Georgia has put its finishing touches on the 2020 signing class, which came at No. 1 in the country per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
All in all Georgia ended up signing 25 prospects in the class. Of those 25, four are 5-star prospects and 11 rank inside the top 100 in the country. This is the second time in three seasons the Bulldogs have landed the No. 1 class in the country. The 2019 class finished No. 2 in the country.
Related: Georgia football: How the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for 2020 came together
The Bulldogs saw key contributions from a number of those 2019 signees, and will likely be looking to get something similar out of their crop of 2020 players.
Below we’ve given some superlatives to the members of the 2020 class.
Biggest freak: Darnell Washington
They do not make players bigger than the 5-star prospect. He’s listed at 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds. Beyond just having mammoth size, he’s also got the athleticism necessary to be a key player at the tight end position.
While he’s not the fastest player, he’s able to use size to be both a mauler in the run game and big red zone target. Georgia could split him out wide and have him take advantage of single coverage on a smaller defensive back. The Bulldogs had a huge need at tight end in this class and Washington more than certainly fills the void at the position
Related: Darnell Washington explains why Georgia was able to land his 5-star talents
Most likely to play early: Jermaine Burton
The LSU game laid bare how dire Georgia’s wide receiver situation is. When Lawrence Cager and Dominick Blaylock got hurt, Georgia only had George Pickens as a reliable option. With Cager now off to the NFL and Blaylock still recovering from an ACL injury, wide receiver figures to be just as big a question mark heading into 2020.
That’s part of the reason the Bulldogs went out and signed five wide receivers in the 2020 recruiting class. The two highest-rated pass catchers are Marcus Rosemy and Arian Smith, both out of Florida.
But the guy we think might have the biggest impact early is actually Burton. He’s the No. 15 ranked wide receiver in the 2020 class and the No. 81 prospect int he country. But he spent much of the recruiting cycle as a top 50 prospect and dropped only after missing the Under Armour All-American Game.
Burton has the speed and versatility to play on the outside but also in the slot. Given Blaylock’s injury, Burton has a chance to give Georgia some of the things Blaylock did as a freshman a season ago.
It also helps that Burton trains with former Georgia standout Terrence Edwards.
Most likely to become fan favorite: Kendall Milton
Milton, along with linebacker signee Mekhail Sherman, was one of the leaders for the Georgia class. He announced his commitment to Georgia in July and never publicly wavered from his commitment.
He spoke frequently about the need for Georgia to land other elite players and called the Bulldogs landing the No. 1 class in the country back in July.
Milton could’ve played in one of the All-American games but elected to instead get started on his college career. He’s the highest-rated early enrollee for Georgia and given the Bulldogs must replace D’Andre Swift and Brian Herrien, Milton will have a chance to earn early playing time as a freshman.
Most likely to be a first-round pick: Broderick Jones
Kirby Smart is already trying to slow play the Jones hype, as the head coach didn’t want anyone prematurely penciling him as a replacement for either Andrew Thomas or Isaiah Wilson.
“It’d be foolish of me to sit here and think that two of these tackles we just signed are going to walk in here and play,” Smart said. “You guys will print that but I’m also a realist that that’s probably not going to happen. Based on the history of the SEC, you do the study on how many freshmen offensive tackles have played. That’s tough to find. It’s hard to do.”
But there’s a reason for the hype when it comes to Jones. He’s the No. 2 rated offensive tackle in the class and had one of the better weeks at the Under Armour All-American practices.
He’s still a bit raw right now as he’s 285 pounds. But that’s largely because he’s a key player for his high school basketball team. Once he gets to Athens he figures to put on weight to his 6-foot-5 frame that will allow him to handle opposing defensive linemen.
Related: Kirby Smart talks competition on Georgia football O-Line, Broderick Jones, Xavier Truss
Thomas figures to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Jones has all the physical tools to follow in his footsteps, even if he doesn’t do it from day one.
Most likely to be a difference-maker: Jalen Carter
Georgia doesn’t have very many players like Carter. He is one of only two 5-star defensive tackles Georgia has signed under Smart, with the other being Travon Walker. We saw last year what kind of impact a 5-star defensive lineman can have, as Walker proved to be a force on both the defensive line and on the kickoff team.
Carter is a well-built 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle. He didn’t enroll early at Georgia, but Walker didn’t last year and by the mid-point of the season Smart was calling him a top-20 player on Georgia’s team.
There’s also the fact Georgia has to replace five defensive linemen from the 2019 team. Georgia does have a number of bodies at the position to fill some of those losses, but none of them have the upside and talent that Carter possesses.
Best position group: Offensive line
As good as Georgia’s wide receiver and defensive back hauls were this cycle, neither stack up to what the Bulldogs are bringing in on the offensive line. Smart and new offensive line coach Matt Luke signed seven players in this class, by far the most at any position group.
In addition to Jones, Georgia also signed the No. 3 offensive tackle int he country in Tate Ratledge and the No. 1 center in Sedrick Van Pran-Granger. There’s also Chad Lindberg, Austin Blaske, Devin Willock and Cameron Kinnie in the class as well.
When you mesh the high-end talent with the depth in this group, it’s hard to imagine doing better than the Bulldogs did in this cycle.
Biggest recruiting win: Kelee Ringo
Ringo was the No. 1 cornerback in the country and No. 4 player overall. He was the top prospect in the state of Arizona. And Georgia brings back most of its secondary for next season.
And Smart and defensive back coach Charlton Warren still were able to convince Ringo that Athens was the best place for his college career. Georgia beat out the likes of Texas and Oregon for his services.
No recruiting win better represents Georgia’s national recruiting chops then landing Ringo in this class.
Highest ceiling: Mekhail Sherman
Sherman lost his 5-star on the final recruiting re-rank, making him the highest-rated 4-star prospect in the country. He’s listed as an outside linebacker, but he’s also able to play inside linebacker.
Part of the worry with Sherman would be that he’s already a knee injury that cut most of his junior season short. When speaking with him in Orlando, Fla., he let it be known that his knee was only about 80 to 85 percent healthy.
He then went out and had a very strong performance in the Under Armour All-American Game. In a game filled with many of the top prospects in the country, Sherman certainly looked like he belonged.
Related: Mekhail Sherman’s linebacker play highlights what we learned at Under Armour All-American Game
If his knee continues to get healthy and Sherman is able to show off his athleticism and positional versatility at the next level, Georgia may not have a better 2020 player in this class.
Highest floor: Marcus Rosemy
Rosemy might not have the athletic upside that some of the other prospects do in this class. But in terms of being a pure football player, Rosemy might be the best in the class.
The wide receiver was a key player for one of the top high school programs in the country at St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida. He made an unreal catch in a nationally televised game and capped his senior season with an interception on the final play of the state championship game.
Rosemy isn’t the blazer that Smith is but he showed that he was able to make contested catches against elite athletes at the Under Armour All-American practices. Given the need Georgia has at the wide receiver position, Rosemy figures to be a very dependable option for Georgia’s passing offense in the years to come.
Sleeper signee: Justin Robinson
Robinson isn’t as highly rated as some of Georgia’s other signees, as he’s the No. 296 prospect in the 2020 cycle. The Bulldogs signed three higher-ranked players at the wide receiver position than Robinson.
But the McDonough, Ga., product has a size advantage over his fellow wide receivers, as he’s listed at 6-foot-4. Robinson is also already enrolled at Georgia and getting a jump start to his college career. He is the only one of the five wide receivers from this class that was able to enroll early.
Georgia had a lot of success this past season with a big-bodied receiver in Cager. Robinson might not be that right away in his college career, but he has the ability to possibly develop into a useful piece for the Bulldogs.
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