When it comes to Marcus Fakatou's five-star recruitment, the Georgia Bulldogs are still technically vying for him. While UGA is one of the five finalists for this defensive lineman's commitment out of Chatsworth, California, there are at least two teams firmly ahead of the Dawgs to potentially land his services. Those two programs would be Notre Dame and Ohio State. Georgia has some work to do...
Here are the five teams still in the mix to potentially land this blue-chip prospect for their 2027 class.
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Oregon Ducks
- Texas Longhorns
On3's Hayes Fawcett shared out this sweet graphic of where Fakatou could be heading to here soon.
NEWS: Five-Star DL Marcus Fakatou is down to 5 Schools, he tells me for @Rivals
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 4, 2026
The 6’7 275 DL from Riverside, CA is ranked as the No. 2 DL in the 2027 Class (per Rivals Industry)
Where Should He Go? https://t.co/uJVAahVKK3 pic.twitter.com/QKnYWdGOUC
According to the 247Sports Composite, Fakatou is the No. 3 player from California, the No. 2 defensive lineman in the country, and the No. 32 overall prospect in his class. While he is still looking at Georgia, Oregon, and Texas, Notre Dame is the team widely viewed as his slight leader. Fakatou is also slated to make an official visit to Columbus at the end of the month. Can Georgia impress him?
Until Kirby Smart is willing to change his recruiting philosophy, he does not have the runway to do it...
Marcus Fakatou may have exposed another flaw in Georgia's recruitment
There are a lot of moving pieces involved, as well as a ton to unpack here. Georgia is a big enough football brand to be able to recruit nationally. The Bulldogs are competing with the best teams in the country for the best athletes to come play for them. Thus, it serves UGA to venture deep into West Coast Big Ten territory. However, Smart and his staff do not seem to have enough ammunition to win.
Of the four teams Georgia is effectively bidding on Fakatou with, three of them will offer more. Those would be Ohio State, Oregon, and Texas. Those programs are dripping with cash, and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Notre Dame is different, and always will be different. If the Fighting Irish do end up being a true finalist for him, that could open up a pathway for Georgia to still land him.
To be quite frank, people who go to Georgia and Notre Dame go there because they want to play for those traditional powers, be developed for the NFL, and maybe make some money along the way, probably in that order. While teams like Georgia and Notre Dame are not college football paupers by any stretch of the imagination, only one of them is going to land him, and it might just be Notre Dame.
At this time, Smart will need to entrust his West Coast recruiters to get the job done to land Fakatou.
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