Today on Bulldawg Illustrated’s UGA Recruiting Daily we take a look at Georgia’s linebacker recruiting.
TODAY’S FEATURED PROSPECTS
If position ranking is noted, unless otherwise stated, it is 247 Sports latest composite ranking of the player.
AARON BRULE
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: LB/DB – No. 30 Safety
HT, WT: 6 foot 1.5, and 210 lbs
SCHOOL: Archbishop Rummel High School
CITY, STATE: Metairie, LA
STATUS: COMMITTED to UGA
UGA OFFER:Yes, offered on July 15th.
# OFFERS: 28
NEWS & NOTES: Aaron Brule was offered by UGA on July 15th and committed to the Bulldogs on Sept. 24th. Before he was offered by Georgia and committed to the Dogs, he had been committed to Kansas but de-committed on June 21st. Recently, there has been some question as to whether or not he will stay committed to UGA? At this time he is still committed to the Bulldogs, but he seems to be wavering a bit.
While Brule is listed as a safety, he is a DB that could that has the frame and the size to enable him to develop into an inside linebacker. He was planning on signing during the early signing period but his plans have changed and it looks like he will be waiting till Feb. 7th to do so.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
JJ PETERSON
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: LB – No. 2 OLB
HT, WT: 6 foot 1.5, and 210 lbs
SCHOOL: Colquitt County High School
CITY, STATE: Moultrie, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes.
# OFFERS: 12
NEWS & NOTES: JJ Peterson holds an offer from Georgia and he has visited UGA a few times, mainly back over the spring. Former UGA OLB coach Kevin Sherrer visited JJ a few times, but despite their efforts, the Dogs have had to make up some ground in the recruitment of Peterson versus programs like Alabama or Auburn. Of the two state of Alabama programs, the Crimson Tide should be considered the favorite here to land Peterson, but with an asterisk.
I mentioned during the month of November that one of the things that could greatly affect Peterson’s recruitment is if defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt chooses to leave Alabama for one of the vacant head coaching gigs, then it is very likely that Peterson would strongly consider other programs. Fast forward a month and Pruitt has chosen to take the head coaching job at Tennessee and will be hiring Kevin Sherrer from UGA as his DC.
Now, the big question is whether or not UGA will get much consideration. At this point, we just don’t know. A lot will depend on who Bama hires to replace Pruitt and who Kirby hires to replace Sherrer as OLB coach. Of the higher rated defensive prospects, Peterson doesn’t talk a lot nor does he do that many interviews; so, figuring out what he might do is a guessing game at this point in my opinion.
Peterson is a very athletic linebacker with very good speed, which shows when he also lines up on offense for Colquitt County at WR or RB, not unlike current UGA ILB phenom Roquan Smith who played some receiver during his high school days. Peterson could play OLB or ILB at the next level.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
OTIS REESE
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: S/LB – No. 6 OLB
HT, WT: 6 foot 4, and 206 lbs
SCHOOL: Lee County High School
CITY, STATE: Leesburg, GA
STATUS: Committed to Michigan
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 12/07/2016
# OFFERS: 17
NEWS & NOTES: Otis Reese was offered back at the end of last year in December by UGA. He visited Georgia in the spring in March and was back in Athens for the Bulldogs’ season opener vs. Appalachian State on Sept. 2nd. Reese has been committed to Michigan for over a year, since 06/18/2016, but I’ve put him on flip watch along with every other recruiting analyst.
He would be a big-time flip for Georgia, too, as the talented Lee County football player is very much in the mold of current UGA linebacker Roquan Smith and former backers/safeties, Thomas Davis and Alec Ogletree. And if you are following the visits, Reese was back in Athens again for Georgia’s homecoming game versus Missouri on Oct. 14th, and he also made a third trip back to The Classic City during the fall on Nov. 4th for UGA’s game versus South Carolina.
As of right now, it looks like Otis Reese will NOT sign during the early signing period and wait till Wednesday, Feb. 7 on National Signing Day to put his name on the dotted line of his LOI. Reese will be a normal enrollee; so, this is not a surprise. Until he signs his LOI or enrolls, UGA has a shot of flipping Reese as long as there is still a spot left to flip him too in the 2018 class.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
SOLOMON TULIAUPUPU
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: LB – No. 3 ILB
HT, WT: 6 foot 2.5, and 230 lbs
SCHOOL: Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana, CA
CITY, STATE: Santa Ana, CA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on April 26th.
# OFFERS: 32
NEWS & NOTES: Solomon Tuliaupupu, say that five times fast, made the trip across the country and camped and visited at UGA back on June 15th. This would be a big recruiting coup for the Georgia coaching staff, but can they pull him across the country to Athens? My ole’ magic 8-ball says unlikely as he hasn’t been back to Athens and isn’t planning to take an official at UGA. Tuliaupupu is a big lean towards Southern Cal at the moment.
He did take an official to Notre dame on Oct. 21st and coaches from the Oklahoma Sooners’ staff have visited him twice in the month of December.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE