A Rising Star, Ryan Barnes Talks About His Relationship with Georgia Football

2021 cornerback Ryan Barnes steadily continues to rake in offers. The lengthy defensive back has a great rapport with Dan Lanning and a strong interest in Georgia football.

At 6'2" 180 pounds, Ryan Barnes has the length that colleges desire out of a corner in the modern defenses. With so much man, matchup zones, and read coverages being played, it's crucial to have corners that can physically hang with tall receivers. Georgia fans know from players like George Pickens and Lawrence Cager that height at the receiver position can be a tremendous asset. 

Without physical and well-sized corners, the opposing teams' big outside receivers can hurt you badly. Barnes does not only have the stature that colleges are looking for, but he is also very skilled at playing the ball in the air without getting penalized and very sound at run support and tackling on the perimeter.

Ryan Barnes in coverage for Quince Orchard (MD) 

All of this has dozens of major schools interested in Barnes, and more big-time offers keep rolling in daily. The University of Georgia offered Barnes back in January of this year and the relationship really started building a few months before that. "Coach Lanning has been a big part of it (Barnes's relationship with Georgia), he came up to my school one time in the winter and then ended up coming back in January with Kirby Smart. That's when I was offered a scholarship, so I was really excited about that," said Barnes.

Since the offer, Barnes did have the opportunity to visit Athens before the coronavirus halted on-campus recruiting visits. Barnes described the visit by saying, "I had a great time. I got a chance to see the campus in its entirety and got to meet the rest of the coaching staff." Later on, Barnes shared on the new expansion project Georgia has going as well stating, "Everywhere has a good weight room. But, I feel with Georgia's remodeling and expansion, theirs is going to be on the next level. The recovery of athletes and injury prevention and rehab stuff was great. The environment off campus is great as well, a lot to do, and it was fun being down there and seeing all that in person."

Thank you @GeorgiaFootball & My HS Coaches for a Great Experience in Athens #GoDawgs @CoachDanLanning @QO_FOOTBALL @QO_Coach_Kelley @TwineTime_35 pic.twitter.com/01H0FNlwE4

— Ryan “Bo” Barnes (@Bo11Ryan) February 2, 2020

Barnes has a very good rapport with Dan Lanning. The two talk often and Barnes shared, "It's always fun when I'm on the phone with Coach Lanning. We talk about a lot of things. We talk about family, sports, what's going on in the world right now. The whole building a relationship aspect of things with him has been good and we've gotten to talk a lot."

While Barnes is very comfortable with Georgia, there is still a long way to go in his recruitment. Just yesterday the Oregon Ducks offered Barnes and he has received a ton of Power 5 offers in the last few months. The Gaithersburg, Maryland native will continue to weigh his options and take his time, but Georgia is definitely a school that is in the running for an official visit if and when the recruiting restrictions get lifted.

The determining factors for Barnes are going to be academics, campus environment, and a coaching staff with a proven track record of developing players into pros. Academically, Barnes wants to study one of three things. Those three are marine biology, psychology, and criminology. Also, he wants to be on a campus that, "if I were to be injured or something like that, I would want to be somewhere that I'll enjoy even as just a student." Finally, I believe Georgia's track record for producing NFL players speaks for itself.

So between an excellent academic institution, off-campus hangouts and restaurants, and pumping out NFL talented regularly, it appears that Georgia could check quite a few boxes for the 34th ranked cornerback in the country. Time will tell if this growing relationship turns into a commitment to the 'G'.

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