Another successful signing day was logged by the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday. But seriously, how often have you ever heard anybody say they had a bad day at the recruiting office?
That said, Kirby Smart gets high marks for his first year. That’s based largely on the fact that he has been on the job less that two months and he spent half of that time working as defensive coordinator for Alabama. His primary objective was to hold together the class amassed under previous coach Mark Richt.
Here are 10 things to know about UGA’s 2016 class:
Presence of Jacob Eason. It can't be overlooked that Georgia landed the consensus top quarterback in the country. Eason has been enrolled for nearly a month and is already well-entrenched in strength and conditioning, voluntary pass-skeleton drills and playbook study.
“Keeping Jacob a part of this class was critical,” Smart said at his mid-afternoon media briefing. “It showed momentum, showed confidence in our program and the University of Georgia. Coach (Jim) Chaney (Georgia’s new offensive coordinator) keeping him involved and then obviously them blending with our current players in the recruiting process helped a lot.”
Eason revealed he has already gained close to 20 pounds in the four weeks he’s been in Athens and is up to 230 pounds.
Ratings game. Depending on how things shake out with five-star wide receiver Demetris Robertson of Savannah — he's not signing until next week at the earliest — Georgia has the potential to sign four five-star prospects — Eason, tight end Isaac Nauta and athlete Mecole Hardman. Make what you will of recruiting rankings but, the fact is, there are only 32 five-star-rated recruits nationwide. To land that percentage is exceptional in any year, never mind one in which the coaching staff is completely turned over.
Versatile Hardman. Hardman is thought to be coming to the Bulldogs primarily as a defensive back. But he proved in high school and some all-star games that he's an impressive playmaker on offense and could be a special-teams contributor.
“He’s special with the ball in his hands,” Smart said. “He wants to develop as a DB, and I think the marriage between he and (defensive coordinator Mel) Tucker is critical, because coach Tucker is a great developer of DBs and can teach Mecole a lot of things that he needs to learn. But he is special with the ball in his hands. When you go across the state and you talk to the high school coaches, a lot of people talk about his ability to affect the game.”
A little thin on O-line. The Bulldogs signed three offensive linemen and four defensive linemen, but missed on some of the biggest targets on their board. Smart said was "very pleased" about the work on the defensive front, but not necessarily on the O-line.
“It’s not exactly what we want,” Smart said. “We want some offensive tackles. If you say what’s the No. 1 need going into 2017 it’s offensive tackles. That’s the most deficient area on our front.”
Help at receiver. Georgia needed to address its shortcomings at wide receiver, specifically from a size standpoint. Missing from last year's group was a true-possession receiver with the size to make block-out and high-point receptions in crucial situations. The Bulldogs got a strong candidate who could fill that bill in Javon Wims (6-foot-4, 220 pounds).
Wims is the consummate “plug-and-play” receiver and comes to Georgia from Hinds Community College in Mississippi.
Numbers game. A lot of people wondered if Georgia might over-sign, as Alabama did in some years past while Smart was there. Instead, the Bulldogs under-signed. The Bulldogs signed 20 players, but could have signed as many as 25.
Smart explained that he not only didn’t want to “reach” for prospects to fill slots, but that Georgia will be looking at a small class in 2017 and needs to carry over some scholarships.
How good did Georgia do overall? The Bulldogs were ranked No. 7 in 247Sports.com's composite poll of the major recruiting sites. Where they might have been had they stuck with Richt and not made a coaching change is hard to tell.
Michail Carter, David Marshall, Riley Ridley and Tyler Simmons are among the new additions who likely would not have signed without the change. On the other hand, it could be argued that the turnover negatively affected the outcomes with major targets Derrick Brown (Auburn) and E.J. Price (USC).
Executive decisions. UGA President Jere Morehead and Athletic Director Greg McGarity get at least some credit for keeping the Bulldogs' class together. According to McGarity, he or Morehead, and usually both, attended every official breakfast and dinner held for prospects.
“We met all the kids and also got a chance to be around Kirby and his staff,” McGarity said. “The president and I think it sends a good message that we’re unified and we’re all here to help in anyway we can.”
Kicking short. Smart said it was a calculated risk to sign a punter and not a kicker. The Bulldogs signed U.S. Army All-American punter Marshall Long of China Grove, N.C.
“In my history, I’ve found that you can find more quality kickers through the walk-on route than you can quality punters,” Smart said. “And after sitting down, sharing ideas, talking to people in the NFL, people that have experience even at the college level, we felt like as a staff that it was going to be harder to manufacture punting than it would be field goal or place-kicking.”
At the end of the day. Georgia's last signee represented the least suspense. Jaleel Laguins, a 6-2, 220-pound linebacker from Oconee County High, committed last summer and was considered a "hard commit" before his 5:30 p.m. ceremony in Watkinsville. But Laguins said he wanted both his parents to be there with him at the end of their working day. And he waited until then to sign his letter-of-intent.
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