Georgia only has five players committed to their 2027 recruiting class right now. That may not seem like a lot, but it's still good enough to have the No. 8 recruiting class in the country.
A big reason for that is because the Bulldogs have multiple elite commits including five-star running back Kemon Spell and top 35 corner Donte Wright. But if Georgia is going to move higher in the rankings like they want they are going to have to keep adding elite talent.
Thankfully Georgia is closing in on another big time commitment as On3's Steve Wiltfong just placed an official prediction in favor of the Bulldogs to earn a commitment from linebacker Joakim Gouda.
#Georgia has just received a prediction to land 4-star LB Joakim Gouda by Steve Wiltfong of ON3. 🐶
— Dawg Recruiting (@DawggRecruiting) February 23, 2026
The 6’2” LB from Douglasville, GA ranks as the No. 218 player and No. 17 LB in the 2026 class. 👀 pic.twitter.com/sjG1tubtHL
4-star in-state LB trending is to Georgia
Gouda is a four-star linebacker from the Peach State. According to the Rivals Industry Rankings he is the No. 218 overall player in the country. He also is the No. 17 linebacker in the 2027 recruiting class and the No. 35 player from the state of Georgia.
Gouda is a fairly new name to Georgia fans as his recruitment hasn't been discussed very much, but that is all about to change. There still isn't a gauarantee that he will commit to Georgia, but if he does then fans will quickly learn how great of a player he is.
These are the exact recruitments that Kirby Smart really wants to win. He recently said how he wants to prioritize in-state recruits more, but that doesn't mean he will just go after anyone from the state. But those recruits he does target he needs to land, and that is exactly where things are heading with Gouda right now.
A commitment date has not been set yet, but it realistically could come at any point. But for now Georgia fans can be excited because they are closing in on adding an elite in-state linebacker to their recruiting class.