Once again, Georgia has pulled in another decent recruiting class. Of course getting Top 10 signing class does not guarantee success, but it certainly does not hurt the Dawgs chances.
I do not remember reading about a lot of headliners, but ajc.com thinks Georgia did pretty darn good.
Georgia had one its best-ever classes. But it didn’t appear that way because the majority of recruits committed by the end of the summer. Aaron Murray of Tampa and Oconee County’s Zach Mettenberger are two of the nation’s top quarterbacks, and Booker T. Washington defensive back Branden Smith was the state’s consensus No. 1 prospect, barely ahead of Northside-Warner Robins defensive tackle Abry Jones.
It will be interesting to see how many of these guys are able to get on the field right away and make an immediate impact. Unlike the NFL draft, I never get too excited about National Signing Day. The reality is that these are kids, and you can never be too sure how they are going to react away from home. Ask me again about the 2009 class in 3-4 years.
Stafford is going to be the first prominent QB drafted out of UGA that I can recall. Prominent as in drafted in the first 2 or 3 rounds.
Why are they getting big QB prospects? School isn’t exactly known for big time passing. Then again, it hasn’t had great RBs into the NFL in a long time.
Garrison Hearst maybe? One of my favorite all-time Niners. Before his injuries, I thought he was as dynamic as Faulk’s first couple of years with the Rams. Made a lot of big plays, including splitting out wide and abusing some poor LB or safety.
But who was throwing to Ben Troupe to make him a high pick?
It has been a long time since UGA had a QB in the draft mix – I cannot remember one. Fran Tarkenton was before my time. Matt Robinson for the Jets in the late 70’s is the last starting QB from UGA that comes to mind, but he was not considered a top flight QB.
Mark Richt is something of a QB guru – he attracts top QB recruits.
Great UGA RBs in recent memory? T. Davis helped Elway land his rings. If not for injuries, Davis would have worked his way to the hall. The recently retired Mack Strong (FB – Seahawks) was one of the best FBs ever – so says me.
TEs? UGA has turned out a few of late – Randy (Rams) McMichael and Benjamin Watson (Pats) come to mind.