Georgia football: who is Dwight McGlothern, UGA’s next Thorpe Award winner

Georgia football finished the 2019 recruiting season with a no. 2 class. The coaches are already hard at work recruiting the 2020 class.

It’s always a plus whenever a recruit visits campus and says he’s going to be the next award winner for Georgia football. That’s exactly what Cedar Hill, Texas star Dwight McGlothern proclaimed during his unofficial visit to the University of Georgia last weekend. After leaving Athens, McGlothern posted four photos on twitter of himself in a Georgia uniform. Also in the tweet, he claimed he would be Georgia’s next Jim Thorpe Award winner.

McGlothern can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk? Is he really an elite cornerback? What style does he play? Can the Dawgs reach into the Lone Star State to bring him to Athens? Who is 2020 cornerback Dwight McGlothern?

McGlothern is one of those players who could be ranked highly at several positions. 247Sports Composite ranks him no. 8 nationally among corners and no. 120 overall. But he’d likely be a four-star prospect as a safety and at least a three-star as a wide receiver. He’s a great athlete with a good vertical leap that adds to his already solid 6-2 height.

He doesn’t play press a lot, at least not in any of the game film I’ve watched on YouTube or Hudl. But he does get work in the press in 7-on-7’s and camps. We’ll have to take the recruiting sites word for it, they wouldn’t rank him in the top 10 corners if he couldn’t press.

But, because he doesn’t press much, his skills are more in line with safeties or starting nickels. He’s great in zone coverage, showing good instincts play recognition. He follows the quarterback’s eyes without losing track of the receivers.

But his best trait is his physicality. McGlothern is not shy about invading a receivers personal space. If he’s in the receivers bubble, there’s a good chance he’s going to break up the pass. Those skills carry over to defending passes over the middle, but he’s most impressive against the run. He’s like a laser in run defense. He sees where the play is going and he darts to the spot for a tackle.

Unfortunately, McGlothern has slipped in the recruiting rankings. A year ago today, he was ranked no. 69 in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Two weeks later, he earned his fifth star by climbing up to no. 32 and he spent the entire summer in the top 30. But he dropped out of five-star territory in the middle of the 2018 football season and between the last two rankings updates, he’s dropped a total of 86 spots. In yesterday’s update alone, McGlothern fell 64 spots, thanks to being dropped 157 spots in the Top247 down to no. 189 in those rankings. There’s no explanation for the drop right now.

But, McGlothern is still a top-120 player. Still a top 10 cornerback and still one of the best players in the state of Texas. He’s a player Georgia wants to sign. The Dawgs offered him a scholarship back in April of 2017. Can Georgia secure his signature? Well one of his teammates is already on campus. Safety Lewis Cine (no. 45 overall, no. 3 safety) signed during the early signing period. They shared the defensive backfield together so that familiarity would help Georgia and McGlothern.