Georgia Recruiting: Time to chill out regarding Owen Pappoe

A lot of people who follow Georgia Recruiting are starting to get worried about Owen Pappoe, but should they?

There are a lot of rumors swirling around right now about Owen Pappoe. Those of you who follow Georgia Recruiting likely know all about him. Pappoe has been on the recruiting radar for a long time and UGA has been a favorite to land him for a while.

But a recent push by Auburn seems to have a lot of fans freaking out. Apparently Auburn have had him on campus twice recently. They have also been heavily recruiting guys that he plays with in high school. The Tigers just got a commitment from 3-star center Jakai Clark who plays with Pappoe.

Look, I get that people worry about these things. I for one pay far too much attention to recruiting. It consumes too much of my time, but I think people need to take a bit of a chill pill here. Not only is this a 17-year-old kid who is trying to make the best decision for himself, but there are also quite a few other factors that people aren’t really considering.

Is he worth it?

As in should anyone be losing sleep over a high school commitment? Look the guy is a special player. He could well end up being very similar to Roquan Smith and I don’t want him to freaking Auburn. Pappoe is someone that you want to be a Georgia Bulldog, but nobody is worth losing sleep over. We never know exactly how talent will develop so let’s just start with that.

Since when did Auburn develop LB’s?

I don’t know exactly what Gus Malzahn has said to entice Pappoe, but it’s certainly not that he knows how to develop LB’s. Seriously, since Malzahn took over, he hasn’t had a single linebacker drafted into the NFL. He’s had some pass rushers and defensive backs, but nobody who plays a position similar to Pappoe.

In comparison, UGA has had 4 LB’s drafted in the 1st round in the past 15 years and that doesn’t include 2018. That’s the second most if any school in the country. Roquan Smith is about to be a top 10 pick so the blueprint for Pappoe is there in Athens when it’s not for Auburn.

Remember Adam Anderson?

Everyone worrying about these Grayson kids going to Auburn, just remember Adam Anderson. This time last year, Anderson didn’t even decommit from UGA, he just committed to LSU because they offered 2 of his Rome teammates. Fast forward to signing day and zero of those 3 guys actually signed with LSU.

Anderson ended up back in Athens where he was comfortable. Signing Pappoe’s friends is a nice way to appease him. Bringing in the best class in the country that is going to win championships is probably better. And believe me, UGA is going to have a better class in 2019 than Auburn. Just look at the 2018 rankings. Georgia doesn’t make room in it’s classes for unranked players.

Remember Brenton Cox?

Last May, UGA had some bad news when one of the nations top OLB’s Brenton Cox committed to Ohio State. Cox was from a family that loved UGA and everyone thought he’d be a Dawg. But he decided to commit to the Buckeyes and people freaked out.

Fast forward to December and after a great season for UGA, Cox’s mind changed. He decommitted from OSU and committed to Georgia on early signing day. So no, a commitment in May doesn’t mean that a player is going to sign there.

There is a long time until signing day.

Looking back on those two 5-star players should remind fans that we’re a long way from signing day. Even if Pappoe signs in December, that’s still 8 months away and a full football season. A heck of a lot can happen in that time. For example, I for one am not convinced that Auburn is actually going to have a very good year. If Pappoe commits to UGA on May 5th, it doesn’t mean he’ll definitely be in Athens and vice versa.

This is Kirby Smart we’re talking about.

At the end of the day, I get why fans are worried. We’ve been burned by players before and decisions like this never seemed to go our way when Mark Richt was around. But this is a different world under Kirby Smart and he shouldn’t be underestimated.

The number of players UGA signed last year that were once committed elsewhere is insane. There were Anderson and Cox, Quay Walker, Divaad Wilson, Otis Reese, Cade Mays, James Cook, Nadab Joseph and of course, Justin Fields. That’s 9 players that this time last year, nobody thought would ever end up in Athens but come signing day, they did.

Next: Nick Chubb Draft Profile

The point is that no matter what Pappoe decides on May 5th, Kirby isn’t going to stop recruiting him. He and Glen Schumann are going to keep fighting every single day to bring Pappoe to Athens. Smart hasn’t done much to disappoint fans when it comes to recruiting. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to start now.