EDITOR’S NOTE: Before you read on below, make sure you have read this first.
If you don’t do that, then this will be kind of like finding out what happens to Maverick and Rooster in “Top Gun: Maverick” before watching what happened with Goose and Maverick in the original 1984 classic. Don’t do that. Don’t be that reader today.
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Football is a funny game sometimes. The best teams don’t win. A bounce here. An injury there. A curious offsides call that somehow gets past the eye test.
Maybe a Big Ten official reimagining the rulebook for one of their conference’s cash cows seven months later. The more telling holding calls that never draw the yellow flag.
That’s why they still have to play the games.
Kirby Smart’s most talented teams are still on the way in Athens. That comes from the perspective of a reporter that has seen every brick of this budding dynasty builds since 2015, that is going to happen.
The players are going to be better. The mindsets are going to be right. The ‘Dawgs have not just found the guys, they’ve stacked up the right “Georgia guys” to ensure brotherhood + connection + composure + toughness + resiliency are going to be there.
Will they win five titles in a row? Nope. Nobody can say that.
Let’s go ahead and dismiss that. There is too much parity and too much in the NIL goldmines to ensure that will happen. What I do think will happen is that Georgia will have its most talented teams of the Kirby Smart era hunting down more January wins in the college football playoff era.
Them ‘Dawgs are going to be more talented as the years go by. That’s because the overall talent of the recruiting classes they are building is better. There are no holes in these classes. Georgia has the top-rated class in both the 2024 and 2025 cycles right now. They develop like an NFL farm team and they also have the momentum of back-to-back national championships to check every box that a blue-chip recruit is looking for.
The first half of this project showed why the ‘Dawgs have stacked up those types of players at key offensive positions like QB, OT, TE and RB. They can play explosive football and win a shootout.
These ‘Dawgs could not recruit any better than they have on special teams having signed the No. 1 kicker in 2023 and holding the commitment from the No. 1 punter in 2024. They’ve also got a 5-star long snapper on the way from Virginia.
The first part of this piece featured the following INTEL.
- A headline stat here would be the tally of 5-star prospects (14) that the Bulldogs already have on the roster or committed that will be around in the 2024, 2025 or 2026 seasons.
- The oomph of that stat swells up when noting the ‘Dawgs will have stockpiled 34 players for those teams that ranked among the nation’s top 100 overall prospects while they were in high school.
- The feeling is enhanced while noting the massive Top 100 depth at the following positions: CB (4); DL (5); EDGE (4); LB (6); OT (3); S (3); TE (4)
- The ‘Dawgs will have brought in 21 players that ranked among the nation’s top 4 overall prospects at their position, including another 12 players that rated either No. 1 or No. 2 nationally at their positions.
Those were good. This one was the best.
- There’s a potential defensive depth chart in Athens when a TV commentator can point to any position and find a starter that was ranked among the nation’s top 5 overall prospects in high school. In some cases, a potential projected two-deep on D could reflect a starting group flush with top 5 players nationally for their position. Georgia could then put up a full second-team group of players that were once ranked among the nation’s top 10 prospects for their position.
For those that trumpet this is a golden era and feel the most talented rosters of the Smart era are still up ahead, that’s the debate winner. That will not even include the key developmental and savvy evaluation gems the ‘Dawgs line up every fall with the 3-star recruits (Dillon Bell, Javon Bullard, Jordan Davis, Ladd McConkey) they have found over the years.
- That specific stat will break down to at least two former 5-star prospects at every position on the defensive side of the ball.
- The LB position is especially jaw-dropping as the ‘Dawgs will feature six top 100 overall prospects at that position.
This post is all about the defense. Future defenses are stacked so strong that when the nation’s No. 133 overall prospect committed to Georgia he is not expected to be an immediate cornerstone.
Even when the film says otherwise.
Kristopher C. Jones is going to be a great player in the SEC. His name will likely appear on some ALL-SEC teams in the future. He’s that good, with the right frame and the perfect eat-off-the-basement-floor mindset.
Yet there are going to be at least six higher-rated LBs in Athens when he gets there. The impressive thing about Jones is that he wants all that smoke from the competition in Glenn Schumann’s room.
Fast fact: The ‘Dawgs project to sign 14 players rated higher than Jones in this class alone. That number could swell to 17 in a few more weeks. There are already seven defensive prospects that have committed in this class that are rated higher than Jones.
How might that be different? How does that go beyond just an exact tally of star rankings and highly-rated guys on the internet?
It means Georgia could weather the loss of a key EDGE rusher in the playoffs better. The ‘Dawgs have seen that happen almost annually over the years so far in Smart’s time. It means they will have four or five future NFL guys at every defensive position instead of just two or three.
The Georgia defenses of 2020, 2021 and 2022 were good at shutting down almost of college football. Yet when they met a 2019 LSU, a 2020/2021 Alabama or a 2022 Ohio State they still gave up explosives and points.
It will always be tough to stop those truly elite offenses, but the forecast here is Georgia will contain those teams better. Those high-powered offenses will strain to get to 30 points in future matchups instead of putting up 40-plus.
The future Georgia defenses will be able to run and hit and cover and tackle and get home with just four or five when needed a lot more often. They’ll match those slippery slot receivers with more all-around defensive backs that look and play like Javon Bullard and clock 4.4s in the 40.
That’s what I see happening in Athens. That’s what I see as being different. The stacks of talent that Georgia has piled up in the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes lead me to that hypothesis.
Check out the position-by-position glances for future Georgia teams in 2024, 2025 and 2026. These stacks upon stacks of dudes are present in abundance to support that lofty projection.
DEFENSE
Linebacker
Position futures ranking: 10 out of 10
Former 5-stars: 2
Former top 100 overall prospects: 6
Former top 50 overall prospects: 4
- There’s elite and then there’s ELITE for the ‘Dawgs. This group probably deserves a 10-plus. Georgia will have the services of former 5-star Raylen Wilson (2023) for at least the next three seasons. Wilson was the nation’s No. 3 LB prospect in the last cycle.
- Wilson could be a future first-round draft pick, but it is taxing to describe a way where his potential is clearly better than fellow 2023 signee CJ Allen. Allen was the nation’s No. 5 LB and No. 72 overall recruit coming out of Lamar County last year. He’s got some Roquan and Nakobe and Monty and “Pop” in his game. His skills mesh nicely with what Wilson does very well in the box. We wish future SEC opponents the best of luck cranking out extended drives with those heat-seeking three-down LBs patrolling the second level.
- Georgia also signed another All-American in the 2023 cycle in 4-star Troy Bowles. Bowles ranked as the nation’s No. 6 LB and the No. 80 overall prospect a year ago. That’s three of the nation’s top 6 LBs in one class. Bowles can be the same type of player that Bullard is right now for the ‘Dawgs.
- The other 5-star prospect to pay attention to from this group would be Texas native Justin Williams. Williams is the nation’s No. 1 LB prospect for the 2024 cycle and currently stands to be the highest-rated LB prospect that the ‘Dawgs have signed during Kirby Smart’s time in Athens. That’s saying quite a lot.
- This group will at least have the 2023 and 2024 seasons from 2022 signee Jalon Walker. Walker shined as an edge rusher during his true freshman season last fall. He was rated as a 5-star by at least one service while he was in high school. He has what it takes to be a star on these future star-studded Georgia defenses.
- UGA also holds the commitment of Buford High’s Jadon Perlotte in the 2025 cycle. The rangy 6-foot-4, 215-pounder is rated as the nation’s No. 5 LB prospect and the No. 34 overall recruit for his class.
- Jones just committed to the ‘Dawgs and his name just adds to the future impact of this position group. He’s the nation’s No. 133 overall prospect for 2024 and would be a cornerstone building block for a lot of other programs in the SEC.
- Let’s not dismiss the future prospects of 2022 signee EJ Lightsey in this room, too. He’s the 3-star that has made a remarkable leap in his game since last summer. By the time the Kentucky game rolled around last fall, it was hard to recognize Lightsey he had put on so much good weight. He took a redshirt last fall after showing up in just four games.
- It is not feasible to imagine a future of any one position on any team any brighter than this LB room at the University of Georgia. These are hellacious players, but they are also the type that Georgia could bring to SEC Media Days to represent the program.
Cornerback
Position futures ranking: 9.75 out of 10
Former 5-stars: 2
Former top 100 overall prospects: 4
Former top 50 overall prospects: 3
- For this exercise, we are lumping the corners and safeties into their own categories. If we wanted this feature to run any longer, we’d have made another breakout for the defensive backs for the “Star” position. That’s because of the depth of versatility and cross-training in Athens. Some guys are just pure corners and the ‘Dawgs have stacked up plenty of those in the last three recruiting cycles.
- We thought hard about giving this group a 10.0 rating because we hadn’t seen anything else like a pair of former 5-stars in Daylen Everette (’22) and Ellis Robinson IV (’24) at the position supported by a nation’s No. 3 CB in AJ Harris (’23) and the No. 6 CB from the 2022 cycle in Julian Humphrey, too.
- The rating here was initially a “10″ because we felt that’s about as good as a future depth chart outlook could get. That was until we charted the TE and LB positions for the program. Those rooms set the standard.
- Robinson is the nation’s No. 1 cornerback for 2024 and it is not even close. His case deserves further explanation because he has everything at that position save for truly elite (4.4 in the 40 and below) speed. He has the whole tool kit in spades from ball skills to length to size to technique to tenacity. When Robinson signs with UGA in December, he will be the most talented CB signee of the Smart era. The potential future pairing of Harris and Robinson on the edges could be the first true tandem of projectable first-round corners under Smart.
- Georgia has also stacked up a load of tremendous cornerback talent with names like Daniel Harris and Chris Peal but the numbers populated and tracked here for this study are just the top 100 overall prospects only. Harris and Peal are already turning heads at UGA.
EDGE
Position futures ranking: 9.75 out of 10
5-stars: 2
Former top 100 overall prospects: 4
Former top 50 overall prospects: 3
- Georgia signed the nation’s No. 3 LB and the No. 24 overall prospect in 2022 with former 5-star Marvin Jones Jr. The former WR and son of a College Football Hall of Famer is expected to take a major step forward this fall. He checks every box at 6 feet, 5 inches and 255 pounds. Jones, like many ‘Dawgs on this list, has all the tools to be a future top-15 pick in the NFL Draft. He just needs to put it all together and show it on film for a couple of years.
- The Bulldogs then slayed “EDGE” recruiting in the 2023 class. Chidera Uzo-Diribe put together what could be an all-time position group in Athens by signing the nation’s No. 3 EDGE in Damon Wilson, the No. 8 EDGE in Sam M’Pemba and the No. 12 EDGE in Gabe Harris. Those were the No. 20, 47 and 65 players in the country, respectively.
- Those four names are the heavy hitters, but the Bulldogs look to feature the unique talent of 2022 signee Darrius Smith (No. 146 overall) this fall. The 6-foot-6 Smith, a former state track champion, has a skill set that’s hard to fathom in any program. He started out warming up at safety before SEC road games last fall and is already a real threat flying in off the edge. Don’t forget about former Cedar Grove standout CJ Madden. He signed with the ‘Dawgs as the nation’s No. 165 overall prospect in 2022.
- The fact that a pair of top 200 players are mentioned after four other higher-rated names in very telling here. I’m not sure the general fan understands how good a top 200 overall prospect really is. Most top 10 recruiting classes year-by-year only include about eight or nine top 200 overall prospects. Florida has the nation’s No. 3 class right now and their board only has seven guys rated higher than Madden and Smith were in 2022. (Side note: The ‘Dawgs have 17 guys ranked amount the nation’s top 150 recruits right now.)
- Considering there’s usually only one or two “EDGE” rushers on the field at any one time, this is a considerable amount of depth for one position here among the Bulldogs.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Position futures ranking: 9.75 out of 10
5-stars: 3
Former top 100 overall prospects: 5
Former top 50 overall prospects: 4
- Let’s start with the former 5-star Mykell Williams here. A case can be made he is the most important player on the 2023 team. He was the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect out of Hardaway High in 2022 and the Bulldogs should only get two more seasons before Rodger Goddell’s league comes calling early. He can be a top 10 overall pick in the NFL. That gives this group a bump with its overall rating.
- Jordan “Big Baby” Hall is going to bring a different skill set than Jalen Carter but look for him to make a strong first-year impact later this season. The former All-American was rated as the nation’s No. 4 DL and the No. 39 overall prospect in 2023. He was named a 5-star by both the 247Sports Composite and On3. The latter service there ranked him as the No. 2 DL and the No. 13 overall recruit last year. Hall tore through the All-American Bowl practices back in January the same way that Williams did when he was out in San Antonio. He left no doubt he was one of the nation’s truly elite players. He’s going to wear Travon Walker’s No. 44. They didn’t give him that number just by accident.
- The ‘Dawgs have a pair of top 100 overall commits in 2024 with Texan Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (No. 37 overall) and New Jersey resident Jordan Thomas (No. 100 overall) so far. Jonah-Ajonye has put on about 35 pounds since his junior year and just turned 17. The 6-foot-5, 275-pounder has only been playing football for a few years and his upside is enormous. He can rise to 5-star status. Thomas moves like no one would expect a 315-pound DL to cover ground.
- Manchester’s Justus “Jay” Terry looks the part of a 5-star in the 2024 class. Yet he’s just a rising junior. The 6-foot-5, 275-pounder is just 16 years old. He’s rated as the nation’s No. 4 DL prospect and the No. 19 overall prospect for his class.
- There is also very strong depth here in this room with former All-Americans Christen Miller (Class of 2022) and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins (Class of 2021) expected to make big strides in Tray Scott’s defensive line rotations this fall. Jamaal Jarrret, a 6-foot-6 behemoth in the middle, was also a top 200 overall prospect in the 2023 cycle. 247Sports also rated him as a top 100 overall recruit.
Safety
Position futures ranking: 9.5 out of 10
Former 5-stars: 2
Former top 100 overall prospects: 4
Former top 50 overall prospects: 2
- There are only two safeties on the field, but the ‘Dawgs deploy more defensive backs on the field than that. Georgia is a predominant nickel team these days. That’s why defensive backs that can play the safety, the nickel and then play winning football at cornerback as so valuable to this program.
- Malaki Starks has earned some preseason All-SEC and All-American this fall after starting all but one game during his freshman season. He looked dynamic every snap of the way. He’ll be at UGA likely through the 2024 season and could leave as one of the all-time greats to ever play the position. He was a top 20 overall prospect that rated as an athlete coming out of high school but everyone knew his future was at safety. He had Champ Bailey-sized expectations coming out of high school and has already shown he can walk that path. Just cross reference that statement with the signature highlights he had against Oregon and Missouri as a freshman.
- 2023 signee Joenel Aguero is another former 5-star that will be hard to keep off the field as a true freshman. He was the nation’s No. 3 safety and the No. 37 overall recruit. His pure 247Sports rating had him as the No. 27 overall recruit. He is a physical player that will fly up into the box for run support, but he is also more than capable in coverage with his sub-4.4-speed and ball skills. He played two seasons at IMG Academy before returning home to Massachusetts for his senior season.
- The ‘Dawgs currently have commitments from the nation’s No. 4 (DeMello Jones) and No. 6 safeties (Peyton Woodyard) in the 2024 cycle. Jones is the nation’s No. 78 overall prospect but could also line up at cornerback or “Star” early on in his career as a Bulldog. Woodyard, a highly intelligent player, will be a four-year starter for one of the nation’s top high school programs in St. John Bosco this fall. He’s the nation’s No. 81 overall prospect for this class.
- This position can also be enhanced like the RB spot in the first part of this breakdown with another potential addition. If the ‘Dawgs are able to gain the commitment of 5-star KJ Bolden on August 5, then this position futures ranking would jump to a 10.0. Bolden is the nation’s No. 1 safety prospect in the 2024 class. It would mean three former 5-star safeties on the team.
That’s the defensive outlook for Georgia’s future football rosters in 2024, 2025 and 2026. As a reminder, we did not include any 2021 signees in this future outlook here because the focus will be on multiple seasons of Georgia football going forward.
The defensive reputation for Kirby Smart’s program on the recruiting trail is as sterling as it gets right now.
It actually helps the Bulldogs recruit the offensive side of the ball. I’ve heard countless times this year, including from the likes of 5-star QB Dylan Raiola, that one of the best things about playing for Georgia is that he will face a defense chock-full of future NFL players every day in practice.
Raiola made the point that the best way for an offensive player to get better is by going against the Georgia defense every day. Where else will they get to face as many former 5-stars and former All-Americans every day in college?
That’s the reality now. Those numbers are only going to grow over the next few seasons.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
