Georgia football recruiting: Dawgs steal Tennessee late bloomer
On Saturday, Georgia football claimed Cal transfer Demetris Robertson for the Red and Black. But wait, there’s more.
Georgia football fans already tingled with Media Days anticipation. They got another big attitude boost Saturday with Demetris Robertson’s commitment.
The Bulldog Nation’s attitude got pushed up another notch today when Lebanon Tennessee’s Zion Logue chose Georgia football over Tennessee, Alabama, and Ole Miss. Logue doubles Georgia’s defensive line class for 2019. Memphis four-star defensive end Bill Norton is Georgia’s only other defensive line commitment.
Logue is a classic recruiting late bloomer. He is exactly the kind of high quality in-state prospect Jeremy Pruitt should have locked down for the Volunteers.
He didn’t. Instead. Kirby Smart again flexed his recruiting muscles, demonstrating the power of the high-octane Georgia football recruiting machine. (One will recall Smart plucked the national number two offensive line prospect and Knoxville resident Cade Mays off of Tennessee’s commitment list last year. That flip happened during Pruitt’s transition to the Volunteer head coaching job. There is no transition affecting Logue’s recruitment.)
After reclaiming former five-star and national number eight Robertson, what’s the big deal with the three-star Logue? He’s only ranked 21 in talent poor Tennessee , and 419 nationally.
Related Story: Dawg's 2018 defense will need help
By the numbers.
Logue received over 25 offers including offers from Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss. The offers came from as far away as Colorado State, and Minnesota.
Logue stands at over six feet five inches and weighs 287 pounds.
Logue began his 2017 season playing at 245 pounds. He received national attention this spring after gaining 40 pounds from his junior season.
Logue is a defensive end in Lebanon’s 3-4 defensive scheme, giving coaches a great read on how he will respond in 3-4 alignments in college.
Said Lebanon coach Chuck Gentry to Tom Kreager of the Nashville Tennessean, “He went to Texas to the Army All-American combine (in January) and weighed in at 272. Since then, at Georgia, he weighed in at 287.”
Sleeping on instate talent
Logue lives two hours from Knoxville. He didn’t have a FBS college offer until after his junior season. He is exactly the kind of talent Tennessee should have smothered early with attention and an offer.
Tennessee is not a big state. It has far fewer schools for the Tennessee football staff to canvass than schools in surrounding states. Tennessee had Logue on campus for an unofficial visit in the fall of 2016. The Volunteers easily have the resources to identify and monitor talent like Rogue, build relationships, and make the early sales pitch.
A Tennessee offer should have been extended to Logue before the end of the last school year and the deal sealed well before an out-of-state school could make a decision. Kudos to Georgia football assistants Tray Scott and Dan Lanning, and to Head Dawg Kirby Smart for the recruiting coup.
Next: Tenneessee's John Ward, the Volunteer Ambassador
For Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee, this recruiting loss sows seeds of doubt about his recruiting systems.