Georgia football: 2024 signees who will make the biggest impact as freshmen
By Josh Yourish
Even after losing Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 quarterback in the country to Nebraska, Kirby Smart still held together the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. The Georgia Bulldogs got through early signing day relatively clean and are still on top.
The Georgia roster is loaded with talent, but with 17 transfers leaving the program and only one committed so far, this 2024 recruiting class will need to provide an influx of talent to win the SEC crown back from Alabama and get the Bulldogs back to the College Football Playoff.
On early signing day, Smart had 28 players sign their National Letter of Intent, four five-stars, 20 four-stars, and four three-stars. Of that elite group of high school players, which ones will be ready to help Georgia next season like Raylen Wilson did on defense in 2023?
Wilson was Georgia’s only true freshman to make the 2023 Freshman All-SEC team. It’s tough to find playing time on Kirby Smart’s roster, but for the Bulldogs to win their third national championship in four years, they’ll need these 2024 signees to make a big impact as freshmen.
. 5-star. LB. Conroe, TX. Justin Williams. Justin Williams. UGA Williams. . player. 527
Jamon Dumas-Johnson just left for Kentucky in the transfer portal, and Xavian Sorey is off to Arkansas. That leaves a void in the heart of Georgia’s defense, one that could be filled by any number of former five-star recruits. Raylen Wilson and Jalon Walker are two of the top candidates to take snaps at inside linebacker next season, but Walker is more of an outside backer.
That means it will be down to sophomores Wilson and C.J. Allen to compete for snaps, but you can enter Williams’ name into that conversation as well. At 6-foot-2 205 pounds, Williams is long and lightning-quick. He could be a difference-maker as an off-ball linebacker.
Williams has a history as a safety from early in high school, and he’s shown some craft as a pass rusher, so he has enough versatility to find a way onto the field. Inside linebacker is a difficult spot to rely on inexperienced players and Georgia will be very young at that position, but sometimes talent just wins out and Williams has plenty of that.
The good news for Kirby is that Smael Mondon Jr. Georgia’s leading tackler in 2023 will return in 2024. He’ll be the signal-caller at the heart of the unit but will need a rotation of other backers next to him, especially after we saw the amount of injuries the Bulldogs suffered at that position in 2023.