Recruiting Grades: Bulldogs Both Quality and Quantity on Defense

It's time to evaluate the re-stock head coach Kirby Smart and his staff attempted with this 2022 recruiting class on the defensive side of the ball for Georgia.

Georgia's 2022 recruiting class is all but done, with 23 signees, three remaining commits, and a few prospects on the board, 90% of the work in terms of high school additions is all but done.

So, it's time to evaluate the re-stock head coach Kirby Smart and his staff attempted with this 2022 recruiting class on the defensive side of the ball. 

*Indicates SI99 Member

Defensive Line: B- 

• Bear Alexander
• Shone Washington

It's an incomplete evaluation considering the lone remaining target at the position and SI99 member Christen Miller has yet to make his decision (January 8th), but there have already been a few misses in the class. Georgia chased talents like Travis Shaw and Walter Nolen at points during this cycle and they will be playing college ball elsewhere. Assuming they can beat out Ohio State for Miller, things certainly change here. 

OLBs/EDGE: A+ 

• Marvin Jones Jr.* 
• Mykel Williams*
• Darris Smith* (Committed) 
• Carlton Madden

Georgia clearly wanted to get longer on the edge of this defense. Jones, Williams, and Smith are all 6'5, 230+ and even the players they will didn't land in this class — Dani Dennis-Sutton, Enai White, Shemar Stewart — all have eerily similar frames. Mykel Williams projected as more of a defensive end entering his senior season, but has retooled his body and lost a considerable amount of weight. According to Williams, he will begin his career at JACK, which throws him in a class position group with Jones and Smith who have tremendous ceilings of their own. 

They had a need and a physical profile they wanted, and they landed three SI99 Members that fit that mold. 

As for Carlton Madden, he's not a name Georgia fans should forget or overlook. Madden has drawn comparisons to Will Anderson from people close to the program. A player from Georgia who sky-rocketed up boards late in the recruiting cycle, with projectile length and testing measurables. 

Linebackers: B+ 

• Jalon Walker*
• CJ Washington

Georgia was hot after Shemar James to close the cycle, and for good reason. Expectations are that Nakobe Dean is positioned to be a first-round draft pick, Quay Walker and Channing Tindall are seniors and have had incredible seasons projecting them upward in draft projections as well. Georgia needed at least one more great inside-backer prospect like the two they landed in Walker and Washington. Though, they did stack three All-Americans a year ago at the position in Smael Mondon, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, and Xavian Sorey. Walker and Washington have a chance to join that bunch as well. 

Defensive Backs: A+ 

• Malaki Starks*
• Jahiem Singletary* 
• Daylen Everette* 
• Julian Humphrey 
• JaCorey Thomas

It was an insane haul for first-year defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae. Three SI99 members in Starks, Singletary, and Everette. Sure, the staff as a whole missed out on Kamari Wilson to Florida and lost Marquis Groves-Killebrew to Texas A&M, two supremely talented defensive backs that would have made this position group a historic haul. Though all in all, Georgia entered this cycle knowing they needed not only high-quality football players, but they needed a lot of them at the DB position. 

They accomplished both in this class. 

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