This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with early enrollee Bo Walker. He’s rated as the nation’s No. 23 RB and No. 310 overall prospect for 2025 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 24 RB and at No. 339 overall.
Bo Walker.
When that birth certificate got the state seal, a future running back was born.
”Can you find a better name in the state of Georgia than Bo Walker?” his Rabun Gap coach Derek White said. “And he plays running back. Let’s be real. Herschel Walker. Bo Jackson. That’s what I joke about. He’s got a pretty good name.”
While first watching Walker romp to daylight at Cedar Grove, it brought to mind a classic Tupac lyric. That was a line from “Keep Your Head Up” about making a dollar out of 15 cents. (Note: Keith Murray or Master P might’ve rapped it first, but Tupac made it famous.)
Nothing has changed since.
If Walker is going to do one thing, he’ll make a dollar out of 15 cents worth of a hole for the Dawgs.
Bo could make something out of nothing,” White said of his work this past year.
Perhaps when he gets to hide behind the “Great Wall of Georgia” and its 6-foot-7 maulers, he might be making 15 dollars out of five bucks.
5 feet. 8 inches. Maybe 215 pounds. Georgia signed a fireball of determination, talent and toughness in Walker.
When asked what else DawgNation needs to know about Walker, White didn’t tiptoe around it. He invoked the name of two other out-of-this-world backs.
“I think he is built a lot like an Emmitt Smith-type guy,” White said. “Reminds me a little bit of that or with a mix of LaDainian Tomlinson. ... But he’s more physical than people really think. His stature, he’s compact, but they better get used to a guy that is going to have a great career and bring Georgia back to even taking that next step.”
White also said Walker reminded him of former Georgia RB and NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis running behind that all-world OL in Denver.
“He got lost behind that great O-line, and then popped out in the clear,” White said, “I think that’s going to be a strong point for Bo.”
Walker was first recruited by former running backs coach Dell McGee. The Dawgs earned his commitment in October of his junior year and he never wavered.
Josh Crawford has replaced McGee as the leader of the RB room in Athens. Walker’s solid commitment could have been seen as his housewarming gift to UGA.
“Well, I think first and foremost, he’s got a great attitude, loves football and has a great run demeanor,” Crawford said about Walker.
If one missed that DawgNation story this week, Crawford used the term “demeanor” to describe the No. 1 thing he looks for in a running back.
“When the ball is in your hand, you should look desperate, you know, I mean like, your life depends on you getting in that end zone,” Crawford told DawgNation at Sugar Bowl Media Day.
That applies to Walker.
“Really excited about Bo,” Crawford said. “Very hungry. Wants to learn. Really trying to be a sponge so we’re excited about it.”
DawgNation saw Walker working hard at the open practice in Athens for the Sugar Bowl. He was working up to the front of the line. It was a good sign.
“Compact runner,” Crawford said. “He’s got good vision. Makes good cuts. Complete back. Those are the things we look for so we’re seeing things that we saw on tape.”
With expected starter Trevor Etienne leaving for the NFL, it opens up increased opportunities. Etienne’s decision should double the amount of Walker’s projected carries, at least.
Nate Frazier and Cash Jones return. There are carryover injury questions around Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson. Georgia will also have rising sophomore Dwight Phillips and redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens in 2025.
Walker was the only HS prospect the Dawgs signed in the last cycle. UGA had a commitment from a top 100 overall prospect in 4-star Ousmane Kromah, but he flipped to FSU on the first day of the early signing period.
White complimented the 3-time state champion RB on other aspects of his game.
“His cutbacks, his jump cuts, and his vision are all elite,” he said.
He gave his assessment about the two things that keep young backs from playing early. That’s pass pro and catching the ball out of the backfield.
“He catches the ball as good as any running back I’ve ever seen,” White said. “His pass pro, he’s just going to have to get used to it. It is something to adjust to. Here’s the deal, he was good at it here, but he’s going to have to go pass pro against that SEC linebacker on the blitz and that 280-pound defensive end. Little different.”
“If he figures that out quick, and he can cut block, I bet he’ll be ready early. But catching the ball out of the backfield, we joked about this while Bo was here. He probably could have been a slot receiver for us and he’d have been unbelievable.”
Bo Walker: An interesting senior year before UGA
Walker won two state championships with a dominant Cedar Grove team. When his former head coach, John Adams, left to join the Georgia State staff, he felt torn.
He hoped to play his senior year at Stockbridge.
The GHSA didn’t deem that move bonafide. Although the case went through all the appeals, he was ruled ineligible to play for Stockbridge last fall.
It didn’t look like he was going to get a senior season. That would be most unfortunate for any player, much less a future SEC back for Georgia.
Enter Rabun Gap-Naccochee in Northeast Georgia.
“This was a huge transition for Bo,” White said. “You’re leaving behind everything you know. Leaving your house. Moving to a boarding school in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. That’s tough.”
“It was probably a disadvantage for him just throwing him into it. But he was very appreciative. He was really close with our running backs coach Chris Buckhalter. When Bo would miss home a little bit, he would look at him and say ‘Hey man. Remember? They took it away from you. They were going to take it away from you. Everything you are doing right now is a blessing every day,’ so he kept reiterating that and manifesting that in his head and you could see that in Bo. ... I think he dove right into this community. I think he looks back on this time and enjoyed it. He made comments like ‘I wish I could’ve been here a little longer’ and stuff like that. Really special kid.”
Rabun Gap is not part of the GHSA. Instead, the program is aligned with a private school association in North Carolina.
That level of football is better than most think. Rabun Gap beat GHSA 4A power Benedictine by 24 points this year. The Eagles faced Baylor out of Chattanooga on ESPN2 and lost by a touchdown. They even beat Providence Day (and 5-star OT David Sanders Jr.) two times in 2024.
Rabuin Gap also beat Louisiana power John Curtis 27-12 in New Orleans in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.
That’s why it was interesting to see Walker dressed in his Georgia jersey on the sidelines at Notre Dame game. He was the only Dawg in the locker room who could say he’d played a game in that facility before, much less this past season.
“We played John Curtis in the Superdome,” White said. “We ran outside zone away from the bench. I watched him make the first cut. He was probably dead to rights and made a cut and exploded, and I said, ‘Woo, that’s different,‘ and I knew right then his forward lean, his ability to cut, and his explosion were all elite.”
Rabun Gap needed depth at running back to play a national schedule. Walker carried the ball 72 times in 10 games for 632 yards and at least four touchdowns. He averaged 8.8 yards per attempt.
Walker led the Eagles in rushing, but teammate Anthony Quinn Jr. had 630 yards on 5.8 yards per attempt and 12 scores. Quinn signed to play at Marshall.
“Bo said when he got here his expectations were a little low of what football was here,” White said. “When you think of private school ball, kinda, and he found out real quick. He used to tell me, ‘Wow, I used to make people just miss and do things and you can’t do that in this league' against the Providence Days and the Charlotte Christians. He just told me, ‘This is really good football’ and it kind of shocked him.”
Providence Day was the 3-time defending North Carolina Independent Schools Atheltic Association champion. Rabun Gap won both of their meetings this past season, including the NCISAA state championship game.
Those were Walker’s only two 100-yard games of the season.
“He made a couple of plays the first time we played PD that were really special,” White said. “Really special. In the state championship game, he had 17 carries for 115 yards. He was pretty damn good.”
Walker was actually too good at times for his offensive line.
“Bo is a very good cutter and he cuts back,” White said. “So good with that stuff that we ended up getting a ton of holding calls that really hurt Bo. I bet Bo had, you could ask him this, I think Bo had 11 touchdowns called back. One reason is he gets on the edge and the receiver has his butt blocking this way and then doesn’t realize Bo made this cut and he holds. He’s special. He’s elusive. He’s dynamic now.”
SENTELL’S INTEL
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