Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This entry takes a precise look at the player participation in Athens for the 2021 Georgia football team. Which Bulldogs are in line for a redshirt?
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Redshirts. They used to be a very big thing in college football.
There have been a few rule changes like the 4-game maximum and the bonus year for Covid-19 that render most to toss the previous eligibility clock right out the sliding back glass window of the truck.
Or at least recognize the matter is significantly complicated these days.
Redshirt freshman. Sophomore. Redshirt sophomore. Junior. Redshirt junior. Those terms don’t really mean what they used to anymore.
It is probably now easier to gauge freshmen and sophomores not by what the team roster says about class standing, but by the potential max years of eligibility remaining.
That is if they do not portal before they get to the end of their maximum eligibility.
The 2020 signing class at UGA still began this year with a maximum of four remaining seasons of eligibility left to play. It didn’t matter how many games they played in during their first fall on campus.
The classes of 2017, 2018 and 2019 are also better sorted by the number of years they have in which they could potentially play. Especially given that “Super Senior” designation which existed this year for players like Justin Shaffer, Julian Rochester and Devonte Wyatt. Those guys all signed to play for Kirby Smart’s program back in 2017.
The “Super Senior” years will still exist for 2017 signees like Latavious Brini, Robert Beal Jr., Stetson Bennett IV and Amer Speed in 2022. That’s because they can also apply both a redshirt year and the COVID-19 year to their eligibility status.
The 2021 signees won’t be that complicated to track. They will still have that five years to play four seasons staple to apply to their careers.
Do you know which players from the 2021, 2020 and 2019 classes can take a redshirt for this fall? Do you know which true freshmen played in every game? Or what about the Bulldogs which landed somewhere in the middle?
This week seems like a good week to examine all of those topics.
Georgia will still see a few 5-stars and several All-Americans that will be able to use a redshirt for the 2021 season.
2021 Georgia football signing class: Redshirt Report
The 2021 class saw a lot of participation on the field this fall.
Georgia held the ranking of the nation’s No. 1 team for the majority of the season. That said, the Bulldogs still saw nine of their 20 scholarship signees play in at least eight games as true freshmen.
It bodes well for the future. That’s quite a statement on the number of players the Bulldogs found in the last signing cycle. That’s not including some of their most talented overall freshmen like Xavian Sorey Jr. and Brock Vandagriff.
There’s not just that to digest, but to also point out that the Bulldogs found a couple of gems in true freshman Brock Bowers and Jamon Dumas-Johnson. Those two guys already project to having clear ALL-SEC and All-American potential.
Bowers is already there. Dumas-Johnson shows all the signs of that same level of impact in just his first season in Athens.
The current participation report among the 2021 signees looks like this:
- TE Brock Bowers (Former All-American and 4-star recruit) -- 13 games
- OLB Chaz Chambliss [Former 4-star recruit] -- 13 games
- ILB Jamon Dumas-Johnson [Former 4-star recruit] - 12 games
- DB Kamari Lassiter [Former 4-star recruit] -- 13 games
- DB Javon Bullard [Former 3-star recruit] -- 12 games
- WR Jackson Meeks [Former 3-star recruit] -- 9 games
- ILB Smael Mondon, Jr. [Former All-American and 5-star recruit] -- 9 games
- S David Daniel [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 8 games
- OT Amarius Mims (Former All-American and 5-star recruit] -- 8 games
- ------ CURRENT REDSHIRT LINE ---- (4 games or fewer)
- CB Lovasea Carroll [Former 4-star RB recruit] -- 4 games
- CB Nyland Green [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 3 games
- OL Micah Morris [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 2 games
- OLB Xavian Sorey, Jr. [Former All-American and a 5-star recruit] -- 2 games
- QB Brock Vandagriff [Former All-American and a 5-star recruit] -- 2 games
- DL Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins [Forner All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 1 game
- OL Dylan Fairchild [Former All-American and 4-star recruit} -- 1 game
- DL Jonathan Jefferson (Former 4-star recruit) -- 1 game
- PWO RB Cash Jones [Former 3-star recruit] -- 1 game
- DL Marlin Dean [Former 3-star recruit] -- 1 game
- PWO ATH Logan Johnson [Former 3-star recruit] -- 1 game
- PWO WR Mekwi Mews -- 1 game
- OL Jared Wilson [Former 3-star recruit] -- 1 game
2020 Georgia football signing class: Redshirt Report
The Georgia football signees from this class are in an interesting position.
They have the COVID-19 bonus year added to their eligibility clock from last season. Consider that a free year whether or not they played a bunch at all.
There is also the chance to take the traditional redshirt this year as well. The traditional NCAA eligibility clock of five years to play four seasons morphs into something like six years to play five seasons.
Consider the tough case of former All-American OL Tate Ratledge. Ratledge was one of Georgia’s most impressive OLs coming out of fall camp. He earned his first career start against Clemson but was lost for the season on the third play of that game.
He will return next fall with a robust four full years of eligibility remaining. We won’t even get into the thought he could even apply for a medical redshirt for the 2021 season. Ratledge still looks like the type of player that will not need to be at UGA four years from now before the NFL comes calling.
Georgia is getting a lot of run from its 2020 signing class. There are only a handful of signees that still have a chance at a redshirt for the 2021 season. There are only a handful of Bulldogs here, barring an injury, that did not play in at least five games this season.
This class has also already experienced some attrition. Daran Branch and Major Burns, two DB signees from Louisiana, both transferred out prior to this season.
The only other 2020 signee who did not play in a game for the Bulldogs this fall would be former 3-star OL recruit Cameron Kinnie.
The current participation report among the 2020 signees looks like this:
- DL Jalen Carter (Former All-American and 4-star recruit) -- 13 games
- RB Daijun Edwards [Former 4-star recruit] -- 13 games
- OT Broderick Jones [Former All-American and 5-star recruit] -- 13 games
- WR Ladd McConkey [Former 3-star recruit] - 13 games
- CB Kelee Ringo [Former All-American and 5-star recruit] -- 13 games
- OLB Mekhail Sherman [Former All-American and 5-star recruit] -- 13 games
- C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 13 games
- DL Warren Brinson [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 11 games
- WR Jermaine Burton [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 11 games
- WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 11 games
- OL Devin Willock [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 11 games
- TE Brett Seither [Former 3-star recruit] -- 10 games
- DL Nazir Stackhouse [Former 4-star recruit] -- 10 games
- TE Darnell Washington [Former All-American and 5-star recruit] -- 9 games
- WR Justin Robinson [Former 4-star recruit] -- 8 games
- OL Austin Blaske [Former 3-star recruit] -- 6 games
- RB Kendall Milton [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 6 games
- ------ CURRENT REDSHIRT LINE ---- (4 games or fewer)
- QB Carson Beck [Former 4-star recruit] -- 4 games
- OL Chad Lindberg [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 4 games
- WR Arian Smith [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 4 games due to various injuries
- PWO WR Braxton Hicks -- 3 games
- PK Jared Zirkel [Former 3-star recruit] -- 2 games
- CB Jalen Kimber [Former All-American and 4-star recruit] -- 1 game due to a season-ending injury
- PWO DB Jehlen Cannady -- 1 game
- PWO DL Cade Brock -- 1 game
2019 Georgia football signing class: Redshirt Report
It must be stated the redshirt issue is not the priority with this group. The players from this class have already spent the bulk of two spring practices, two fall camps and two full seasons in Athens, if not more than that.
If a player is due for a redshirt from this class, then something has not gone quite right during their time as a Bulldog. They should be moving into contributor status, at a minimum.
According to the participation report for the season on Georgiadogs.com, the case of former 5-star center Clay Webb stands out.
Webb was an All-American who bypassed that event in order to show up in Athens in December of 2018 and go through bowl practices. He was an accomplished state champion wrestler in high school and played in two games in 2019 and another three games in 2020. He was even named the co-winner of the Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year honor after his first season at UGA.
He has not seen any action this season.
This is a class that has felt the true oomph of the transfer portal. Junior college signee DJ Daniel left for the NFL Draft but was not selected. Jermaine Johnson, another JUCO signee, transferred to FSU to get a clear starting job and looks like a second-round NFL Draft pick. He could go even higher than that.
QB D’Wan Mathis, CB Tyrique Stevenson and WR Makiya Tongue all portal-ed out to Temple, Miami and Oregon State, respectively.
Dominick Blaylock and George Pickens, a pair of explosive NFL talents at the WR position, have been limited this year due to injury. What would the Georgia offense have looked like this fall if both of those guys had been healthy? That will always be the what-if for the 2021 season with those two impact playmakers.
The current participation report among the 2019 signees looks like this:
13 games
- Former All-American and 4-star Lewis Cine
- Former All-American and 5-star Nakobe Dean
- PWO safety Dan Jackson
- Former 4-star DL Zion Logue
- Former 4-star Warren McClendon Jr.
- PWO long snapper William Mote
- Former All-American and 4-star Xavier Truss
- Former All-American and 5-star Travon Walker
- Former 3-star DL Tramel Walthour (JUCO signee from the 2018 class)
12 games
- Former All-American and 5-star Nolan Smith
- Former 4-star RB Kenny McIntosh
6 games
- Former 4-star TE Ryland Goede
- Former 4-star DL Bill Norton
5 games
- Former 3-star DL Tymon Mitchell
------ CURRENT REDSHIRT LINE ---- (4 games or fewer)
- Former 4-star ILB Trezmen Marshall (4 games)
- Former All-American and 4-star WR Dominick Blaylock (3 games due to injury)
- Former All-American and 5-star WR George Pickens [2 games due to injury]
- PWO RB Anthony Sumney (2 games)
- PWO DL Tyler Malakius (1 game)
- Former All-American and 4-star ILB Rian Davis (1 game)
Georgia football: What about the 2018 signing class?
The 2018 signing class was the first breakthrough for Georgia.
It was the first No. 1 class and at the time established an industry record with seven signees that held the coveted 5-star ranking.
The overview of that class is such a fascinating discussion that it will be the subject of its own individual story post on DawgNation.com.
There is quite a lot to cover on that one, including an appropriate reranking of how all those signees panned out during their time in Athens.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
- Big 2024 name Zion Ferguson picks up UGA offer after strong showing against 5-star Travis Hunter
- What’s the latest with All-American DT Christen Miller heading into early signing day?
- Georgia football recruiting: Closing time is here for the class of 2022
- Committed to Georgia: The 2022 commits says the latest loss to ‘Bama will serve as “fuel”
- BREAKING: Georgia pulls 3-star Alabama OL Ryqueze McElderry away from ‘Bama
- BREAKING: 3-star Class of 2022 DT Shone Washington commits to Georgia football
- David Cooper: Georgia’s first-year recruiting relations director has made a big impact
- Gunner Stockton: Prolific prep career comes to an end in South Georgia
- Marquarius White: Georgia is trying to lure “Squirrel” away from the Vols
- 5-star CB Jaheim “Slim” Singletary commits to Georgia
- What Kirby Smart said to Marquis Groves-Killebrew after his season-injury knee injury was pretty cool
- The big little thing that Gunner Stockton has done each week while breaking records
- BREAKING: Top 100 cornerback Julian Humphrey commits to Georgia
- Raymond Cottrell: Bulldogs flip the elite 2023 WR commit from Florida
- Gunner Stockton: All-American QB smashes state passing TD record held by Trevor Lawrence
- LT Overton: The nation’s No. 2 overall junior prospect says he just loves the staff at UGA
- The scouting intel for new commit Big Bear Alexander jumps off the [web] page
- BREAKING: In-state DL Mykel Williams pulls off a 5-star flip from USC to UGA
- Oscar Delp: The meeting of all meetings that helped seal his commitment
- Ladd McConkey: Where would he be now if not for that very late UGA offer
