Georgia football\u2019s 2027 recruiting class stands 17th in the 247Sports composite rankings, but there\u2019s an old saying that applies now more than ever in college football: \u201cIt\u2019s not how you start, it\u2019s how you finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dec. 2 early signing period is a long way off.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of time for \u201ccommitted\u201d players who have not signed contracts to change their minds and choose different schools. A verbal commitment in recruiting is merely a part of the negotiating process as several schools, including Georgia, have learned with late-term flips at pivotal positions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Georgia recently had two 5-star quarterbacks verbally committed only to see them end up signing at other schools: Dylan Raiola (2024, Nebraska) and Jared Curtis (2026, Vanderbilt).<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs\u2019 2027 recruiting class consists of 17 players, per 247Sports, with two 5-star players among them: tailback Kemon Spell and tight end Jaxon Dollar.<\/p>\n
But Georgia\u2019s relatively low team recruiting ranking, which is seventh among SEC schools, has led to some hand-wringing from fans who have become accustomed to decorated signing classes.<\/p>\n
NIL dealings and what amounts to an annual free-agent transfer portal has changed the game when it comes to roster management. <\/p>\n
All that said, one doesn\u2019t have to look back too far to see there are no such thing as guarantees when it comes to recruiting, including 5-star impact and production.<\/p>\n
Nine 5-star players from the 2018 signing class ended up playing for the Bulldogs, but their career paths varied greatly. Five of those were part of the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship team.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a closer look at Smart\u2019s 2018 signing class, which finished No. 1 in the 247 composite rankings.<\/p>\n
Georgia\u2019s 5-star signees in 2018<\/p>\n
\u2022 Justin Fields: Transferred to Ohio State<\/p>\n
\u2022 Zamir White: Two-year starter and captain<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jamaree Salyer: Three-year starter and captain<\/p>\n
\u2022 Tyson Campbell: Three-year starter<\/p>\n
\u2022 Adam Anderson: Dismissed<\/p>\n
\u2022 Cade Mays: Two-year starter, transferred to Tennessee<\/p>\n
\u2022 Brenton Cox: Played one season, transferred to Florida<\/p>\n
Georgia\u2019s incoming 5-star transfers in 2018<\/p>\n
\u2022 JT Daniels: Started seven games, transferred<\/p>\n
\u2022 Derion Kendrick: One-year starter<\/p>\n
The takeaway, even before the introduction of NIL after the 2021 season and the easing of transfer restrictions, is that recruiting 5-star players and retaining them are entirely different things.<\/p>\n
An argument could be made that the 3- and 4-star signees in Georgia\u2019s 2018 class proved just as impactful.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at players from the 2018 class who started or were part of the Bulldogs\u2019 2021 national championship team:<\/p>\n
Georgia\u2019s 2021-22 CFP starters from 2018 class<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jordan Davis: 3-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Warren Ericson: 3-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jamaree Salyer: 5-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Zamir White: 5-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Derion Kendrick: 5-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Christopher Smith: 3-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Devonte Wyatt: 4-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Quay Walker: 4-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jake Camarda: 3-star<\/p>\n
Other 2018 recruits on UGA\u2019s 2021 roster<\/p>\n
\u2022 James Cook: 4-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Tramel Walthour: 3-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kearis Jackson: 4-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Channing Tindall: 4-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Adam Anderson: 5-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 Owen Condon: 3-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 John FitzPatrick: 4-star<\/p>\n
\u2022 JT Daniels: 5-star<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Georgia football\u2019s 2027 recruiting class stands 17th in the 247Sports composite rankings, but there\u2019s an old saying that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[22386,1603,399,6341,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-739790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-ajc-freelancer","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-football","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}