Quick thoughts on the recruiting class....

Just random stream of consciousness thoughts (Image: Hipple):

• Balance - I love the balance of the class so far. Nine on offense and nine on defense. We're short one defensive end and probably one more offensive tackle, and losing Toby Jackson really hurt. Otherwise, it's a good need filling group.
  
  
• Finally a 3rd Team OLine - I believe Richt said that we'll have 17 offensive linemen on scholarship when we enter camp, and only one of them is a senior. I'm skeptical that all 17 will be around in '09 as that group is ripe for some attrition regarding existing players. The three kids we signed all look like contributors. Will we see some OL move to DT? The only rumored name is Justin Anderson, and why would we move a 1st or 2nd team OL to 2nd or 3rd team DT?
  
  
• The LB Situation - I don't really understand what went down with Jarvis Jones' recruitment. It looks to me that we offered Gilliard, Moody and Vasser before Jones, and then we just sort of bumbled all over the Jones pursuit with apparent discussions of tight end and defensive end play? Moody is rumored to have some academic ground to make up, and the other two....well...we were the first to pursue them lights out whereas we were late to go after Jones...a guy every other super power wanted badly. Are our coaches right? Or was the rest of the world correct? Time will tell.
  
  
• Loving the WR Corp - I think of Marlon Brown as one of those tall Southern Cal-type wide receivers like Steve SmithDeWayne Jarrett or a thinner Mike Williams, and I'd compare Wooten to a "street legal" version of Percy Harvin.....or a faster version of Damien Gary. Match those guys up with Tavarres King (a little slower than Terrence Edwards with possibly better hands) and obviously AJ Green, and you've got a show stopping WR corp for the future. Maybe a sprinkle of Branden Smith for good measure?
  
  
• Where are the DTs? - In the last three recruiting classes, we've only signed three high school defensive tackles -- Tyson, Lott and Jones. That's no where near enough. The single biggest priority for the 2010 recruiting class will need to be DTs. We'll need to sign 3-4 of them out of HS and possibly a JUCO, too. Jeff Whitaker is probably the most important recruit in next year's class because of the depth issue.
  
  
• The Ones that Got Away - Most of the in-state kids that fans freak out about not signing rarely bite us in the butt over the past 10 years or so. Yes, there are exceptions like Calvin Johnson, but it's not the kids we chase and lose that really kill us. It's the kid that we never seriously pursue that brutalize us. I'm thinking of guys like Ronnie Brown, Marcus McNeil and Duke Robinson. That's why I worry less about losing Greg Reid than other folks do. Well...that and he hasn't qualified, yet.

It's going to be interesting to see how the academic situation works out. Richt said there were no guys in the class that he was feeling super concerned about (not sure of his exact wording, but that was the idea). But there are rumblings about 3-4 of them. We need them in Athens. Not Hargrave.

Who do you think is the most underrated player in the group?

See Also:
-- Early guesses at playing time - AJC
-- Signing Day Leftovers - ABH

PWD