Georgia Football: Nation’s top recruit chooses Dawgs
By Matt Green
On Friday, the nation’s top-ranked high school recruit, Justin Fields, announced that he was going to stay at home and play for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Reeling in five star quarterbacks is becoming a habit for the Georgia football program. Fields will join sophomore Jacob Eason and freshman Jake Fromm as the third scholarship quarterback on the Bulldogs’ roster, as well as the third five-star quarterback on the roster… For now at least.
The dual-threat quarterback from Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Ga. was committed to Penn State as a junior, but re-opened his recruitment back in June. After he decommitted, Florida State, Auburn, Alabama, and LSU were among schools pursuing the five-star quarterback, but ultimately he went with the in-state Bulldogs.
Fields’ commitment was big for a number of reasons. For starters, any time you land the no. 1 player in the nation, it’s safe to say that’s a good thing. But for Georgia, it was even more important.
The previous no. 1 ranked player, Trevor Lawerence, is a five-star quarterback from Cartersville, Ga. and is committed to Clemson. If Georgia would’ve let the two best players in the country out of their own back yard leave the state, it would’ve been very discouraging. Especially considering the caliber of these two signal callers.
moves Georgia from no. 13 to no. 11 in 247sports’ composite team rankings. And a phrase that was made popular by Richard LeCounte in Georgia’s 2017 class: “They ain’t done yet.”
Georgia now has 16 commits for the 2018 class, including two five-stars in Fields and Zamir White, the nation’s no. 1 ranked running back. And there are several more big-time targets that could potentially follow Fields to Athens.
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The nation’s no. 1 and no. 2 guards are both from the Peach State, including the no. 7 overall player in the 247sports’ composite rankings, five-star Jamaree Salyer, and the no. 34 overall player, Trey Hill, who was a high school teammate of Fromm. The nation’s no. 2 tight end, Luke Ford, from Carterville, Ill. also said back at The Opening in July that he would likely go wherever Justin Fields went.
Fields and Salyer were among several recruits that were high on the Bulldogs, but were still in wait-and-see mode. They wanted to see if Kirby Smart has taken this program to another level, and after a 5-0 start and a no. 5 national ranking, it’s safe to say they’ve liked what they’ve seen so far.
Smart has proven in his time at Alabama and his brief time at Georgia that he can recruit, and he also appears to be a pretty good coach as well. There is all sorts of momentum surrounding the Georgia football program, and Fields could be the guy that gets the Bulldogs over the hump.