5-star RB predicted to land with Georgia over multiple blue blood programs

Georgia football is fresh off landing a commitment from four-star running back Jae Lamar, who made his pledge to the Bulldogs official on Wednesday. And while that commitment is massive as he is the No. 8 running back in the country, all signs point towards Georgia not being done at the position just yet.

In fact, Georgia is on the verge of landing five-star running back Derrek Cooper, who was just predicted to commit to Georgia by On3’s Jeremy Johnson.

Georgia predicted to beat multiple blue bloods for 5-star RB

According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Cooper is the No. 30 overall player in the country. He also is the No. 2 player at his position in the 2026 recruiting class and the No. 2 player from his home state of Florida.

This ranking has made Cooper a very attractive target for nearly every program in the country, especially the other top programs like Georgia. This has made Kirby Smart’s pursuit of Cooper difficult to read because so many other schools have prioritized him just as much as Georgia.

Cooper recently named programs like Ohio State, Florida State, Alabama, Miami (FL) and Texas as the other contenders in his recruitment, but it’s Georgia who has surged ahead of every other program and is the clear leader in his recruitment right now.

Cooper is scheduled to announce his commitment on July 12, so that means Georgia has half a month where they need to hold off these other programs. But as it stands today, Georgia is in a great spot to earn a commitment from one of the best running backs in the country.

And while a commitment from Cooper is great by itself, combining him with Lamar would give UGA the best running back duo in the country in this class.