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A complete history of Georgia football 5-star transfers under Kirby Smart
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A complete history of Georgia football 5-star transfers under Kirby Smart
Georgia football has seen its fair share of 5-star prospects transfer, with Amarius Mims and Clay Webb being the latest to do so.
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Interesting article and the good news is that we likely would not have won even 1 additional game if all of them had stayed. Sometimes it even worked in our favor like Cade Mays leaving freeing-up a scholarship for Derrion Kendrick. On the flip side, several of those 5 star transfers missed out on SEC and NC rings they would have received at UGA. Go Dawgs!
Good stuff, thanks. Eason was a mutual decision. He did okay his Freshman year, but didn't really make the improvements needed and by the G Day game Fromm was looking far more polished than he was. Did well at Washington, but still not really up to the hype and 4th round pick showed that.
Not much more to say on Fields, but it SHOULD be noted that he did get a relatively lot of playing time Freshman year. Compared to the ONE passing attempt from Vandagriff all year last year and Stockton will likely get similar experience based on how far he is buried (4th I presume) in the charts. Fields owed us another year. Period.
Cade Mays was a drama mess. No regrets there.
Brenton Cox didn't make the cut. Again, no regrets.
Clay Webb didn't come close to potential. It's one of those times where you're almost glad to give someone else a shot and free up a scholarship slot.
Amarius Mims would've been nice to have him stay another year, but as mentioned I don't think he's a huge loss. Based on the "huge improvement" made, you have to wonder what was the "real deal" as the 8th best player in the 2021 shouldn't have that much to improve on. Either way, I suspect it's not a huge loss.
Thirty 5-star prospects recruited, six transferred out. Five transferred in, two of those transferred out, one graduated.
Pretty good odds!
Thanks for the article!
Go Dawgs!
I'm just asking, but can we please get his 3 photos off of the DawgNation front page? He is not a Dawg anymore. Thanks in advance.
Kudos to McClendon for excellent work at RT.
Other good news, the food cost at the university just went down 10% lol.
@Kconnorriley "Fields appeared in 12 games but never was given the opportunity to truly showcase his talents."
Never given an opportunity to showcase is talents? How about all the time from spring practice, summer camp, fall camp, and in season practices through the end of the season? These sorts of statements are strange to me since they suggest writers/fans, etc. have some insight that coaches don't. He was given plenty of opportunity to showcase his talents and it wasn't good enough at the time. He very likely would have showcased his talents at UGA had he stayed. But he didn't.
We've had 2 - 1st round NFL QB's at UGA. One just led his team to a Superbowl victory and the other never started a game at UGA.
I have no doubt he(Justin) "showcased" his talents in practice, in scrimmage and in whatever limited amounts he was allowed to throw in a real game while at UGA . His "talents" as such didn't suddenly manifest themselves at Pro-day or the Combine as if the talent scouts went "Oh my goodness, we had no idea, he was this good!"
No, he was always "talented" enough at throwing(and running) , he just didn't meet whatever leadership criteria Kirby had or Jake was Kirby's guy and could do all that Kirby wanted him to do, which was be a good leader and be able to read the defense, get the offense into the best play, and then complete a certain percentage of passes when needed, especially in big moments. However JUstin looked in practice(as talented as he was) , it wasn't enough to surplant Fromm from being #1.
Jake was a winner who led the team in ways that made his coach happy. Jake doesn't possess the NFL level skills that JUstin does concerning arm strenth. Kirby doesn't need or didn't need a guy with a "big arm" -NFL caliber guy.
I would say he's done just fine without one-see SB and the Natty.
If Jake hadn't been the good leader and "good enough to win" QB he was, then undoubetly Fields would have started.
Pretty good take on Fields and the QB position. It isn't all about throwing the ball 60-70 yds.
Johnny Unitas was one of the best QB's that ever lived and he didn't do it as a gunslinger, but, as a leader in the huddle with a relentless determination to win...oh, and he could throw the ball in tight windows. There were obviously others that fit this mold and most of em won championships if they had the players around them that every QB needs...and a capable defense.
I believe the day-of-the-gunslinger is coming to an end. We are seeing a defensive uprising. Offenses will have to find new ways to move the ball consistently. I also believe UGA is ahead of the curve in the evolution of the game.
As far as the minor exodus of players at UGA over the past 4-5 years. You can look at it one of two ways. 1 way is OMG, UGA is losing so much talent...why? And, the other way is good, we only want guys that WANT to be there.
The thing is, if you're playing for a coach like Smart or Saban on teams that want to consistently compete for championships...the work you are required to put in, is above and beyond anything HS recruits have ever experienced. Most are motivated enough toward self-improvement and excellence, that they adjust. Some lead, because that's the way they naturally approach life and the game they chose. A very few develop into leaders, once they understand the price that has to be paid for greatness. While others, like Fields, Mims, Brini, Cox, etal., choose to move on because the price is too high or the fit isn't right.
In any case, as long as UGA and Smart have the work ethic they have demonstrated, they'll always be in the hunt. I believe it was SECN, that did a piece on Brock Bowers along with a CKS interview, regarding Bowers' recruitment during the pandemic (2020). Due to the no-contact thing, Bowers sent Smart a video of his workouts everyday (or week). They showed a clip of that, which included him sprinting up a steep hill. He did it numerous times everyday. When I saw it, it reminded me of a similar thing that was done on Walter Payton back in the mid-80's. He did offseason work, running up this dirt hill near his home. That's the stuff of which greatness is made. There is nothing harder, than pushing yourself to the limit...alone.
Just my opinion.
Sometimes the industry just misses on the stars.
It sort of shows Kirby's mindset is just different than most of us fans. We want the 5 star who can throw it 70 yards through a brick wall. Kirby just wants a guy who will make limited mistakes that he trusts and can run the offense and read defenses and deliver the ball where it's supposed to go.
Speaking of 5 stars we had the chance around the same time we got Justin Fields to get Matt Corral. He's another guy who will go 1st round and was an excellent QB for a Lane Kiffen team.
Yeah, I liked Matt Corral. Tough, hard-nosed QB. He is from the same mold as Bennett and Fromm . He would have been a great one for UGA and Smart's style of football. Probably would've taken us to the dance in 2020, too. LOL