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2010 RECRUITING
As anyone who follows UGA football knows, the 2010 recruiting class has more than doubled in the last two weeks. Da'Rick Rogers started it all on June 9th, with Bruce Benedict, Michael Bennett, Demetre Baker and Derek Owens all committing last week. With this recent flurry of activity, it got me to thinking about the potential size of this class versus the remaining targets and positions of need.
It's looking like the 2010 class will be another small recruiting class for UGA. There are currently 12 seniors in 2009 on scholarship, but one of those (Durham) will be back again in 2010. Because of the departures of Tony Wilson and John Knox, we currently sit at 83 players on scholarship. Assuming we don't offer those ships to existing walk-ons, that only leaves 13 scholarships for next year (before any additional attrition). As for underclassmen entering the 2010 NFL Draft, it looks as if it would take an absolute disaster of a season to keep Reshad Jones in a Georgia uniform. So that gets the number to 14. On the other side, it would take absolute monster seasons by any other draft eligible underclassmen to think they might leave early. These long-shots would include guys like Rennie Curran (who I just don't see leaving early no matter what), Akeem Dent, Justin Houston, Darryl Gamble, Aron White and Caleb King. All starters who could have huge seasons, but still highly unlikely to test NFL waters. Now, there always seem to be a couple guys every year who just can't seem to do things the "Georgia Way" (maybe Bruce Figgins??), so it's likely that there could be another couple ships open up. Even so, it's not looking like there will be more than 15 or 16 scholarships available for the 2010 class. That means we only have about 6 or 7 remaining spots.
In my mind, those 6 or 7 scholarships need to include 2 d-tackles, at least 1 safety, 1 more corner, and then maybe a top flight running back and linebacker. If I could hand-pick the remaining Bulldogs-to-be, I would start with Garrison Smith and Jeffrey Whitaker to fill the two DT slots. Safety Alec Ogletree is as close to a must-get as they come for UGA. It's slim pickings at corner this year, but maybe a Garry Peters or Steven Atwater might be options. Atwater would certainly have the pedigree, though he doesn't currently have a UGA offer. You could put running backs Eduardo Clements and Mack Brown's names in a hat and pick one and I'd be happy. Then, it's a long-shot but I'd still love to nab either Jeff Luc at LB or Jackson Jeffcoat at DE. The more likely get as a LB/DE would be Neiron Ball (yes, Neland's brother). If another couple ships open up, it would be nice to pad the class with another impact WR such as Chris Dunkley, Antonio Goodwin or Ted Meline. If I got to choose, I think I'd take Smith, Whitaker, Ogletree, Brown, Luc, Ball and roll the dice on Atwater as the 7 guys to round out the 2010 class. I bet Richt, Garner and staff wish real life recruiting was that easy!
It's looking like the 2010 class will be another small recruiting class for UGA. There are currently 12 seniors in 2009 on scholarship, but one of those (Durham) will be back again in 2010. Because of the departures of Tony Wilson and John Knox, we currently sit at 83 players on scholarship. Assuming we don't offer those ships to existing walk-ons, that only leaves 13 scholarships for next year (before any additional attrition). As for underclassmen entering the 2010 NFL Draft, it looks as if it would take an absolute disaster of a season to keep Reshad Jones in a Georgia uniform. So that gets the number to 14. On the other side, it would take absolute monster seasons by any other draft eligible underclassmen to think they might leave early. These long-shots would include guys like Rennie Curran (who I just don't see leaving early no matter what), Akeem Dent, Justin Houston, Darryl Gamble, Aron White and Caleb King. All starters who could have huge seasons, but still highly unlikely to test NFL waters. Now, there always seem to be a couple guys every year who just can't seem to do things the "Georgia Way" (maybe Bruce Figgins??), so it's likely that there could be another couple ships open up. Even so, it's not looking like there will be more than 15 or 16 scholarships available for the 2010 class. That means we only have about 6 or 7 remaining spots.
In my mind, those 6 or 7 scholarships need to include 2 d-tackles, at least 1 safety, 1 more corner, and then maybe a top flight running back and linebacker. If I could hand-pick the remaining Bulldogs-to-be, I would start with Garrison Smith and Jeffrey Whitaker to fill the two DT slots. Safety Alec Ogletree is as close to a must-get as they come for UGA. It's slim pickings at corner this year, but maybe a Garry Peters or Steven Atwater might be options. Atwater would certainly have the pedigree, though he doesn't currently have a UGA offer. You could put running backs Eduardo Clements and Mack Brown's names in a hat and pick one and I'd be happy. Then, it's a long-shot but I'd still love to nab either Jeff Luc at LB or Jackson Jeffcoat at DE. The more likely get as a LB/DE would be Neiron Ball (yes, Neland's brother). If another couple ships open up, it would be nice to pad the class with another impact WR such as Chris Dunkley, Antonio Goodwin or Ted Meline. If I got to choose, I think I'd take Smith, Whitaker, Ogletree, Brown, Luc, Ball and roll the dice on Atwater as the 7 guys to round out the 2010 class. I bet Richt, Garner and staff wish real life recruiting was that easy!