Georgia Football: Get to Know 2020 Signee, Jermaine Burton
The 2020 recruiting class at Georgia wouldn't have been complete without a little bit of shock and awe on national signing day. And in typical Kirby Smart fashion, he managed to light some fireworks not only on early national signing day but on February's late signing window as well.
Obviously, Daran Branch flipped from Ole Miss to Georgia on February 5th, but the real crown jewel of the 2020 signing period, in my opinion, was stealing Jermaine Burton out from under Ed Orgeron and the soon to be National Champions. Cushioning the blow from that (37-10) defeat in the SEC Championship game just a little bit.
We caught up with Burton after a workout with Terrence Edwards — whom he's been training with since before even taking the field as a freshman in high school— to see why he had the change of heart, what he's doing to improve before enrolling, and what he thinks about the new OC, Todd Monken.
Q: What went into the decision to flip from LSU to Georgia?
"I mean, the recruitment process really hit me late. I had to really think about things as they were coming in. I thought about family, I thought about life after football. I thought about what I wanted to do with myself after football. When that day comes because unfortunately, we all have to go through it. My grandmother is getting old, and I didn't want her hopping on flights just to go see me play, now I'm an hour down the road. I'm closer to my family, I'm closer to the people that I mainly work with. The family atmosphere and just being from here and being able to play for my hometown. There's nothing like it."
Q: What is about Georgia that you think is going to set you up for life after football?
"The connections that I even have now, the people that already know about me now. I feel like if I go to Georgia and really work on that, then by time life after football comes the connections I am going to have are going to be unlimited."
Burton plans to enroll at Georgia sometime this summer — most likely sometime in June — but until then, he's focused on further developing his craft with former UGA great, Terrence Edwards:
"Other than being here (training with Edwards) I'm really on my lonely, to be honest with you. I'm working day in and day out, I'm just trying to get as much work as I can before I get up there and get to work with my Dawgs."
We asked if Burton has had an opportunity to get to know new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken and what his thoughts are on the new offense:
"I haven't had a chance to speak with him or meet him, but I really look forward to getting the chance to work with him. And my thoughts on him are really high, I mean, they call this man an air raid specialist for a reason. I can only imagine what he's going to do with the offense this year."
Q: What are your immediate goals:
"Dominate and make an impact on the field immediately. Being an automatic asset to the team. That's pretty much what I look forward to. Getting to know the guys better. Building a relationship with all my coaches and players."
As to whether or not that immediate impact as a receiver comes in the slot or out on the edge, Burton is prepared to do both:
"Honestly, I believe they are going to give me an opportunity to do both like I can. But I do believe they plan on having me at Z"
The X & Z wide receivers are typically your outside wideouts in the majority of systems, which means you could very well see a rotation of wideouts in 2020 that looks like George Pickens at the "X", Jermaine Burton at the "Z" and Dominick Blaylock in the slot when healthy.
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