Georgia football has added six early enrollee’s to the class of 2017. I will breakdown my thoughts on each early enrollee and how I project them to contribute to Georgia. This week DeAngelo Gibbs, Next week Monty Rice.
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The Facts:
DeAngelo Gibbs was a highly recruited athlete coming out of high school. The number 6 overall prospect coming out of Georgia in this recruiting cycle. A two-time all state selection at defensive back. Gibbs has been an outstanding football player on both sides of the ball, he helped lead a Grayson team to a state championship contributing on both defense and offense for them.
The Upside:
Gibbs is a phenomenal athlete, he can do it all. He has the make up to be a GREAT wide receiver in the SEC. But also has the opportunity to have the same impact on the defensive side of the ball.
As shown in his highlights you can see that Gibbs is a great pass catcher. But you can also see the potential to play defense. He isn’t scared to come up and strike the ball carrier in the backfield. If you throw it downfield, he will make your wide receiver pay the price. Gibbs does a really good job of keeping his head up and strike the ball carriers. He also doesn’t arm tackle too much, and does a good job of wrapping up the offensive players.
DeAngelo has amazing speed, able to take the top off of a defense at any point in the game. He has great footwork as both a defensive back and wide receiver. As a wide receiver Gibbs doesn’t catch the ball in his chest, he catches everything with his hands. He also does a great job at pinpointing jump balls, and ensuring that he comes down with it. Which is good for both sides of the ball as a defensive back if he gets his hand on the ball, you can be sure he will come down with it.
The Concern:
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The only real concern with Gibbs if you ask me, is that the coaching staff leaves him at one primary position for his career instead of switching him between positions through the years. Malcolm Mitchell was a outstanding wide receiver for Georgia, and I personally don’t believe him moving between cornerback and wide receiver had any really negative impact on his progression. But if he would’ve focused on wide receiver his whole career, he might have taken over as a top receiver sooner.
So that is my only concern with Gibbs at Georgia. If the coaching staff chooses to play him on defense, I hope that he stays at defense his whole career.
Expectations at Georgia:
You can expect to see Gibbs line up at safety with LeCounte. Both of them are going to bring a different level of intensity to that defense. And they could be one of the all time great safety combos in Dawg history.
But I think Gibbs could be a lockdown corner in college. I think he has a chance to replicate the career of Patrick Peterson. He is a big corner who isn’t afraid of contact, has the ability to run and jump with any receiver. Even with the addition of three cornerbacks on signing day, I think Gibbs could be the best corner in this class if placed at that position.