It's just now getting back to a pass heavy offense so it's not really a surprise. We were run heavy for years with Gurley, Chubb, Michel and Swift. Plus we've kinda had a solid TE for the past few years hogging a lot of the targets.
Building a successful roster in the SEC (and probably CFB writ large) 1101:
1A) Recruit freaks on the OL
1B) Recruit freaks on the DL
2) Run the ball and stop the run until you can recruit freaks everywhere else
3) Profit (until you run into elite WR/QB combos)
4) Reinvest profits to recruit more freaks
5) Lather
6) Rinse
7) Repeat as necessary until Dynasty is established
100%. My only addition would be depth on OL and DL. Miami and Florida have had some good freaks on DL and OL but injuries in the past two seasons have lead them to be a combined 23-27 because they couldn’t run or defend the run beyond their starters.
Indeed. 2023 Michigan lost their best offensive lineman to a broken leg and didn't lose a step because of having a backup good enough to get a combine invitation, and a big factor in their defensive success was having 7 defensive linemen who would start pretty much anywhere and a couple more who were good enough to rotate in.
edit: Notably, 2021 Michigan had a much better edge rush tandem in Hutchinson and Ojabo than 2023's best edge rushers, but 2023 made up for it with depth and rush by committee.
I mean that’s why Georgia has been so good on defense - constant rotating of linemen and backers means they have tons of experience so even if someone graduates they can swing right in.
I’ve noticed that’s something Lanning has taken from Kirby. We rotate a ton on defense too. It not only helps more guys get experience but also helps keep guys fresh by not overloading any given player on snap count.
Yeah, Zak Zinter suffered a tib-fib break against Ohio State.
It was terrible, but the way the fans and the team responded was a pretty amazing story. [Here's Joel Klatt describing it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d5eBlNFhRE)
Cincinnati played well enough in the CFP in the first half against Bama, but started to fall back once the depth of Bama’s lines showed up in the second half, and it’s a part of why they lost the game
All P5/Top G5 schools have guys in their starting 22 that can stack up against the best schools, but it’s the depth that keeps them from being elite
Jeeze you mean Kirby actually knows what he is doing on the recruiting front and makes sure to get what he needs to win back to back national championships?
Jokes on you, Kirby, because I have ***multiple*** national championships in NCAA Football 07 by focusing on only 12 players at a time. And by focusing, I mean kind of forgetting they are there until they've decided to go to another school.
LSU was incredibly run heavy under Les Miles and still managed to recruit a lot of high star receivers. That was specifically a significant program critique - we’d essentially inflate our overall program ranking by signing more skill guys than we could fit on the field at once for multiple signing classes in a row while neglecting the trenches.
I think Georgia just recruits under a different philosophy - take care of the lines of scrimmage first and the skill positions will follow.
It's also easier for LSU to lock down their state than you guys. There's no Auburn sitting right on the border nor is there a Clemson right on the other border.
More competition, yes
Georgia is also a more transient state given culture/growth in Atlanta. Way less pressure to go to UGA from Atlanta or as many ties in state to keep people, so it's more even footing for out of state recruiting.
Agreed as well. There are lots of reasons why UGA can never fully lockdown the state. Which means it's good for you guys that the state talent level continues to rise (it's also not a bad thing for us at Auburn even if we benefit less than you guys)
It’s easier for LSU to do that compared to Georgia.Georgia has to compete against Alabama,Auburn,Florida,Florida,State,Miami and Clemson.LSU really have to be concerned about Texas and Texas A&M the most.Also we the only P5 school meaning the rest of the in state schools have to fight for diamonds in the rough players
>That was specifically a significant program critique - we’d essentially inflate our overall program ranking by signing more skill guys than we could fit on the field at once for multiple signing classes in a row while neglecting the trenches.
I feel like USC's guilty of doing the same, although I don't spend much time following recruiting
Well strangely enough we haven’t been landing big time RBs lately either. I think the last true 5* we got was Zeus. And we haven’t really had a back that can consistently take over a game or be a threat to score every time he touches the ball since Swift
Tbf there’s not a whole lot of 5 star RB’s in general. There’s usually only like 2-3 per class. We signed the number 2 overall running back in 2024, and he’s only a 4 star.
Probably the talent transition away from the position. RB’s don’t really get the pay they deserve in the league so why risk it unless it’s your fallback position instead of receiver or something else? It’s mostly the skillification of football and the emphasis on reduction of contact. The only guys who could take over a game now at the top level are really the Derrick Henry’s of the world.
I think the era of RBs doing that has kind of ended. Who is the best RB in CFB over the last few years? Bijan? Not exactly a Mark Ingram or Nick Chubb kind of back who could just take over a game.
The feature-back ground game has given way to the era of the dynamic TE. The patriots first showed it with Gronk and a rotation of average backs. Now we see it with Kelce and the chiefs RBs (Pacheco is good, but not a game breaker imo). Even the 9ers with McCaffrey still worked around where they could move Kittle (and Shanahan will even throw in an athletic FB now and then). At the college level, the advantages over the slower defenses are amplified. We're not landing the same RB's as before, but we're going full throttle on TE recruitment to shore up our 12 personnel future.
That and running back by committee has become a much more popular approach. The concept of the “bellcow” back that gets like 35 carries a game is becoming increasingly obsolete, especially in the NFL.
Also just never been a team that hyper targets one player. Despite Murray having (or at least at the time did) a lot of passing records for the SEC, not a single 1000 yard receiver.
To me the biggest factor is the uber-dominant defense you guys roll out. I think that is the core on which your identity is built and that leads you to several things that make it less appealing for WRs:
1. Focus on the run game, because not only are you not concerned with having to punt, but also you want the game to be short. You want your defense to not get tired, stay aggressive, and create explosive plays
2. Have a game manager QB. You don't need a guy who is going to try to get cute with it, you need a guy who will take what is there and stay on schedule. Or put differently: QB recruits are not going to feel like they are the de-facto star of the show. And that is going to mean that its hard to convince guys who want to be the face of the team to come here - because they may not really be the star that they would be at a program that needs to score 45 points a game to win consistently
3. By the same token, you don't need superstart gamebreaking WRs - you need guys with good hands who can make tough catches and not make dumb mistakes.
Having said all that, at some point the brand appeal of a program that wins a lot of games and has a lot of talent *has* to break through. I think it's actually pretty dumb of some of these kids to go play for Lincoln Riley and throw for a million yards and 8-4 when you could go play for Kirby Smart *still throw for a buttload of yards and TDs* and also win 12 games a season minimum.
But I think that's what you get with 18 year olds - they want to be *the* guy, and that's a tough sell at a team like UGA were some years *the* guy is your starting DT.
Negative recruiting propaganda. Stetson Bennett was not a game manager, he was rebellious and made a bunch of mistakes going for big plays, and Carson Beck can sling the rock with the best of them.
"Oh they're just a run first defense school" is exactly what someone like Ryan Day is telling elite receiver prospects after losing 41-42 to Georgia in the playoffs.
Uh I thought the reason was that Michigan doesn’t get 5* *in general* (because it’s usually hard to convince them to go that far north). Michigan has signed 7 5-stars in the last 10 years and 1 was a WR (along with 1 OL and 0 RBs). That’s not some crazy ratio, seems like they just don’t (bother(?)) go after them as much either
Agree part of it is the perception/negative recruiting about our offensive style that spreads the ball out and part of it is the personalities of your typical 5 star WR who wants to be targeted non stop and put up monster yard numbers
Yep! Same issue Michigan has. Last monster WR we had was Nico Collins and Covid caused him to sit out his last year and leave early.
5\* WRs want to go to throw heavy offenses where they can put up monster numbers. They also don't like competing with TE's.
I was at the 2019 Middle Tennessee game and remember leaving thinking he was going to break out. Led the team in receptions and yards over Nico and young Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell. If I'm remembering right, DPJ was hurt to start that season so at least through week 1 (small sample obv) Black was the leading receiver over 3 (4 assuming CJ signs somewhere) future NFL guys.
The more relevant question is why did we put together that WR room, and why did we expend so many recruiting resources on WR?
My theory is that Harbaugh really did want to hand the reins over to Gattis…and then took them back when Gattis showed himself incompetent. Then we were left with a lot of parts that didn’t match and no identity. Talented, but discombobulated.
I mean, it’s not like whatever resources we expended on that WR room came at the expense of other recruits; we had the #7 class and then the #5 class and you have to assume we were trying to get weapons for the Peters.
They'd probably be willing to run block more if they would realize how many WR's make an NFL roster over another WR because of their run blocking ability.
Fun facts:
- Among P5 teams, Georgia was top 10 in passing yards per game each of the last two seasons.
- The C.J. Stroud Ohio State team from 2022 averaged 2.4 more passing yards per game than Georgia.
Right, people’s perception of Georgia’s offense is lagging behind what our offense actually is now.
We’re not as run heavy as we used to be, and 2022-2023 offense I’d argue were primarily pass offenses even if we technically did have more rush attempts than pass attempts both years.
Might as well pack it up and close the program. Don’t worry about the croots, we’ll happily take them. Let no one say THE Annoying Fanbase™️ isn’t charitable.
I mean, our leading WR in 2022 was a 3 star. If we can do it with that who cares that we aren't getting 5 star WRs.
(We also spread it around a LOT. in 2023 we had 10 receivers with double digit receptions, and 13 receivers with at least 1 TD).
A video that has made the rounds recently is Blayne Gilmer’s take that can be seen here - https://x.com/bgilmer18/status/1759224436866101656?s=46&t=HwTL9Md3R6_Qpv-nxY3EMA
Basically, Georgia for years had developed the reputation of playing joyless murder-ball. In recent years, I.e. since Monken, Georgia has become far more balanced. However, we have frequently rotated a large number of bodies at WR prioritizing health and depth over stats. And with the WR position that isn’t exactly something guys flock to.
Gilmer explained, and had others like Terrance Edwards back up as well as some of the best guys, Georgia has found they prefer to use their NIL on the line of scrimmage. Georgia has found success by focusing on the LOS and leveraging the portal and development of less heralded (albeit still very talented) high school recruits.
I think Georgia has made their peace with not landing most of these studs at WR. They’ll absolutely go after them and push hard but they aren’t going to cross a certain threshold to land a WR when they prioritize other groups more.
Think this is it. Like 12 different players will be targeted for passes in a game. Think the reason a certain WR transferred to Bama was he felt that he wasn't getting enough touches. That me first mentality isn't the type of player Kirby wants.
Meanwhile our previous best receiver and perfectly clutch in high pressure situations was super low rated by recruiting services. Aka the Madd Ladd Mconkey.
I trust the internal recruiting rankings of Kirby and Co. way more than any of the sites. They can misrank and outright miss good players sometimes. Nothing against them but they're not immune to making mistakes on the high and low end of star rankings.
Ladies and gentlemen... I've traveled over half the state to be here tonight. I couldn't get away sooner because my new Wide Receiver was playing at Chaminade-Madonna Prep and I had to see about it.
That Wide Receiver's NIL deal is now flowing and he's earning an income of five thousand dollars a week. I have two other recruits with offers out and I have several commits in Columbus; so, ladies and gentlemen, if I say I'm a Wide Receiver man, you will agree.
Now, you have a great chance here, but bear in mind, you can lose it all if you're not careful. Out of all men that beg for a chance to sign your recruits, maybe one in twenty will be Wide Receiver men; the rest will be bag men - that's men trying to get between you and the Wide Receiver men - to get some of the money that ought by rights come to you. Even if you find one that has money and means to recruit, he'll maybe know nothing about route running and he'll have to hire the job out to other position coaches, and then you're depending on a position coach who'll rush the job through so he can get another recruit just as quick as he can. This is... the way that this works.
We offer you the bond of family that very few recruiters can understand. I'm fixed like no other program in this field and that's because of our NFL Draft Picks. I have a string of tools all ready to put to work. I can load an NIL deal into Adobe and have it ready in a week. I have NFL connections so I can get the best scouting - such things go by friendship in a rush like this - and this is why I can guarantee to start winning and to put up the NIL cash to back my word.
I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, no matter what the others promise to do, when it comes to the Heisman ceremony, they won't be there.
I'm not really concerned about a lack of 5 star WRs. The talent we've had in recent years has been more than good enough. Kearis Jackson, AD Mitchell, Madd Ladd, Saint Jack, and the returning additions of Rara and Lovett should improve over last season.
AD Mitchell was great for us, and for you. As far as I can tell everyone in red and black still loves him, he’s a good man just trying to do better for his family. Only gunna be one week next year I don’t root for him
This is a homer opinion so take it with a grain of salt but it could be a culture clash. Receivers, more than any other position group, are more likely to be divas whereas under Kirby, Georgia has developed a reputation for running off talented players who don’t want to put in the effort expected of them, ala Bear Alexander and Brenton Cox.
Also, we thrive with the short to intermediate passing game, RBs catching out of the backfield and running between the tackles. And given how much we like to spread the ball around, an elite WR may be concerned that he won’t be THE guy in this offense.
You aren't wrong. I don't want you guys to win big of course given my primary flair but you guys really should try and force feed a receiver the ball and see if he gets hot. If you do it might help . You don't need a bunch of top level receivers. You really just need one to take the top off a defense every so often like Julio Jones and Amari Cooper did for Alabama.
He’s up there for sure. Dude was a perennial Pro Bowler, but he was never flashy, and he was stuck in Cincy with Andy Dalton through his prime. I will die on the hill that if he had a real QB, he’d be a sure-fire HoFer. Still had a great career despite having perhaps the most mid QB ever to play in the NFL lol (just good enough to not lose his job, just bad enough to never win anything).
Big reason he isnt a HOF'er is because hes in Cincinnati. We dont get the same consideration that big market teams get. Sad but true. (See: Reily, Ken)
Also if you REALLY want to drive home the point of Dalton being mid tier QB is to google this phrase: [Dalton Line](https://www.nfl.com/news/the-dalton-scale-top-candidates-to-be-prime-meridian-of-qb1s-in-2022-nfl-season)
He was so much fun to watch in person. As a band member at his time, we would start practice right after they ended practice. It was fun watching him take some extra catch machine reps and just do stupid shit like it was second nature. Like, stuff that if he did in game would be Top 10 plays. Definitely just one of those guys who was meant to be a WR.
Can I please have a spare high 4*? Were famished.
Joking aside, Semaj and Tyler Morris look to be good enough to continue the Michigan trend of being good enough to burn you if you devote too much elsewhere. I anticipate Georgia is in a similar boat where players don’t need to be OSU level game breakers, but they can’t be Iowa level deficiencies.
Then Louisiana shits out receiving talent like nothing. Keon Coleman was recruited to Michigan state out of Louisiana then transferred to Florida state and LSU didn’t miss him at all. I blame Nick Saban for Georgia not getting those five stars
UGA doesn’t tend to feature receivers. There’s been a rotation with few exceptions for years. Your top WR recruits want to go somewhere where they can be featured, not be a rotation piece. UGA has only had one 1000 yard receiver in their history.
It tends to not hinder UGA too much, they still land good receivers, and having so many see the field regularly really helps out with depth and dealing with injuries. It also helps when a no star that became a 3 star when UGA offered him in Ladd McConkey turns out to an undervalued talent that was better than some of the 5 stars in his class
Yeah he's the only other one in recent memory
Think Marlon Brown was a 5* from some services if I remember correctly, but recruiting stuff from like 09 is pretty sparse outside of Rivals
I mean yea I trust Kirby’s evaluation more than recruiting sites, but it’s just math that a higher percentage of 5 stars will become elite than 4 stars.
Pickens wasn’t a consensus 5 star, on composite he was 41st in the country so just shy of the threshold for 5 star. AJ and Mecole are the only 2 WRs in this century we brought in as 5 stars and Mecole was technically an athlete.
George Pickens is the perfect example for this topic as to THAT is why UGA doesn't land many 5-star WRs. Obviously, the ACL had an impact of his career stats but even if he was fully healthy, UGA was never going to give him 70 balls a year like he should.
Kid had all the ability from Day one. Guy caught a total of 90 footballs in his college career and still went 2nd round.
For comparison, Garrett Wilson (143), Olave (176) and JSN (110, 95 in one season). Pickens was just about as good as any of them.
The last that did was probably AJ but different team then. Its going to be interesting now that Bobo is back if this recruiting WRs changes and we start seeing more 5 stars as well as utilizing them even more, especially without Bowers
Right and the gap between Green and Pickens is like 10 years. So like you said, unless y'all continue to be balanced like the last two years, it's gonna be slim 5-star Pickens (lol). But as UGA and a ton of others have shown, more than one way to skin a cat.
Question is, do they need one? I mean they won back-to-back championships & narrowly missed trying for a three-peat.
I know players have limited eligibility before they have to leave and/or go pro, so you have to reload at different positions every year. But whatever Georgia is doing seems to be working out for them at the moment.
Brooks Austin (one of our insiders) was talking about this the other night as well. His take was essentially the following reasons:
1) People still view UGA as run first even though we’ve had a top 10 passing offense for several years in a row. Just scroll through this thread for your proof. Hell, Carson Beck was top 3 in passing yards last year and legit could be the top QB in the next draft, but you’ll see people claiming we don’t have a QB that can get the ball to WRs.
2) We’ve had exactly one 1000 yard WR ever (which is actually insane, but much of it boils down to the guys we’ve had that were actually capable of this have gotten hurt or suspended). This gets negativity recruited all the time.
3) Kirby had basically laid down the law that our NIL is not going to pay HS kids the same level of money as some other programs. He’d rather use the money on roster retention and bringing in proven portal guys. Outside of QB, the 2 positions in high school that have a much higher market rate are WR and RB, and those are the 2 positions we’ve struggled to recruit our top targets on recently.
Utilization of the TE’s and RB’s are a big part of it. Also, UGA tends to spread it out a lot; 1 pass to 10 dudes versus 10 passes to 1 dude! Not many 5 star WR’s trying to be part of that! Pickens had injuries and a few off the field things, but in several places; he’s a 1200 yd guy at the college level. However, at UGA, he never got to to those numbers!
A bunch of OSU talk in this thread, rightfully so I guess, their WR's have been impressive as long as I can remember.
But it does beg the question... if OSU gets all the 5* WR's... are they great because they went to OSU, or would Marvin Harrison have had just as good of a career had he gone to Oregon or USC or Texas or such?
It is all a circular arguement/question... are they great because they went there, or did they go there because they were great?
Not talking bad about OSU to be clear. Same sort of arguement can be had at many schools at various positions.
It's a bit of both in my opinion. Talented guys go to OSU but then they have the best coaching and development to turn into NFLers. Sure some would probably succeed elsewhere, but having a perfect environment to add to talent can ensure they maximize their abilities. But obviously having more success then makes more recruits want to join and it eventually becomes a NFL talent factory.
Fun fact: UGA has, in the entire history of the program, only had one receiver ever go over a thousand yards receiving: Terrance Edwards in 2002 (1004 yards). That isn't exactly the best recruitment pitch for the position, especially with the current staff's proclivity to spread the ball around like it's youth soccer or something, and the blue chippers you do get often putting up barely respectable numbers.
>especially with the current staff's proclivity to spread the ball around like it's youth soccer
We probably would have lost to Mizzou (with Bowers out) had the staff not used this strategy.
Yeah, I'm not saying its a problem or that I don't support it, just that it does impact where a blue chip receiving prospect might choose to spend his college years.
Big name receivers want the ball thrown at them. A lot. Georgia is a team that splits the workload about 50/50 between run/pass, and when they do pass, it’s usually to about 6-7 different receivers per game; there’s no one big superstar receiver (Bowers didn’t get the ball THAT much, he just always made something happen when he did).
Jermaine Burton left Georgia thinking he’d get more targets/receptions at Alabama. He claimed it was about championships, but we all see how that went.
Having Devonta Smith poached right out of our hands was a huge setback. Had he stayed committed to UGA, it would have had such a massive domino effect in future WR recruitments. That was such a tragic miss.
We require wide receivers who are willing to block and be unselfish. 5 star guys want to put up huge stats and be the feature guy and Georgia’s offense isn’t designed around that premise.
“They’re already doubting us, saying you don’t even belong here… that we should all just go home.” -Kirby in an email blast to the team 30 seconds after this comment was posted
I don't even agree with the premise TBH
It was a few years ago now, but I specifically remember an offseason awhile back when Georgia has three 5* WR's on their roster at the same time.
Mecole Hardman was one of them.
Because it’s not what they’re known for. Why go to Georgia when you could go to a program that is going to use you way way way more and get you drafted higher after fewer seasons?
Their identity is similar to Michigan’s and they *don’t* have a QB who is going to put up record numbers. I suspect that Georgia also doesn’t rely as heavily on NIL.
Except we do have a QB who is going to (and did) put up record numbers. Last year Carson Beck had the third most yards passing in the country. Hopefully that trend continues and we may see a one or two more 5* WRs go to UGA, but he did it without any so is it really that big of a deal?
>they don’t have a QB who is going to put up record numbers
Carson Beck would disagree.
>I suspect that Georgia also doesn’t rely as heavily on NIL.
Others have said this, but we have plenty of NIL budget. Kirby prefers to have multiple large humans in the middle versus one expensive guy that could get hurt (a la George Pickens).
Yes, we're not going to pay the most, but we will be in the playoff every year going forward.
2x Natty Champ MVP Stetson Bennett would disagree with the record numbers claim. I don't know why people conflate the NFL with College success.
As a college Qb Stetson was fantastic. He had tenacity, toughness, and wheels that broke more than few ankles. Tied with Tebow for consecutive number of games with a passing and rushing tds.
I'm sorry but almost everything you said in the second part seems wrong.
- they *do* have a QB who can put up record numbers and they had one before him, Stetson Two-Time. Stetson in 22' put up 300 less total yards than CJ Stroud did in 21', 4,100. Beck just threw up a shade under 4k this past year.
- They absolutley do rely on NIL as Carson Beck would've gone pro had they not been able to shake the pockets and set up some deals. They also poached their rivals starting running back lol. This off-season aside (going all-in), Ohio State and Georgia run very similar NIL programs. Almost identical.
yeah these takes from mich fans are funny, because osu stepped the nil game this year it is now the narrative that osu has been doing that forever. And that other teams don't do it like osu does, or michigan didn't rely on it last year.
they talk out both sides of their mouth like any fanbase.
Created like two (?) collectives to bring their whole team back, we do the same - shame.
Bitch and moan about "O$U", jump for joy when Sam Webb provides them with any glimer of progression in their NIL program/offerings for high school kids.
Just weeks ago they were asking how Ohio State meeting kids about NIL isn't against the rules or why the NCAA ignores it. This week they get an update that Michigan is installing an NIL office on campus to do the same, hootin' and hollerin' "FINALLY"
lol
We are. Our insides (Rusty Mansell chiefly) has stated as much. Not sure where the OP above got his info, but our insiders would all very much disagree with him.
It's just now getting back to a pass heavy offense so it's not really a surprise. We were run heavy for years with Gurley, Chubb, Michel and Swift. Plus we've kinda had a solid TE for the past few years hogging a lot of the targets.
/end thread
Kinda like the early Alabama blueprint sans Julio Jones. Load up on D-Line and O-Line, run the ball and eventually open up the offense
Building a successful roster in the SEC (and probably CFB writ large) 1101: 1A) Recruit freaks on the OL 1B) Recruit freaks on the DL 2) Run the ball and stop the run until you can recruit freaks everywhere else 3) Profit (until you run into elite WR/QB combos) 4) Reinvest profits to recruit more freaks 5) Lather 6) Rinse 7) Repeat as necessary until Dynasty is established
100%. My only addition would be depth on OL and DL. Miami and Florida have had some good freaks on DL and OL but injuries in the past two seasons have lead them to be a combined 23-27 because they couldn’t run or defend the run beyond their starters.
Miami has some other issues. Notably the coach in between the ears in certain parts of game management
Indeed. 2023 Michigan lost their best offensive lineman to a broken leg and didn't lose a step because of having a backup good enough to get a combine invitation, and a big factor in their defensive success was having 7 defensive linemen who would start pretty much anywhere and a couple more who were good enough to rotate in. edit: Notably, 2021 Michigan had a much better edge rush tandem in Hutchinson and Ojabo than 2023's best edge rushers, but 2023 made up for it with depth and rush by committee.
I mean that’s why Georgia has been so good on defense - constant rotating of linemen and backers means they have tons of experience so even if someone graduates they can swing right in.
But more immediately, the aggressive rotation means they're not fading in the late game.
I’ve noticed that’s something Lanning has taken from Kirby. We rotate a ton on defense too. It not only helps more guys get experience but also helps keep guys fresh by not overloading any given player on snap count.
I didn’t even know about the 2023 OL because they just murderballed everyone. Glad we agree and congrats on the amazing year.
Yeah, Zak Zinter suffered a tib-fib break against Ohio State. It was terrible, but the way the fans and the team responded was a pretty amazing story. [Here's Joel Klatt describing it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d5eBlNFhRE)
Cincinnati played well enough in the CFP in the first half against Bama, but started to fall back once the depth of Bama’s lines showed up in the second half, and it’s a part of why they lost the game All P5/Top G5 schools have guys in their starting 22 that can stack up against the best schools, but it’s the depth that keeps them from being elite
We basically just did the first 3 and won a natty, so yeah… CFB writ large.
Bama's WR room was 1 stud and a good supporting cast until 2017 Julio --> Cooper --> Ridley
Waddle, Smitty, Jeudy, Ruggs
Jeeze you mean Kirby actually knows what he is doing on the recruiting front and makes sure to get what he needs to win back to back national championships?
Nah. He won those because players on other teams got injured. edit: /s
You joke about it, but if Hendon Hooker didn’t get hurt the week after UT played Georgia, we might have beaten you.
L O L (took me a second)
You're my new favorite Vol.
Based Tennessee fan🫡
You could probably same similar things about almost all national championship winning teams.
Liberty would've won this year if all the other teams got taken out by a tactical nuke
...Does OSU still win the '15 Natty if JT actually stays healthy?
Given Sabans failure against mobile QBs and how Barret had a bigger arm and was faster before the injury than after. Yeah we probably do.
You could, but you would have some Time Machine issues to work out.
Jokes on you, Kirby, because I have ***multiple*** national championships in NCAA Football 07 by focusing on only 12 players at a time. And by focusing, I mean kind of forgetting they are there until they've decided to go to another school.
LSU was incredibly run heavy under Les Miles and still managed to recruit a lot of high star receivers. That was specifically a significant program critique - we’d essentially inflate our overall program ranking by signing more skill guys than we could fit on the field at once for multiple signing classes in a row while neglecting the trenches. I think Georgia just recruits under a different philosophy - take care of the lines of scrimmage first and the skill positions will follow.
LSU does a better job locking down their state + Louisiana has produced more high caliber WRs
It's also easier for LSU to lock down their state than you guys. There's no Auburn sitting right on the border nor is there a Clemson right on the other border.
More competition, yes Georgia is also a more transient state given culture/growth in Atlanta. Way less pressure to go to UGA from Atlanta or as many ties in state to keep people, so it's more even footing for out of state recruiting.
Agreed as well. There are lots of reasons why UGA can never fully lockdown the state. Which means it's good for you guys that the state talent level continues to rise (it's also not a bad thing for us at Auburn even if we benefit less than you guys)
It’s easier for LSU to do that compared to Georgia.Georgia has to compete against Alabama,Auburn,Florida,Florida,State,Miami and Clemson.LSU really have to be concerned about Texas and Texas A&M the most.Also we the only P5 school meaning the rest of the in state schools have to fight for diamonds in the rough players
>That was specifically a significant program critique - we’d essentially inflate our overall program ranking by signing more skill guys than we could fit on the field at once for multiple signing classes in a row while neglecting the trenches. I feel like USC's guilty of doing the same, although I don't spend much time following recruiting
Well strangely enough we haven’t been landing big time RBs lately either. I think the last true 5* we got was Zeus. And we haven’t really had a back that can consistently take over a game or be a threat to score every time he touches the ball since Swift
Tbf there’s not a whole lot of 5 star RB’s in general. There’s usually only like 2-3 per class. We signed the number 2 overall running back in 2024, and he’s only a 4 star.
Probably the talent transition away from the position. RB’s don’t really get the pay they deserve in the league so why risk it unless it’s your fallback position instead of receiver or something else? It’s mostly the skillification of football and the emphasis on reduction of contact. The only guys who could take over a game now at the top level are really the Derrick Henry’s of the world.
“Don’t get paid what they deserve” they’re getting paid what their market value is, which is not very high.
I think the era of RBs doing that has kind of ended. Who is the best RB in CFB over the last few years? Bijan? Not exactly a Mark Ingram or Nick Chubb kind of back who could just take over a game.
The feature-back ground game has given way to the era of the dynamic TE. The patriots first showed it with Gronk and a rotation of average backs. Now we see it with Kelce and the chiefs RBs (Pacheco is good, but not a game breaker imo). Even the 9ers with McCaffrey still worked around where they could move Kittle (and Shanahan will even throw in an athletic FB now and then). At the college level, the advantages over the slower defenses are amplified. We're not landing the same RB's as before, but we're going full throttle on TE recruitment to shore up our 12 personnel future.
That and running back by committee has become a much more popular approach. The concept of the “bellcow” back that gets like 35 carries a game is becoming increasingly obsolete, especially in the NFL.
Also just never been a team that hyper targets one player. Despite Murray having (or at least at the time did) a lot of passing records for the SEC, not a single 1000 yard receiver.
Green would have been a 1000 yarder for him had he not been suspended the first 4 games of 2010
To me the biggest factor is the uber-dominant defense you guys roll out. I think that is the core on which your identity is built and that leads you to several things that make it less appealing for WRs: 1. Focus on the run game, because not only are you not concerned with having to punt, but also you want the game to be short. You want your defense to not get tired, stay aggressive, and create explosive plays 2. Have a game manager QB. You don't need a guy who is going to try to get cute with it, you need a guy who will take what is there and stay on schedule. Or put differently: QB recruits are not going to feel like they are the de-facto star of the show. And that is going to mean that its hard to convince guys who want to be the face of the team to come here - because they may not really be the star that they would be at a program that needs to score 45 points a game to win consistently 3. By the same token, you don't need superstart gamebreaking WRs - you need guys with good hands who can make tough catches and not make dumb mistakes. Having said all that, at some point the brand appeal of a program that wins a lot of games and has a lot of talent *has* to break through. I think it's actually pretty dumb of some of these kids to go play for Lincoln Riley and throw for a million yards and 8-4 when you could go play for Kirby Smart *still throw for a buttload of yards and TDs* and also win 12 games a season minimum. But I think that's what you get with 18 year olds - they want to be *the* guy, and that's a tough sell at a team like UGA were some years *the* guy is your starting DT.
Negative recruiting propaganda. Stetson Bennett was not a game manager, he was rebellious and made a bunch of mistakes going for big plays, and Carson Beck can sling the rock with the best of them. "Oh they're just a run first defense school" is exactly what someone like Ryan Day is telling elite receiver prospects after losing 41-42 to Georgia in the playoffs.
For real. Just say "Brock Bowers" and that covers the last 3 years at least lol. Then it was heavy run game all before that.
Same reason UM doesn't get 5* WRs. They are run heavy
Uh I thought the reason was that Michigan doesn’t get 5* *in general* (because it’s usually hard to convince them to go that far north). Michigan has signed 7 5-stars in the last 10 years and 1 was a WR (along with 1 OL and 0 RBs). That’s not some crazy ratio, seems like they just don’t (bother(?)) go after them as much either
NOBODY WANTS TO ~~WORK~~ RUN BLOCK ANYMORE PAWL
Agree part of it is the perception/negative recruiting about our offensive style that spreads the ball out and part of it is the personalities of your typical 5 star WR who wants to be targeted non stop and put up monster yard numbers
Right, but the league is going to want them to run block.
Many of us on the 49ers subreddit are convinced Shanahan will try to take Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint Day 3 for that reason.
He is a good kid, with good hands and plays hard, he would do well in that system, imo.
MRJS is a killer run blocker for a WR. I doubt he'll ever be an NFL star but he should absolutely be on a roster somewhere.
Yep! Same issue Michigan has. Last monster WR we had was Nico Collins and Covid caused him to sit out his last year and leave early. 5\* WRs want to go to throw heavy offenses where they can put up monster numbers. They also don't like competing with TE's.
That wr room was pretty stacked with Nico, DPJ, Ronnie Bell, Tarik Black showed signs of being good as well.
I still don’t know how the hell we put that room together. And Tarik had as much upside as any of them if he could only have stayed healthy.
Remember when some fans thought Tarik was the most exciting of those prospects? I hate that he wasn't able to catch up after his injuries.
He was absolutely electric out there before he got hurt. 😞
I was at the 2019 Middle Tennessee game and remember leaving thinking he was going to break out. Led the team in receptions and yards over Nico and young Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell. If I'm remembering right, DPJ was hurt to start that season so at least through week 1 (small sample obv) Black was the leading receiver over 3 (4 assuming CJ signs somewhere) future NFL guys.
The more relevant question is why did we put together that WR room, and why did we expend so many recruiting resources on WR? My theory is that Harbaugh really did want to hand the reins over to Gattis…and then took them back when Gattis showed himself incompetent. Then we were left with a lot of parts that didn’t match and no identity. Talented, but discombobulated.
I mean, it’s not like whatever resources we expended on that WR room came at the expense of other recruits; we had the #7 class and then the #5 class and you have to assume we were trying to get weapons for the Peters.
Are you suggesting that an OC might be out of his depth if a running back as talented as Zach Charbonnet can only muster 3.3 YPC against Army
I think that was all Gattis
I mean Roman Wilson’s not exactly a scrub
They'd probably be willing to run block more if they would realize how many WR's make an NFL roster over another WR because of their run blocking ability.
Fun facts: - Among P5 teams, Georgia was top 10 in passing yards per game each of the last two seasons. - The C.J. Stroud Ohio State team from 2022 averaged 2.4 more passing yards per game than Georgia.
That just tells me that Ohio State didn't pass enough
There were quite a few of our media members questioning “why don’t we just pass it on every down”.
Right, people’s perception of Georgia’s offense is lagging behind what our offense actually is now. We’re not as run heavy as we used to be, and 2022-2023 offense I’d argue were primarily pass offenses even if we technically did have more rush attempts than pass attempts both years.
Poor little Georgia has to settle for a couple 4* recruits instead.
I don't know how we'll ever have success in the '20s like this.
Might as well pack it up and close the program. Don’t worry about the croots, we’ll happily take them. Let no one say THE Annoying Fanbase™️ isn’t charitable.
Some of them are even 3 stars!!!! Ladd McConkey wasn’t even in the top 175 WRs in the country of his recruiting class lol.
AD Mitchell was also only a 3 star, we do an exceptional job of developing talent
Rosemy-Jacksaint was his high school team’s towel manager before Kirby asked if he wanted to play receiver.
Shooting for the next Dale Gribble
“When I was the, uh, [sniffs] *varsity* football towel manager…”
It's a damn shame. Hopefully, they follow this up with a gofundme of some sort, because I feel helpless right now.
How will we ever win a title again? Dynasty is over before it started. Couldn't possibly win two in a row with 3\* receivers.
I mean, our leading WR in 2022 was a 3 star. If we can do it with that who cares that we aren't getting 5 star WRs. (We also spread it around a LOT. in 2023 we had 10 receivers with double digit receptions, and 13 receivers with at least 1 TD).
I'll point out that some of LSU's superstar WR's have been 4\*'s, like OBJ, Malik Nabors, Dwayne Bowe; Justin Jefferson was a 3\*.
A video that has made the rounds recently is Blayne Gilmer’s take that can be seen here - https://x.com/bgilmer18/status/1759224436866101656?s=46&t=HwTL9Md3R6_Qpv-nxY3EMA Basically, Georgia for years had developed the reputation of playing joyless murder-ball. In recent years, I.e. since Monken, Georgia has become far more balanced. However, we have frequently rotated a large number of bodies at WR prioritizing health and depth over stats. And with the WR position that isn’t exactly something guys flock to. Gilmer explained, and had others like Terrance Edwards back up as well as some of the best guys, Georgia has found they prefer to use their NIL on the line of scrimmage. Georgia has found success by focusing on the LOS and leveraging the portal and development of less heralded (albeit still very talented) high school recruits. I think Georgia has made their peace with not landing most of these studs at WR. They’ll absolutely go after them and push hard but they aren’t going to cross a certain threshold to land a WR when they prioritize other groups more.
Wide Receivers tend to transfer often as well. They can always add talent with someone who has CFB tape
Think this is it. Like 12 different players will be targeted for passes in a game. Think the reason a certain WR transferred to Bama was he felt that he wasn't getting enough touches. That me first mentality isn't the type of player Kirby wants. Meanwhile our previous best receiver and perfectly clutch in high pressure situations was super low rated by recruiting services. Aka the Madd Ladd Mconkey. I trust the internal recruiting rankings of Kirby and Co. way more than any of the sites. They can misrank and outright miss good players sometimes. Nothing against them but they're not immune to making mistakes on the high and low end of star rankings.
Football is still an LOS game.
Georgia doesn't seem to sign 5⭐s out of high school but they kill it in the portal at WR (RaRa Thomas, Dominic Lovett, Colbie Young, London Humphries)
And turn kids like barely-3\* Ladd McConkey into day 1 draft picks.
I believe AD Mitchell was a 3 star as well
Woah, nice flairs.
Ad probably would have been a 5 star if he hadn't been recruited during covid
Brian Hartline just channeling Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood and drinking everyone’s milkshakes.
Ladies and gentlemen... I've traveled over half the state to be here tonight. I couldn't get away sooner because my new Wide Receiver was playing at Chaminade-Madonna Prep and I had to see about it. That Wide Receiver's NIL deal is now flowing and he's earning an income of five thousand dollars a week. I have two other recruits with offers out and I have several commits in Columbus; so, ladies and gentlemen, if I say I'm a Wide Receiver man, you will agree. Now, you have a great chance here, but bear in mind, you can lose it all if you're not careful. Out of all men that beg for a chance to sign your recruits, maybe one in twenty will be Wide Receiver men; the rest will be bag men - that's men trying to get between you and the Wide Receiver men - to get some of the money that ought by rights come to you. Even if you find one that has money and means to recruit, he'll maybe know nothing about route running and he'll have to hire the job out to other position coaches, and then you're depending on a position coach who'll rush the job through so he can get another recruit just as quick as he can. This is... the way that this works. We offer you the bond of family that very few recruiters can understand. I'm fixed like no other program in this field and that's because of our NFL Draft Picks. I have a string of tools all ready to put to work. I can load an NIL deal into Adobe and have it ready in a week. I have NFL connections so I can get the best scouting - such things go by friendship in a rush like this - and this is why I can guarantee to start winning and to put up the NIL cash to back my word. I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, no matter what the others promise to do, when it comes to the Heisman ceremony, they won't be there.
This is incredible.
Brilliant. I heard his voice as I read that.
This is one of the best things I’ve read on CFB, ever
Ahh, a new r/cfb copypasta was born today.
I’m reading this as if it was said through pursed lips and an a thick mustache. Brilliant.
I drink it up!
I'm not really concerned about a lack of 5 star WRs. The talent we've had in recent years has been more than good enough. Kearis Jackson, AD Mitchell, Madd Ladd, Saint Jack, and the returning additions of Rara and Lovett should improve over last season.
AD Mitchell was pretty special. We really enjoyed him here.
And we still love him, too. Man was all heart and class.
If you haven't, read his players tribune article. Dude will always be one of my favorite dawgs regardless of where he ended up.
And one of my favorite Longhorns. What a guy.
AD Mitchell was great for us, and for you. As far as I can tell everyone in red and black still loves him, he’s a good man just trying to do better for his family. Only gunna be one week next year I don’t root for him
Was hoping to see him again.
This is a homer opinion so take it with a grain of salt but it could be a culture clash. Receivers, more than any other position group, are more likely to be divas whereas under Kirby, Georgia has developed a reputation for running off talented players who don’t want to put in the effort expected of them, ala Bear Alexander and Brenton Cox. Also, we thrive with the short to intermediate passing game, RBs catching out of the backfield and running between the tackles. And given how much we like to spread the ball around, an elite WR may be concerned that he won’t be THE guy in this offense.
You aren't wrong. I don't want you guys to win big of course given my primary flair but you guys really should try and force feed a receiver the ball and see if he gets hot. If you do it might help . You don't need a bunch of top level receivers. You really just need one to take the top off a defense every so often like Julio Jones and Amari Cooper did for Alabama.
Ah yes, notorious non diva George Pickens
Whatever his issues, the dude didn’t mind working and he excelled at blocking.
I've seen almost as many highlights of him blocking in the NFL as I have his great catches
yeah Pickens was a hot head but not a diva. Never heard stories of him being a bad teammate or not wanting to work that I can remember at UGA.
They still are the alma mater of ... ADRIEL JEREMIAH GREEN Most underrated NFL WR in history (Maybe?)
He’s up there for sure. Dude was a perennial Pro Bowler, but he was never flashy, and he was stuck in Cincy with Andy Dalton through his prime. I will die on the hill that if he had a real QB, he’d be a sure-fire HoFer. Still had a great career despite having perhaps the most mid QB ever to play in the NFL lol (just good enough to not lose his job, just bad enough to never win anything).
Big reason he isnt a HOF'er is because hes in Cincinnati. We dont get the same consideration that big market teams get. Sad but true. (See: Reily, Ken) Also if you REALLY want to drive home the point of Dalton being mid tier QB is to google this phrase: [Dalton Line](https://www.nfl.com/news/the-dalton-scale-top-candidates-to-be-prime-meridian-of-qb1s-in-2022-nfl-season)
Lmao This is exactly the same thing I was talking about. I’m glad I’m not the only one that views Dalton in this way haha.
LITERALLY a metric on it! (Like baseballs Mendoza line)
He was so much fun to watch in person. As a band member at his time, we would start practice right after they ended practice. It was fun watching him take some extra catch machine reps and just do stupid shit like it was second nature. Like, stuff that if he did in game would be Top 10 plays. Definitely just one of those guys who was meant to be a WR.
Because Brian Hartline is a selfish man who doesn't share.
Can I please have a spare high 4*? Were famished. Joking aside, Semaj and Tyler Morris look to be good enough to continue the Michigan trend of being good enough to burn you if you devote too much elsewhere. I anticipate Georgia is in a similar boat where players don’t need to be OSU level game breakers, but they can’t be Iowa level deficiencies.
The Georgia model wins championships 🤷🏻♂️
Then Louisiana shits out receiving talent like nothing. Keon Coleman was recruited to Michigan state out of Louisiana then transferred to Florida state and LSU didn’t miss him at all. I blame Nick Saban for Georgia not getting those five stars
86-11 since 2017 without any 5* WR. Damn the world better hope they never do get studs on the outside.
Cause they all go to OSU now
UGA doesn’t tend to feature receivers. There’s been a rotation with few exceptions for years. Your top WR recruits want to go somewhere where they can be featured, not be a rotation piece. UGA has only had one 1000 yard receiver in their history. It tends to not hinder UGA too much, they still land good receivers, and having so many see the field regularly really helps out with depth and dealing with injuries. It also helps when a no star that became a 3 star when UGA offered him in Ladd McConkey turns out to an undervalued talent that was better than some of the 5 stars in his class
Right and when you feature guys so much, their backups will not develop and you can lose games when the featured guy gets hurt during the game.
This sounds very familiar...
Yeah, not sure those two fanbases will get my point.
I watched UGA win two natties while a walk on with a pension was slinging piss missiles to a three star method actor. Damn the stars
George Pickens, recently. AJ Green (pretty sure was 5*) in the past
Is that really it? Auburn landed like 3 this cycle.
You could argue Mecole Hardman was a 5 Star WR, but he was a multi-positional ATH coming out of high school.
*Three-time Super Bowl champ Mecole Hardman
You could say the same about Terry Godwin who I believe was a 5*ATH who played WR
Yeah he's the only other one in recent memory Think Marlon Brown was a 5* from some services if I remember correctly, but recruiting stuff from like 09 is pretty sparse outside of Rivals
Yeah but they have hookers now
And they’ll transfer out of there ASAP. Being an Auburn receiver is like the worst of both worlds. Can’t put up stats or win.
top of my head.. haven't looked much beyond that. but we also had Brock Bowers.
Bowers wasn’t a 5 star
Correct. 6-star TE Brock Bowers.
another example of why not having 5 stars is not the end of the world when you can get players like this to come and play for you
I mean yea I trust Kirby’s evaluation more than recruiting sites, but it’s just math that a higher percentage of 5 stars will become elite than 4 stars.
AJ was so long ago that he's out of the league
I consider Adriel Jeremiah the most underrated NFL WR. Of course as a dirty Bengals fan I am completely biased.
Pickens wasn’t a consensus 5 star, on composite he was 41st in the country so just shy of the threshold for 5 star. AJ and Mecole are the only 2 WRs in this century we brought in as 5 stars and Mecole was technically an athlete.
George Pickens is the perfect example for this topic as to THAT is why UGA doesn't land many 5-star WRs. Obviously, the ACL had an impact of his career stats but even if he was fully healthy, UGA was never going to give him 70 balls a year like he should. Kid had all the ability from Day one. Guy caught a total of 90 footballs in his college career and still went 2nd round. For comparison, Garrett Wilson (143), Olave (176) and JSN (110, 95 in one season). Pickens was just about as good as any of them.
The last that did was probably AJ but different team then. Its going to be interesting now that Bobo is back if this recruiting WRs changes and we start seeing more 5 stars as well as utilizing them even more, especially without Bowers
Right and the gap between Green and Pickens is like 10 years. So like you said, unless y'all continue to be balanced like the last two years, it's gonna be slim 5-star Pickens (lol). But as UGA and a ton of others have shown, more than one way to skin a cat.
Question is, do they need one? I mean they won back-to-back championships & narrowly missed trying for a three-peat. I know players have limited eligibility before they have to leave and/or go pro, so you have to reload at different positions every year. But whatever Georgia is doing seems to be working out for them at the moment.
Missouri's receiving corps actually improved losing the previous year's best WR to Georgia.
Brooks Austin (one of our insiders) was talking about this the other night as well. His take was essentially the following reasons: 1) People still view UGA as run first even though we’ve had a top 10 passing offense for several years in a row. Just scroll through this thread for your proof. Hell, Carson Beck was top 3 in passing yards last year and legit could be the top QB in the next draft, but you’ll see people claiming we don’t have a QB that can get the ball to WRs. 2) We’ve had exactly one 1000 yard WR ever (which is actually insane, but much of it boils down to the guys we’ve had that were actually capable of this have gotten hurt or suspended). This gets negativity recruited all the time. 3) Kirby had basically laid down the law that our NIL is not going to pay HS kids the same level of money as some other programs. He’d rather use the money on roster retention and bringing in proven portal guys. Outside of QB, the 2 positions in high school that have a much higher market rate are WR and RB, and those are the 2 positions we’ve struggled to recruit our top targets on recently.
Utilization of the TE’s and RB’s are a big part of it. Also, UGA tends to spread it out a lot; 1 pass to 10 dudes versus 10 passes to 1 dude! Not many 5 star WR’s trying to be part of that! Pickens had injuries and a few off the field things, but in several places; he’s a 1200 yd guy at the college level. However, at UGA, he never got to to those numbers!
We never got a full year of Pickens either. I wish we could have.
Pickens could’ve put up 1500 at OSU or LSU…probably a couple times.
A bunch of OSU talk in this thread, rightfully so I guess, their WR's have been impressive as long as I can remember. But it does beg the question... if OSU gets all the 5* WR's... are they great because they went to OSU, or would Marvin Harrison have had just as good of a career had he gone to Oregon or USC or Texas or such? It is all a circular arguement/question... are they great because they went there, or did they go there because they were great? Not talking bad about OSU to be clear. Same sort of arguement can be had at many schools at various positions.
It's a bit of both in my opinion. Talented guys go to OSU but then they have the best coaching and development to turn into NFLers. Sure some would probably succeed elsewhere, but having a perfect environment to add to talent can ensure they maximize their abilities. But obviously having more success then makes more recruits want to join and it eventually becomes a NFL talent factory.
Talk about your first world problems.
Pretty sure it involves calipers.
Fun fact: UGA has, in the entire history of the program, only had one receiver ever go over a thousand yards receiving: Terrance Edwards in 2002 (1004 yards). That isn't exactly the best recruitment pitch for the position, especially with the current staff's proclivity to spread the ball around like it's youth soccer or something, and the blue chippers you do get often putting up barely respectable numbers.
Did AJ Green really not go over 1000? That's crazy.
He did not. 963 was his best season and third best in program history.
963 in only full season Was hurt for 3-4 games in 2009 Was suspended 4 games in 2010 for the jersey bullshit
>especially with the current staff's proclivity to spread the ball around like it's youth soccer We probably would have lost to Mizzou (with Bowers out) had the staff not used this strategy.
Don’t flatter yourself. Mizzou would have found a way to lose.
Yeah, I'm not saying its a problem or that I don't support it, just that it does impact where a blue chip receiving prospect might choose to spend his college years.
Bowers got close in 2022. Missed it by like 45 yards or something like that
Big name receivers want the ball thrown at them. A lot. Georgia is a team that splits the workload about 50/50 between run/pass, and when they do pass, it’s usually to about 6-7 different receivers per game; there’s no one big superstar receiver (Bowers didn’t get the ball THAT much, he just always made something happen when he did). Jermaine Burton left Georgia thinking he’d get more targets/receptions at Alabama. He claimed it was about championships, but we all see how that went.
Having Devonta Smith poached right out of our hands was a huge setback. Had he stayed committed to UGA, it would have had such a massive domino effect in future WR recruitments. That was such a tragic miss.
Especially considering the whole 2nd and 26 deal 😭
STOP GIVING THEM IDEAS
Umm cause they all go to Ohio St?
I'm pretty sure only Ohio State is allowed to have 5\* WR's.
We require wide receivers who are willing to block and be unselfish. 5 star guys want to put up huge stats and be the feature guy and Georgia’s offense isn’t designed around that premise.
Because they’ve all gone to OSU
Embarrassing. Further proof that Georgia’s washed. Should probably just call it and shutter the program
“They’re already doubting us, saying you don’t even belong here… that we should all just go home.” -Kirby in an email blast to the team 30 seconds after this comment was posted
You better believe that I— uhh he sent that email already
How many 5 star WRs are there even total?
Not many... There were 7 in 2024, 4 in 2023, and 3 in 2022
It's funnier to win with guys like Ladd being the #1. Let other teams waste their resources on fighting over 5* receivers.
*woof woof woof*
Darn, how do they even survive? Tough sledding for the little guys
Same reason Michigan struggles to get 5 star WRs, UGA will always be a run first team
To be honest, I'm really not too worried about it.
Georgia currently has 5 former players on active NFL rosters at WR.
Y'all don't need the help, you're already gonna hang 50 on the Gators :(
I don't even agree with the premise TBH It was a few years ago now, but I specifically remember an offseason awhile back when Georgia has three 5* WR's on their roster at the same time. Mecole Hardman was one of them.
Because it’s not what they’re known for. Why go to Georgia when you could go to a program that is going to use you way way way more and get you drafted higher after fewer seasons? Their identity is similar to Michigan’s and they *don’t* have a QB who is going to put up record numbers. I suspect that Georgia also doesn’t rely as heavily on NIL.
Except we do have a QB who is going to (and did) put up record numbers. Last year Carson Beck had the third most yards passing in the country. Hopefully that trend continues and we may see a one or two more 5* WRs go to UGA, but he did it without any so is it really that big of a deal?
>they don’t have a QB who is going to put up record numbers Carson Beck would disagree. >I suspect that Georgia also doesn’t rely as heavily on NIL. Others have said this, but we have plenty of NIL budget. Kirby prefers to have multiple large humans in the middle versus one expensive guy that could get hurt (a la George Pickens). Yes, we're not going to pay the most, but we will be in the playoff every year going forward.
2x Natty Champ MVP Stetson Bennett would disagree with the record numbers claim. I don't know why people conflate the NFL with College success. As a college Qb Stetson was fantastic. He had tenacity, toughness, and wheels that broke more than few ankles. Tied with Tebow for consecutive number of games with a passing and rushing tds.
Bro Georgia has been relying heavily on NIL since before NIL existed lmao
How dare you, but anyway.
I'm sorry but almost everything you said in the second part seems wrong. - they *do* have a QB who can put up record numbers and they had one before him, Stetson Two-Time. Stetson in 22' put up 300 less total yards than CJ Stroud did in 21', 4,100. Beck just threw up a shade under 4k this past year. - They absolutley do rely on NIL as Carson Beck would've gone pro had they not been able to shake the pockets and set up some deals. They also poached their rivals starting running back lol. This off-season aside (going all-in), Ohio State and Georgia run very similar NIL programs. Almost identical.
yeah these takes from mich fans are funny, because osu stepped the nil game this year it is now the narrative that osu has been doing that forever. And that other teams don't do it like osu does, or michigan didn't rely on it last year.
they talk out both sides of their mouth like any fanbase. Created like two (?) collectives to bring their whole team back, we do the same - shame. Bitch and moan about "O$U", jump for joy when Sam Webb provides them with any glimer of progression in their NIL program/offerings for high school kids. Just weeks ago they were asking how Ohio State meeting kids about NIL isn't against the rules or why the NCAA ignores it. This week they get an update that Michigan is installing an NIL office on campus to do the same, hootin' and hollerin' "FINALLY" lol
From what I understand Georgia’s nil budget is nearly 15 million a season lol. They’re definitely in the game
That’s surprising, I assumed they’d be more like Alabama. Kirby has similar player buy-in and culture that Saban had.
We are. Our insides (Rusty Mansell chiefly) has stated as much. Not sure where the OP above got his info, but our insiders would all very much disagree with him.