5-star OT giving Georgia football mixed signals

Georgia football is after a lot of top targets in the 2026 recruiting class. Five-star offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho fits that definition to perfection.

According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Iheanacho is the No. 2 offensive tackle in the country. He also is the No. 3 overall player in the country and the top ranked player from his home state of Maryland.

Iheanacho is clearly someone that Georgia wants bad. And at first it seemed like Georgia was his top choice as well. But a recent quote shared with On3's Steve Wiltfong is creating some doubt as to where Georgia currently stands in this recruitment.

“Leader is still Oregon. Oregon, Georgia and Penn State. Those are my leaders.”

Georgia has some ground to make up

The above quote shared by Iheanacho is definitely a little confusing. Some might point to the second half of his quote as a sign that Georgia is one of the top three teams and "leader" in his recruitment. But reading the quote in its entirety does make it seem like Georgia is a little bit of an afterthought.

Iheanacho makes it very clear that Oregon is his top team right now. That is why he mentioned them first and mentioned them twice. He then also gave a shoutout to Georgia and Penn State, but it almost feels like he did that as a way to try and keep his recruitment interesting.

This is all just speculation right now and there is the chance that he genuinelly has Oregon, Georgia and Penn State all at the top of his list together. That is at least what Georgia fans are hoping for right now.

Regardless, Kirby Smart and his staff have their work cut out for them, so hopefully they are up to the task and can convince Iheanacho that Athens is the best place for him.