– Rome High School, GA, Class of 2019 RB –
(Photo from Jamious Griffin/Twitter)
Today on Bulldawg Illustrated’s UGA recruiting daily we take a look at the carriers of the ‘ole pigskin. Of course, I’m talking about the running backs. We look at Georgia’s recruiting of the position over the last couple of years and then look at several 2019 prospects.
The University of Georgia has long been know as ‘Tailback U’ and the last several years have been no exception with players like Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall along with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel toting the rock between the hedges. Chubb and Michel have carried the torch for the Dogs in the backfield the last four years, and now, they will pass that torch down to the next men up on the roster.
Head Coach Kirby Smart and running backs coach Dell McGee signed two solid prospects in the 2016 class that included New Manchester High School’s Brian Herrien out of Douglasville, GA and Woodard Academy’s Elijah Holyfield. Both Herrien and Holyfield have provided solid depth behind Chubb and Sony the last two years and will get a shot at more playing time as juniors in 2018.
Georgia would follow up the 2016 class taking only one prospect at running back, Philadelphia, PA native D’Andre Swift out of St. Joseph’s High School. Swift was a composite 5-star prospect per 247Sports and considered a top-five running back by 247, Rivals, and Scout. And he certainly lived up to his billing as a true freshman. Although not an early enrollee, he established himself as the number three tailback on the depth chart and usually the first off the bench behind Chubb and Sony. He made the most of his opportunities, playing in all 15 games for the Bulldogs and carrying the ball 81 times for 618 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. That is an average of 7.63 yards per carry. He also added 17 receptions for 153 yards and another score.
The UGA staff signed two of the top running backs for the 2018 class with James Cook and Zamir White inking their National Letters of Intent during the early signing period on Dec. 20th just before Christmas. Cook is out of Northwestern High School from the Miami, FL area and is considered a top-three tailback and four-star prospect while Scotland High School’s White is considered the consensus number one running back in the 2018 class and one of the top backs to come out of high school in the last several years. He hails from Laurinburg, NC. White is already is on campus and enrolled early and would likely be in the thick of the competition for this spring, but he tore his ACL during the state of North Carolina high school football playoffs in November. Despite the injury, White is still considered a consensus five-star prospect by 247, ESPN, and Rivals and the No. 1 RB.
So now the attention at tailback turns to the class of 2019. Let’s take a look at four of the nine prospects that the Georgia coaching staff have offered already and couple of targets.
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TODAY’S FEATURED PROSPECTS
If position ranking is noted, unless otherwise stated, it is 247 Sports latest composite ranking of the player.
NOAH CAIN
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 3 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 11, and 207 lbs
SCHOOL: IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL
CITY, STATE: From Guyer High School, Denton, TX
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, UGA offered on 03/03/2017.
# OFFERS: 26
NEWS & NOTES: Noah Cain received an offer from Georgia back last spring on March 3rd and the IMG Academy running back keeps piling up more offers. So far, he has over 26 FBS scholarship offers. Cain also visited the Bulldogs last March, and he then camped and visited at UGA over the summer on June 15th. Cain is one of the top running backs in the 2019 class, and his recruitment is wide open at the moment.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS- CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
QUAVARIS CROUCH
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 2 RB
HT, WT: 6 foot 1.5, and 224 lbs
SCHOOL: Harding University High School
CITY, STATE: Charlotte, NC
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, UGA offered on 11/4/2016.
# OFFERS: 20
NEWS & NOTES: Quavaris Crouch is another very talented RB out of the state of North Carolina. UGA offered the Harding University High School phenom back in 2016 on Nov. 4th. Like 2018 RB Zamir White, Crouch already looks the part of an SEC tailback as a junior in high school at 6 foot 1.5 and 224 lbs. His size along with this athletic ability and play on the field has garned a lot of attention from FBS programs and Crouch has racked up 20 scholarship offers so far.
Back during the fall, Crouch took visits to several different programgs including Clemsonon Sept. 9th, and then on Sept. 16th, South Carolina. On Oct. 5th he visited NC State, and then he was at Florida on Oct. 7th. Crouch was back in Columbia to visit South Carolina on Nov. 25th and again on Dec. 16th. He recently took some unofficial visits to Tennessee on Jan. 13th and then to Clemson’s Junior Day on Jan. 20th.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
DEONDRICK GLASS
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 15 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 11, and 195 lbs
SCHOOL: Katy High School
CITY, STATE: Katy, TX
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, UGA offered on Jan. 11.
# OFFERS: 20
NEWS & NOTES: The talented 2019 tailback from the Longhorn state of Texas rushed for 1,912 yards and 30 touchdowns as a sophomore. He followed that up with 1,690 yards and 26 touchdowns this past fall as a junior. His on-field performance has caught the attention of a number of FBS programs and Glass has 20 scholarship offers so far, including one from the Georgia coaching staff, who offered Deondrick Glass a few weeks ago on Thursday, Jan. 11th.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
JAMIOUS GRIFFIN
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 39 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 10, and 195 lbs
SCHOOL: Rome High School
CITY, STATE: Rome, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: No, but UGA target/interest.
# OFFERS: 14
NEWS & NOTES: Jamious Griffin along with his teammate 2018 Jalynn Sykes make a potent one-two punch at RB for Rome. As a sophomore, Griffin carried the ball 201 times for 1,443 yards and 25 touchdowns. He followed up those 2016 rushing totals with 178 carries for 1,276 yards and 28 touchdowns for his junior year this past season in 2017.
Griffin has 14 scholarship offers so far but doesn’t have an offer as of yet from the Bulldogs. He has visited Georgia several times and there is interest here from the coaching staff. He recently visited GT for the Yellow Jacket’s Junior Day on Jan. 28th.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS- CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
TREY SANDERS
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 1 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 11.5, and 216 lbs
SCHOOL: IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL
CITY, STATE: From Port St. Joe, Florida
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 02/21/2016
# OFFERS: 12
NEWS & NOTES: UGA offered Trey Sanders back in February of 2016. The Sunshine State running back committed to Alabama just a few months later in April of 2016, but he recently de-committed from the Crimson Tide on Jan. 1. Just a couple of days later, on Jan. 3rd, Sanders said that Bama was still his top school.
So why did Trey Sanders de-commit from Alabama just to name the Tide his leader two days later?
Sanders committed very early on as a sophomore and after finishing his junior season at IMG Academy, he wanted to make sure of his final decision with his senior year looming ahead this fall in 2018. I expect more offers to flow his way and for him to visit a number of programs before he commits to a school again. Plus, there is the whole getting to go through the red carpet and VIP treatment of the recruiting process as a high school senior. But by naming Bama his leader, it also lets me know that programs will have their work cut out to recruit him away from Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
Speaking of visits, he took a trip to Baylor this past weekend on Feb. 3rd for the Bear’s Junior Day.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
JONATHAN SEWELL
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 37 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 10.5, and 187 lbs
SCHOOL: Clarke Central High School
CITY, STATE: Athens, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: No. UGA target/interest.
# OFFERS: 4
NEWS & NOTES: Jonathan Sewell is a talented class of 2019 running back prospect just down the road from UGA in Athens at Clarke Central High School. Back in 2016, as a sophomore, Sewell ran for 1,042 yards on 128 carries at 8.1 YPC, and 10 touchdowns for the Gladiators. This past fall, he topped the 1,000 yard mark again, rushing for 1,148 yards on 138 carries and 9 TDs in 11 games as a junior.
He has visited UGA several times and although he does not have an offer from the Georgia coaching staff as of yet, there is interest between the two parties. Sewell currently has four scholarship offers from Auburn, Charlotte, Ole Miss, and South Carolina.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
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CLICK HERE TO SEE GEORGIA’S 2019 FOOTBALL COMMITS