Georgia Recruiting… So hot right now
By Matt Green
The Georgia recruiting class for 2017 is like Hansel from the movie Zoolander: “So hot right now.”
When the clock struck midnight on the year of 2016, the Dawgs had 20 commits, giving them the third ranked recruiting class in the country according the 247sports’ team recruiting rankings, trailing only Alabama and Ohio State.
In less than 48 hours into 2017, Georgia now has 23 commits.
Deangelo Gibbs
In the third quarter of Under Armour All-American game, Georgia got a pledge from DeAngelo Gibbs. Gibbs, from Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga, is the nation’s no. 40 player according to 247sports’ composite rankings, including the nation’s no. 3 safety.
Gibbs is now Georgia’s fourth highest rated commit for the class of 2017 and he is an intriguing prospect. At 6’2, 204 lbs, Gibbs was originally listed as a cornerback, but during his senior year was changed to safety. And during the Under Armour All-American game, Gibbs exclusively played wide receiver, and he consistently blew past all-american cornerbacks.
After graduating in December, Gibbs will enroll early in just a few days and take part in spring practice. Wherever Gibbs lines up in Athens, one thing is certain: He is an elite athlete that should be able to make a big an immediate impact between the hedges.
Tray Bishop
Later on Monday evening at the Army All-American game, Georgia got more good news.
With all eight of the Bulldogs’ commits on the East roster setting up for a photo shoot, Tray Bishop decided to surprise everyone when he jumped in the picture and decided to commit to the G.
Bishop, like Gibbs, is another intriguing prospect. At 6’3, 193 lbs, Bishop, from Terrell County in Dawson, Ga, is the no. 149 player in the nation and the no. 4 athlete. He de-committed from Auburn about a month ago and re-opened his recruitment.
The Tigers recruited Bishop to play quarterback, but he also projects as a wide receiver, cornerback, or safety at the next level. According to Bishop, Kirby Smart and Mel Tucker are recruiting him to play defense, most likely as a corner.
Monty Rice
If landing two four-star commitments on Sunday wasn’t enough for the Bulldog Nation, they were awoken on Monday morning to find out that the three-star linebacker had flipped from the LSU Tigers to the Bulldogs.
On Dec. 12, Monty Rice shocked many recruiting experts by picking the Tigers over the Bulldogs since 100 percent of his 13 crystal ball predictions were to Georgia.
The Alabama-native is listed at 6’1, 227 lbs, and while he might be listed as a three-star prospect on 247sports, Rice has offers from all of the major programs in the southeast and multiple other recruiting services list him as a four-star.
Rice, like Gibbs, is another early enrollee, and will give the Dawgs some much-needed depth at inside linebacker this spring.
247sports Class Rankings
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1. Alabama (311.07): 26 commits. 4 five-stars, 17 four-stars, 4 three-stars
2. Ohio State (300.79): 17 commits. 6 five-stars, 10 four-stars, 1 three-star
3. Georgia (300.61): 23 commits. 2 five-stars, 17 four-stars, 4 three-stars
4. Michigan (279.07): 26 commits. 1 five-star, 16 four-stars, 9 three-stars
The Bulldogs still have the third ranked class in the nation, but only trail the Buckeyes by percentage points and are light-years ahead of the fourth-ranked class.