Demarcus Riddick made a decision last November to commit to the G. He made a decision on Wednesday afternoon to walk back that choice.
The 5-star LB from Chilton County in Alabama opted to flip his commitment from Georgia to Auburn in a move that he had termed as a “final decision” with various outlets.
The nation’s No. 3 LB is no longer a part of the nation’s top-rated recruiting class. The decision itself comes with little shock or fanfare. If we wanted to be witty or clever, this was a move that had been glaring for months on the recruiting trail.
It kind of felt like a Georgia football game where the Sanford Stadium crowd got so loud that it forced a delay of game penalty on the opposing team’s offense.
The ‘Dawgs have also put together a recruiting class that the program can take the loss of losing the nation’s No. 3 LB prospect and barely blink.
That’s because the ‘Dawgs just picked up a commitment from the nation’s No. 1 LB on Monday afternoon. The ‘Dawgs beat out Oregon for 5-star Texan Justin Williams.
That’s the way that things are going for the Bulldogs on the recruiting trail these days. A long-expected de-commitment and flip from Riddick to one of the two in-state SEC West flagship schools that had been heavily courting him had already been offset earlier in the week by a higher-rated prospect.
Riddick is rated as the nation’s No. 3 LB prospect and the No. 26 overall recruit for this cycle for the 247Sports Composite. He’s a talented prospect that is athletic enough to return punts for his high school team.
The decision drops the Bulldogs down to 25 commitments in the 2024 cycle and now opens up the real possibility for other prized LB targets like Virginians Kristopher C. Jones and Chris Cole to now even more seriously consider the program.
Jones, a very impressive prospect on and off the field with 4.5 speed in the 40 has a lot more going for him that a bright personality, a tireless work ethic and a 6-foot-3 frame and 233 well-defined pounds.
He ranks as the nation’s No. 9 LB on the 247Sports Composite ratings for this cycle and is also the son of a minister. The ‘Dawgs have been battling with Florida and Michigan State for Jones over the last several months.
The Fairfax High (Fairfax, Va.) standout told DawgNation on Wednesday evening that he is still a “couple of weeks” away from his college commitment decision.
RELATED: Get to know 4-star Georgia LB target Kristopher C. Jones
There is also Cole to consider here. He has the frame and skill set to adapt to a couple of positions or spots on the Georgia defense where the number of true LB signees for this class might not be three names exactly.
Cole, yet another 4-star, spent his junior season playing safety at 185 pounds. He’s since bulked up his 6-foot-3-plus frame to 215 pounds without sacrificing a blade of grass’s worth of top-end speed or twitch.
RELATED: Get to know 4-star Georgia LB target Chris Cole
The ‘Dawgs hosted both of those two for official visits last month.
Perhaps the biggest eye-opener here late with the Riddick decision was that the Tigers beat out the Tide for his services. Alabama and Auburn had been seen as the two main foils to flip Riddick away from the ‘Dawgs. There was even a scene with Nick Saban and Riddick at the Alabama spring game that went viral.
Riddick was seen getting out of a luxury sedan with Saban on his way to the Alabama spring game outside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The only major element here to Riddick’s decision is the bold recruiting win here by the Tigers likely signals that the Tigers under Hugh Freeze will have a little more teeth on the recruiting trail. This shows the rest of college football that the program has what it takes to win more of these big-time recruiting battle for 5-star prospects moving forward.
