Georgia football: three predictions for the 2020 recruiting class

Georgia football coaches are hard at work recruiting the next crop of talent to take over the Sanford Stadium field. What should fans expect from the 2020 class?

Class packed with offensive linemen

The first few Kirby Smart recruiting class were loaded with offensive lineman. Athens has never seen so many elite linemen prospects come to town. Each of Smart’s first two full classes (2017 and 2018) featured three linemen in the top 100. But the 2019 class only has one elite lineman. That’s likely because of the wealth Smart has built on the offensive line, and his decision to use scholarships to address other positions.

But Smart will not take two years off from signing top 100 linemen. One is already committed, five-star tackle Broderick Jones. Others probably won’t be too far behind. Names to keep an eye on include Michigan’s best player Justin Rogers and Rome’s Tate Ratledge.

Sign two great running backs

Since the 2012 class hit a pair of home runs with Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, every other recruiting class has featured a pair of solid running backs. In 2014, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel came to Athens. Brian Herrien and Elijah Holyfield joined in 2016. The duo of James Cook and Zamir White headline the 2018 class.  Expect another pair of backs to become Georgia Bulldogs in 2020.

Georgia is definitely in the hunt for several running backs in this class, and with the success former Bulldog running backs are having in the NFL, every top prospect should have Georgia in their short list. But if I had to guess which running backs would come to Georgia, I’d pick Maryland’s MarShawn Lloyd and Hogansville native Tank Bigsby. Lloyd is a five-star and Bigsby’s a four-star ranked just inside the top 50 by 247Sports Composite.

They’ve shown the most interest in Georgia so far. But don’t be surprised to see someone like no. 1 ranked running back Zachary Evans deciding to come. The ultimate goal is to get to the NFL in a prominent role. Georgia is doing a fantastic job at that right now.

Another top three class

This one might be a given for the next few years. Even with Georgia Tech joining the 21st century on offense, it’ll take a while for them to make a dent in Georgia’s recruiting. The Bulldogs are coming off their third-straight top three class, and second-straight no. 1 class in the Rivals rankings.

The class already includes three top-100 prospects and will probably have five more just at running and the offensive line if recent classes are any indication. Georgia recruiting isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Without a real recruiting rival in the state, Georgia has sort of first dibs on top in state talent. And the NFL resume makes the program attractive to players around the nation.