Roof (5-11, 205), the son of defensive coordinator Ted Roof.
The Yellow Jackets picked up two three-star players from two schools in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Gentry Bonds is a 6-2, 192-pound defensive back out of Riverdale High School and Kaleb Oliver (6-4, 198) is listed as an athlete after playing linebacker at Oakland High School.
Offensive lineman Mikey Minihan (6-3, 275), who is from Honolulu, was the 24th and final signee of the class.
“I thought that we were able to address some needs,” Johnson said. “It’s a little heavier probably on defense than offense, which is where we had a few more openings, but all in all, I think it’s a well-rounded class.”
Georgia State
Eight three-star players, including offensive tackle Connor Robbins (6-9, 340) signed with new coach Shawn Elliott.
Eleven of the 20-player class are from Georgia, including North Gwinnett’s Chris Sibilia (6-7, 292) and Grayson’s Jalen Jackson (6-6, 300).
“The first thing we did was target players from right here in this area,” Elliott said in a statement. “We added some guys from out of state as well, but all in all, this state has been very good to us and that’s really important.”
Kennesaw State
Coach Brian Bohannon signed 16 players, including former Georgia Tech defensive back Dorian Walker (6-foot, 190) and Shawn Furlow (5-10, 190), who played 12 games at East Carolina last season.
“This is the most talented class we’ve put together since we’ve been here,” Bohannon said in a statement.
Around the SEC
Nine SEC schools were among the top 25 in 247Sports’ team rankings.
In addition to Alabama and Georgia, they include LSU (No. 7), Auburn (No. 9), Florida (10), Texas A&M (12), Tennessee (17), South Carolina (21) and Mississippi State (24).
Alabama, the national runner-up, signed six five-star players to lead the country.
That group includes five early enrollees — running back Najee Harris (6-2, 225), offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood (6-6, 327), linebacker Dylan Moses (6-3, 235), wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (6-1, 175) and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (6-1, 215) — and defensive end LaBryan Ray (6-5, 275), who signed Wednesday.
Roswell defensive back Xavier McKinney (6-1, 192) is the only player from Georgia to sign with the Crimson Tide.
Auburn, which already had landed former Baylor quarterback Jarrett Stidham, signed Bryant (6-4, 225), five-star offensive tackle Calvin Ashley (6-7, 330) out of Washington, D.C., and Malik Willis (6-1, 185), who played quarterback at Roswell.
Tae-Kion Reed added theatrics to his announcement.
The three-star defensive tackle from Columbus, Miss., initially picked up a Mississippi State hat at his signing ceremony, but then threw it and placed an Ole Miss hat on his head.
South Carolina reached into Georgia to sign Grayson cornerback Jamyest Williams, the No. 9 prospect in the state.
Around the ACC
With three five-star signees — running back Cam Akers (6-foot, 205), defensive end Joshua Kaindoh (6-6, 250) and all-purpose player Khalan Laborn (5-10, 199) — Florida State had the sixth-ranked class in the nation to lead four ACC teams in the top 25.
The others are Miami (No. 13), national champion Clemson (16) and Virginia Tech (25).
In addition to Warner (6-4, 230), Florida State also signed McEachern quarterback Bailey Hockman (6-2, 187).
At Clemson, Hunter Johnson (6-4, 200), the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the country, had already enrolled, and he was joined by a five-star target in receiver Tee Higgins (6-4, 190), from Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Johnson threw for 2,233 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.
Clemson signed four players out of Georgia: Grayson quarterback Chase Brice (6-3, 200), Calhoun linebacker Baylon Spector (6-1, 220), Westlake defensive back A.J. Terrell (6-2, 180) and Roswell defensive back LeAnthony Williams (6-0, 175).
Former Georgia coach Mark Richt signed 10 four-star players, including wide receiver Jeff Thomas (5-10, 175) out of East St. Louis, Ill.; Glynn Academy athlete DeeJay Dallas (5-10, 205) and offensive tackle Navaughn Donaldson (6-6, 335), a hometown product.
Around the nation
Texas, coming off a 5-7 season and with new coach Tom Herman, ranked 26th in the national team recruiting rankings.
Four-star linebacker Levi Jones, who is from Austin, Texas, helped propel USC to No. 4 in the team rankings by picking the Trojans over Florida and Florida State.
Ohio State’s five-star signees include cornerbacks Shaun Wade (6-2, 175) and Jeffrey Okudah (6-1, 190), and linebacker Baron Browning (6-4, 230)
Solomon (6-3, 305) is part of a Michigan class that is fifth in the team rankings and includes Donovan Peoples-Jones (6-2, 190), the nation’s top-ranked receiver.
Defensive end Jaelan Phillips (6-6, 250), the nation’s No. 1 prospect out of Redlands, Calif., signed with UCLA.
And the greatest name of the day belonged to Kobe Buffalomeat, an offensive tackle who signed with Illinois State.
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