Georgia Football: Impact Lewis Cine commitment has on UGA

Georgia Football received a commitment yesterday from top safety Lewis Cine, here is a brief overview of the impact he could have in Athens.

After a couple of decommitments, Georgia Football got back in the win column on the recruiting trail. They received a commitment yesterday from Lewis Cine, one of the best safeties in the entire nation and a potentially key cog for Mel Tucker’s defense.

Cine is one of the top 75 players in the 2019 class and is someone a lot of top programs were interested in. Hailing from Texas, the Dawgs have once again gone out of state to earn the commitment from a top player. So just who exactly is Cine and how will his commitment have an impact in Athens?

Who is Lewis Cine:

Unlike a lot of players in the Longhorn State, Cine does not have deep ties to Texas. Originally from Boston, Cine moved south in high school to develop more as a player and get better scholarship opportunities. It worked out well for him and he turned into one of the best defensive backs in a pretty good 2019 class. His senior highlights so far are very run focused. There isn’t much evidence of his ability to defend the pass on these highlights but you can clearly see an ability to quickly close and make play stopping tackles:

Physically, Cine is a little bigger than JR Reed and looks like that kind of player. He’s great at shifting through traffic and finding the ball handler. I’m also really impressed with his tackling technique. He’s not trying to make a kill shot by any means. Instead, he’s focused on actually bringing down his opponent and that’s what Kirby Smart wants from his safeties. How often has he said that Richard LeCounte need to prevent big plays rather than make them?

Just to be clear, everything I have read suggests that Cine is good in pass coverage. He just hasn’t had much of a chance to show that in the film that is up from this season. Much like LeCounte, Cine is a complete safety who can pretty much do it all, stuff the run and defend the pass. The fact that he’s got that versatility and is already such a solid tackler makes him exactly the kind of player Kirby Smart looks for.

What impact could he have in Athens?

Cine should be arriving in Athens at just the right time. JR Reed will have a decision to make after this year as to whether he goes pro or comes back for one more year. In 2020, Reed will definitely be gone and if LeCounte continues to develop, I wouldn’t be surprised if he joins him. Cine would be one of a number of players that Kirby Smart will hope can become a starting safety in the future.

While I do not expect him to start straight away at safety, Cine could find his way onto the field in certain sets next season. I could see him playing somewhat at STAR if UGA were playing run early on. That position has been challenging for UGA to master this season. Cine could help out there to start with before transferring to safety when the position opens up. He’s certainly got the talent to be the next in line at a position group that Georgia is rather good at. I also love the fact that he makes plays on special teams. That’s something that is really important to Smart and it doesn’t look like Cine has any problem doing the dirty work in that regards.

Perhaps more importantly, Cine’s commitment helps re-define the current recruiting narrative. Last week, there were rumblings that all was not well at UGA after three quick decommitments. Cine’s announcement shows that UGA really was making room for higher ranked players to eventually come in and that it truly is business as usual right now. Georgia is going to continue to dominate on the recruiting trail this season and Cine will not the be last highly regarded player that ends up in Athens come December.