A quick thought on Recruiting 2011

Georgia signed 19 recruits last week. That means next February, UGA could sign 37 recruits and still be within NCAA rules. Now, it's extremely doubtful that UGA will be doing that, but it is certainly allowed. As opposed to this season, when UGA's losses were minimal, next season, graduation and the NFL draft will very likely deliver a much stronger blow. Both offensive and defensive line as well as the linebacking corps are quite full of upperclassmen. AJ Green could very well leave for the NFL after next season as well. It's doubtful that Caleb King would leave, unless UGA meets with incredible success next season. But, stranger things have happened.

As I counted it, UGA has at least 18 scholarship players set to graduate after the 2010 season. Add to that any juniors who may depart, and there are a good number of slots opening in the scholarship rotation. So, for the 2011 class, UGA will be in a very good position to sign more players than the NCAA limit of 28.

But, how does 18 vacated scholarships = 37 available? Well...it's not that those 18=37 available. The fact is, there will likely be other scholarships that come open. Somebody will get hurt, somebody will leave the team, somebody will transfer out. And, we don't need 37 available scholarships. We need there to be 37 players who we really love and want to bring in within the next 365 days. Example:

37 players sign in Feb 2011. There are 20 available scholarships. 2o players enroll for fall ball. 7 players don't qualify and go to Georgia Military for a season. In December 2011, another select group of Seniors and Juniors declare for the draft, and the remaining ten players enroll in January. Is it likely? No. But, it's possible.

Here's a thought - could it be that next year's crop of recruits is better suited to fill UGA's future needs than the current group was? Could it be that UGA signed a smaller number this year because they know more solid top targets exist in the recruiting pool of 2011? I have no idea. But, I could definitely see it. Florida signed 16 players in 2009...one month after winning a national title. Are we supposed to believe that only 16 players wanted to play for the University of Florida? No. But, we see that this year, they signed their full 28, with 17 being from the ESPN top 150. In 2010, the Gators signed more top-flight talent, than their total signees of 2009. Why? Because they had a solid team in place for 2009. They didn't have to fill many holes, so they could afford to sign fewer players. They could afford to wait, and get more marquee players 12 months later.

Did UGA think this way? There's no telling.........but I'll be very interested to see what recruiting moves are made in the next few months before G-Day.

Go Dawgs.

Dukes