Georgia Bulldogs: Final push for UGA 2017 Recruiting class

Georgia Bulldog’s Kirby Smart and his coaches have built a consensus top 3 class in the country in their first full year of recruiting, but they haven’t finished yet. There are still several high profile prospects out there who UGA are hoping to close with that could really make 2017 the strongest class in the history of the school.

1. Aubrey Solomon, DT, Lee County GA:

The Georgia Bulldogs are focusing on Solomon’s recruitment and it has become the most talked about saga of the entire 2017 high school class. The consensus 5 star DT has gone through what most would describe as a ‘dramatic’ recruitment, with his statements about his favorite destination continually changing. With Alabama, Michigan, and UGA all in the mix, there seems to have been a new ‘revelation’ about Solomon’s recruitment every day for the past month but anybody who says they know what his plans are is likely mistaken.

Despite all the fuss, Solomon is absolutely worth the trouble which is why 3 huge programs are fighting so hard for him. DT as a position group is down this and next year across the south and as the best of the bunch, the team that wins him, will be much stronger going forward than the other two. As the local team, missing out on Aubrey would hurt UGA even with the rest of their stellar class and a win over two of the games marquis coaches would really be the cherry on top of a class to remember.

2. Nico Collins, WR, Pinson AL:

Collins is the 5th highest ranked player in the state of Alabama, a state that is often incredibly hard to pull talent out of due to the presence of Auburn and Alabama. At 6-5 he would be a huge red zone target for Jacob Eason going forward and he would offer the sort of weapon UGA hasn’t had on the outside in several years.

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Michigan and Alabama are again pushing hard but a lot of recruitment agencies are pointing Collins towards Georgia at the moment. Winning these sorts of battles for impact players over big programs is not something UGA has a history of achieving. Winning several of them this season illustrates the change Kirby Smart was expected to bring.

3. Markaviest ‘Big Cat’ Bryant, OLB/DE, Cordele GA:

Bryant is a fantastic athlete who should be another pass rusher off the edge whatever position he ends up playing at college. He plays in a relatively low level of high school ball so will likely end up red-shirting in 2017, especially with more polished prospects in the class but the talent is absolutely there for him to make a big impact.

Bryant was in Athens for his official visit last weekend with a large number of the current recruits and all the reports that came out of that are very positive. He seems more likely to head to UGA than Solomon and Collins although Auburn and LSU remain in the picture for his signing. At both of those schools, he will be a top 5 prospect in this class where as at Georgia, he might only just crack their top 15. A good indicator of just how deep the #SICEM17 class really is.

4. Jamyest Williams, CB, Grayson GA:

Despite residing less than an hour from Athens, Williams committed to the University of South Carolina back in August and has been the lynch-pin of Will Muschamp’s class ever since. That being said, UGA coaches and players don’t seem to have given up on the countries 7th rated cornerback and he is visiting Athens this upcoming weekend.

CB is one of the only positions that the #SICEM17 class is actually thin on, with only William Poole currently committed and so the class could certainly use Williams if they are able to flip him. The real question for Williams is whether he wants to be a part of a very deep class of the centerpiece of a weaker one. Lots of people close to him say that winning really means a huge amount to him and Georgia can certainly offer him a better chance to do that over the next 4 years.

5. Leonard Warner III, LB, Snellville GA:

Warner has long been thought of as one of the more versatile LB recruits who was likely to commit to UGA. Stanford however offers him a really unique opportunity that few recruits have over on the west coast. Warner spent the past weekend out in Palo Alto and it seems like the visit was an academic home run, especially for a player who has a very high GPA and many aspirations outside of football.

Warner would be a great addition to the class who would bring a lot of positional versatility and many believe his high IQ would make him a perfect team captain one day. His father recently stated that they believe the 2017 class will bring a national championship to Georgia and that being a part of that is a very enticing opportunity, it’s just up to his son to decide which of these two great options he decides to take.

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With 23 players in the class already, Georgia probably has room for 3 or 4 more players when all is said and done. If UGA is able to add 3 or 4 of these particular prospects, all of whom have genuine interest in the program, then it becomes even more likely that the already strong 2017 class could well end up as legendary to many fans in the years to come.