Georgia football winners and losers from 2026 recruiting class

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Georgia football winners and losers from 2026 recruiting class

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jdatl3

Fantastic Class of young men. Super happy to have Curtis go to Vandy, and I couldn't care less about revenge next year. The dawgs have plenty of talent in the QB room. You can only play two at most, and we have four, not to mention Colter. Loved some of the pickups on offensive and defensive lines. Lots of other kids with speed and talent.

GoodOlDawg

"Minkah Fitzpatrick played for Smart at Alabama. His younger brother Justice Fitzpatrick will do so at Georgia, even if the Bulldogs had to wait for him to sign his paperwork after he wrapped up practice at St. Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday night."

His brother was a beast at DB back in his day for Bama. I can't help but think that his older brother probably advised him that CKS will prepare him for the league and make him into an NFL player who can prosper at that level. Whatever the case may be, he certainly has the opportunity and path to be elite!

GO DAWGS!

1SICemDAWGS1

Welcome to all these young men..GoDAWGS!

flipside

I'm at the point where it's ya'll (UGA coaches) recruit them, ya'll coach them and I'll watch them, Go Dawgs.

chilidawg1

All you have to tell a UGA 5 star QB commit is you will not play as a freshman, and maybe not as a Sophomore. Also why would a school be "afraid to poach a UGA commitment"? I guess it made a good headline.

BubbaBill

The reason I loathe Curtis is not due to him committing to another school, but how he did it. He’s known for a long time that he’d be an “underdog” at Vandy and that Pavia was leaving. It would have been OK with me if he had committed to Vandy last Spring and not recommitting to UGA. Bailing on us at the midnight hour was classless and shows us a lot about his judgement, ethics and lack of respect for the coaches who spent many hours of their lives recruiting him. I was totally blind about this kid and he proved me wrong when I bragged about him. Hopefully several years from now we will rejoice and say thank goodness he chose Vandy. Go Dawgs beat Bama!!!

chilidawg1

To steal a UGA 5 QB commit all you have tell them is you will not play as a freshman and maybe not as a sophomore, and why should any school be afraid to go after UGA commitments?

Gramster

Just do what you do vest Connor, keep mentioning that lowest ranked class since 2016 out of context. Keep glossing over the fact that this class (along with aTms) has more blue chip prospects than any other team in the entire rankings. Oh, and CONNOR…just fyi, this class ranks 3rd ALL TIME in number of BLUE CHIP athletes signed in any 1 season under Kirby Smart. You forgot to mention that again. Bless your heart

randomsportsfan

1. Dylan Raiola "isn't working out" because he has nearly as many passing yards and TDs as Gunner Stockton, a senior with a much better team around him, in 3 fewer games? That Raiola is going to get a bucket of cash from Miami next season (or LSU if Kiffin can't swipe Trinidad Chambliss) doesn't change the fact that he led the Huskers to their first winning season since 2016 (and 2015 was a losing season also) as a true freshman and did so again and contributed heavily to another winning season before getting hurt.
2. UGA fans aren't going to like to hear this, but UGA's offense isn't conducive to putting QBs or WRs in the NFL. There have been only 3 seasons where a Kirby Smart QB has thrown for 3000 yards, and one of those was the 2022 season with practically an NFL roster. The offense is built on mostly avoiding the risky plays that NFL scouts want to see QBs and WRs make. And he has gone 10 years in Athens without producing a high draft pick or NFL starter at QB and he has only produced 4 such players at WR, 2 of whom, Riley Ridley and Mecole Hardman, were busts. Ridley was cut halfway through his rookie contract and no one else gave him a shot, unheard of for a 3rd round pick who isn't a problem off the field. And technically 3rd round pick isn't a high pick either, but he was Smart's 4th highest pick at WR. Without being able to tell them "you'll get to play in a fun offense that challenges your ability and prepare them for the NFL" what is the case for getting a 5 star QB - or the 5 star WRs that said QBs like to throw to - to come to UGA? You can win a national title? You can do that at schools that do produce NFL starters at those positions like Bama, Ohio State and LSU. UGA regularly gets 5 star DLs, LBs and OLs for a reason: 3 DLs and an LB in the 1st round of the 2022 draft alone plus Nakobe Dean, who dropped to the 3rd round to due to injury but will make up for it with his next contract. And UGA's entire interior OL from 2024 is now starting in the NFL as rookies. UGA is recruiting against schools who have the same track record with QBs and WRs that UGA has with DLs and OLs. Stop being shocked when the best prospects at QB and WR go elsewhere for the same reason that the best prospects at DL and OL come to UGA.
3. Calling Ohio State a "loser" is funny. Ryan Day has never landed the top class. He doesn't send anywhere near the amount of players to the NFL as the other powerhouse programs do, or even as much as Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel did when they were at Ohio State. His system is based on scouting, player development and schemes that allow players with great skills but not necessarily elite athletic ability to succeed. Case in point: Jack Sawyer vs Travon Walker. Walker had 9.5 career sacks at UGA. Sawyer: 23. Walker: 4th round pick. Walker: #1 pick in the draft. Walker will be a much better NFL player - he had 20.5 sacks the past 2 seasons - but Sawyer was clearly a better college one, and Ohio State relies on guys like that. And yes, Ohio State lost out on a bunch of high school WRs this year. But you know that there is this thing called the transfer portal, right? Based on a track record of regularly producing WRs who have 1000 yard college seasons and go on to productive NFL careers, who is more likely to grab a Florida, Ole Miss, LSU, Auburn, Penn State etc. guy out of the portal? Day or Smart? You already know the answer to that question.

Gramster

Maybe he wanted to play at home, you know, like BVG did and Gunner does…

Did he use UGa to get a better deal from Vandy? Yes, probably. Nature of this new semi pro football league. Sadly saying

MontanaDawg

The recruiting rankings are pretty tight at the top. As long as we got the positions we really needed then I'm satisfied with our performance. We got about (10) OL & DL recruits which we really need. We seem to use our TEs mostly for blocking these days, so I don't know why they keep coming here other than coach Hartley.

Hard to believe we were in a fight for more than one elite recruit with the Dores! How football has changed.

USC got a new head recruiter, and he emphasized going after CA prospects as his main goal. It worked. They got most all the cream of their crop from CA.

GoodOlDawg

"Playing time was a big reason Curtis flipped to Vanderbilt. With that in mind, it’s fair to assume that he’ll be the starting quarterback when he comes to Athens next fall."

This was certainly the primary reason, if not the only reason for the flip. But I think it's important to understand and emphasize that CKS doesn't have a "no playing time if you're a freshman" policy. I believe his message is simply that they will have to compete for playing time. From that point guys like Curtis and Raiola decide not to accept the challenge, but instead go to a program that's willing to guarantee the playing time. I'm convinced that Curtis just can't imagine himself as a back-up QB, and has never had to even look at a depth chart.

NorthHallDawg

Curtis' true colors came through. He's not a TEAM player, he's a ME player who craves the spotlight. Never would have passed muster at UGA with that mentality. He'll do well at Vandy, barring injury. He'll put up impressive numbers BUT never play for anything of significance. Vandy is Vandy, they don't have NIL dollars to compete with the upper echelon of the SEC, so every Blue Moon they'll have a season or two to remember. When Curtis comes to town the UGA defense should make him feel the pain, even if it costs us some 15 yard penalties…

GoodOlDawg

https://forum.dawgnation.com/discussion/comment/818350#Comment_818350

"…….Mecole Hardman, were busts."

Yea, it has to be disappointing when you only win 3 Super Bowls and catch the game winning touchdown pass in the most recent one!

GoodOlDawg

https://forum.dawgnation.com/discussion/comment/818359#Comment_818359

"…….so, every Blue Moon they'll have a season or two to remember."

@NorthHallDawg it's going to take a lot of seasons like 2025, and several Diego Pavia style players to make me forget that just a few short seasons ago they had a girl kicking field goals!