Breaking down loaded Georgia G-Day, Dawgs QB recruiting
Elite prospects from around the country are making their way to Athens this weekend for Georgia’s G-Day spring game.
DawgsHQ’s Jake Rowe broke down the recruitments of some of the top visitors on The Inside Scoop football recruiting show.
Five-Star Plus+ CB Na’eem Offord
Birmingham (Ala.) Parker Five-Star Plus+ cornerback Na’eem Offord committed to Ohio State on February 4 and appears to still be quite locked in with the Buckeyes. Nonetheless, he headlines an elite group of visitors seeing Georgia this weekend.
“Georgia was a serious contender when he committed to Ohio State,” Rowe said of Offord’s recruitment. “I’ve heard nothing to indicate that there’s a flip or anything imminent — or that Georgia is really making him think. Anytime you can get a guy on campus like that, you get him on campus. I know that there’s a lot of mutual love and respect there between him and the two staffs. I’m really interested to see how this one plays out long-term. Because, we know based on the things that Kirby Smart has said, based on the things that Georgia has done on the recruiting trail — guys can commit all they want and they just don’t consider them committed until they’re signed. They’re going to keep recruiting him hard.
“I think this probably does show that there’s some genuine interest,” Rowe added. “Obviously, I think there’s always an element of, ‘Hey, let me go to this campus and get treated really well and have a lot of fun.’ But, I do think there’s some legitimate interest there.”
5-star DL Justus Terry
A one-time Georgia commit, Manchester (Ga.) five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry flipped to USC on March 24. Since making that decision, he has already returned to Athens once and will visit once again this weekend.
“This will be the second time Georgia has gotten him on campus since he committed to USC,” Rowe said. “That’s what makes the local school so tough to beat in these situations. Even when you can get him from coast to coast. Georgia is probably — if we’re being honest here between National Signing Day — going to outpace two-to-one maybe three-to-one on visits just because of the proximity.
“[USC is] doing a fantastic job and I’m really not trying to downplay anything that another school is doing, I’ve just seen enough of these recruitments to know that this is going to be a tough one for USC to hold onto. Georgia is the threat.”
5-star QB Julian Lewis
Last week, Georgia lost out on Royersford (Pa.) Spring-Ford On300 top-20 quarterback Matt Zollers to Missouri. So — is Carrollton (Ga.) five-star quarterback Julian Lewis, a current USC commit, a ‘must-get’ for Georgia in this class?
“Not in my mind,” Rowe said. “I feel like if Georgia can get in on Ryan Montgomery — and they are in on Ryan Montgomery — if they can find some way to get him, I love that guy. I’m no Charles Power, but I am a big Ryan Montgomery fan. Love his film, love his athleticism. But I do think that you want to get Juju Lewis. He’s a guy that his processing and athleticism — he’s still coming into his own. I feel like he’s still maturing physically, we’re just scratching the surface of how good he’s going to be.
“Zollers, what a get by Missouri. They did a fantastic job recruiting him and definitely showed him a really good plan. This has got Georgia in a little bit of a situation here where Georgia is going to have to press and get its guy. If we were talking six or seven years ago, I would’ve said probably that Juju Lewis is a must-get, you’ve got to at least get him or Ryan Montgomery. Now, we’re in the [Transfer] Portal age, and I can tell you right now that when the time comes where they’ve got to take a quarterback out of the Transfer Portal, that’s going to be an extremely attractive destination for just about any really good quarterback that’s looking to move on and be in a good program.”
4-star QB Ryan Montgomery
South Carolina and Florida are the two programs with which Georgia is battling in the recruitment of Findlay (Ohio) four-star quarterback Ryan Montgomery. Did Georgia get involved in this recruitment too late?
“It could turn out that way,” Rowe said. “I do know that there was a point in the process where I think. . . Georgia was in a very, very good spot behind the scenes. I think that they were probably the team to beat behind the scenes. Now is that still the case? I don’t know. But I do feel like if Georgia really wanted to press at this point, it would really have a shot.”
4-star EDGE Darren Ikinnagbon
Georgia leads for Hillside (N.J.) four-star edge Darren Ikinnagbon, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), following expert predictions from Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons. According to Rowe, he could be the next to commit to the Dawgs.
“Georgia wants this guy,” Rowe said. “They’ve liked him from the first time they really had a chance to evaluate him. Chidera Uzo-Diribe is all over this kid. I think that he is 100 percent a priority for the Bulldogs.”
Rowe said that Georgia has really sold its NFL production to Ikinnagbon.
“I think with Chidera Uzo-Diribe and the culture there and the style of coaching, they’ve really kind of found a click there,” Rowe added. “They’ve found something that’s really locked into place in that recruitment. I don’t know that this one is going to go a whole lot longer. I think Georgia has a chance to get him in the fold pretty quickly if things go well. He’ll be in town for G-Day, we’ll see if they can make the move then. As of right now, I’d probably say he’s the next commitment on the list sometime in the near future.”