Georgia Recruiting: Ranked 5th by SI All-American, Nowhere to Go But Up

The Georgia Bulldogs finished early signing day ranked 5th by SI All-American, and with room to add 6 more signees come February, there's nowhere to go but up.

The Georgia Bulldogs entered the day with just sixteen verbal commits, and not only did they sign each and every one of them - something that is seemingly becoming a rarity in the world of college recruiting - but they closed the day out by flipping one of the nation's top wide receivers in Jermaine Burton. 

• In 2017, Kirby Smart managed to get Jake Fromm and Monty Rice to flip commitments. 
• In 2018, Kirby Smart managed to flip Otis Reese and Quay Walker. 
• In 2019, Kirby Smart managed to flip D'Wan Mathis and George Pickens. 
• In 2020, Kirby Smart has now flipped Jermaine Burton. 

It's not a question of if Kirby Smart will flip one of the nation's top recruits. It's simply a matter of when, who, and how many. 

As for those 17 signees, and 19 commits - Broderick Jones & Sedrick Van Pran are set to make their final decisions in February - the work done by Smart thus far is good enough to place Georgia 5th on SI All-American's current rankings. 

As SI All-American Director, John Garcia Jr. mentioned in the above video, the highlight of this current Georgia class has to be the wide receivers that Kirby Smart has brought on. 

Four, 4-star commits. Three of which - Rosemy, Burton, and Smith - are within the Top-100 players in the 2020 class according to 247sports.com. 

And with room to take on at least 4 more signees - assuming Jones and Van Pran-Granger follow through on their commitments - the 2020 class has nowhere to go but up for the Georgia Bulldogs in terms of rankings. 

SI All-American Kelee Ringo has been linked to Georgia for quite some time, and despite a late push from Oregon, those around the program feel comfortable that he will be choosing Georgia come January 2nd when he makes his announcement at the Under Armour All-American game. 

Darnell Washington, the 6'7 260 pound playmaker from Las Vegas, Nevada will make his announcement at the Under Armour All-American game as well. Though Washington's recent tweet would lead you to believe perhaps he's already made up his mind. 

Our sources have indicated that Georgia feels comfortable about where they stand with Washington, and we will leave it at that. 

As for other potential prospects... Don't you think for a second that Jordan Burch having committed to South Carolina means that Kirby Smart has or will take his foot off the gas with regards to chasing down Burch. After all, Burch has yet to sign his LOI, and it's reported he will likely wait until February to do so. 

Dontae Manning, the 4-star cornerback out of Kansas City, Missouri is a name that has been fluttered around but Major Burns' signing today would lead us to believe that they don't overload an already crowded defensive backs room, but nonetheless he is still in play. 

Manning - like Washington - has also led those on social media to believe that whoever it is that is getting his services has already been made fully aware.

Finally at peace...✍🏾

— 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 ⁸ (@dontaemanning_8) December 18, 2019

Whether or not UGA is going to take one or two running backs during this recruiting cycle has been a topic of discussion, and the secondary target is certainly Daijun Edwards from Colquitt County, Georgia. Edwards is set to choose between FSU and Georgia in the near future. 

There is certainly still a lot of work left to do for Kirby Smart and his staff. They have to ward off those on the hunt for Broderick Jones, primarily Auburn. Sedrick Van Pran has been upbeat when speaking with The Bulldog Maven about the hiring of Matt Luke. And they've got to remain in the lead for Ringo and Washington. 

But all in all, to quote to legendary ICE CUBE, "Today was a good day."