Georgia football named early leader for in-state LB over rivals Auburn, Georgia Tech

The position that has arguably found the most success at Georgia during Kirby Smart's tenure is linebacker. The Bulldogs have had a linebacker win the Butkus Award three times during Smart's career at Georgia, which is an award that goes to the nation's top linebacker.

This success has made recruiting the linebacker position very easy compared to other positions as Georgia continues to find themselves earning commitments from the top linebackers in the country. The No. 1 linebacker in the 2026 recruiting class is Tyler Atkinson, and as it stands today Georgia is the team to beat. But one of the best linebackers in the 2027 class just named UGA his current leader as well.

Georgia named the leader for elite 2027 LB

According to On3's Chad Simmons, four-star linebacker Cole Crawford has already named Georgia as his current leader.

According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Crawford is the No. 225 overall player in the country. He also is the No. 14 linebacker in the 2027 recruiting class and the No. 20 player from the state of Georgia.

Crawford is already a very sought after recruit in the 2027 class as he currently holds 13 scholarship offers. This includes offers from Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee, USC, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech and Georgia

Crawford's recruitment is only going to get more intense as the 2027 recruiting cycle picks up steam, so the fact that UGA has not only identified Crawford but prioritized him this early is a big deal.

Typically Georgia finds a lot of success with in-state recruits that they prioritize early in their recruitment. That is exactly what Smart and his staff have done with Crawford early on in his recruitment, so it would be shocking to see Georgia lose this recruitment. So even though there is still a year and a half left in Crawford's recruitment, this is one that Georgia fans should expect to win.