Class of 2019 defensive lineman
(photo from Rashad Cheney – Twitter)
Today on Bulldawg Illustrated’s UGA Recruiting Daily we look at Georgia’s defensive line recruiting.
With two defensive ends and a defensive tackle signing with UGA for the class of 2018 during the early signing period on December 22nd and two defensive tackles verbal commitments, Jordan Davis and Tramel Walthour expected to sign on February 7th, are the Bulldogs done with defensive line recruiting for 2018? Not quite yet. The Georgia coaching staff still have Concord High School DT Rick Sandidge out of the state of North Carolina and Parkway North High School DT Michael Thompson out of Missouri square in their sights along with Northside High School WDE Caleb Johnson out of the Peach State; although, I don’t think they will take Johnson, Sandidge, and Thompson along with Davis and Walthour.
Most likely it will be some combination of two to three of those five remaining unsigned 2018 prospects. We’ll look at Georgia’s remaining 2018 D-line targets and then look ahead to some 2019 prospects.
TODAY’S FEATURED PROSPECTS
If position ranking is noted, unless otherwise stated, it is 247 Sports latest composite ranking of the player.
CALEB JOHNSON
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: DE/ILB/OLB – No. 37 WDE
HT, WT: 6 foot 3.5, and 248 lbs
SCHOOL: Northside High School
CITY, STATE: Columbus, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes.
# OFFERS: 14
NEWS & NOTES: Northside High School’s Caleb Johnson has an official offer from the University of Georgia, and after visiting the Dogs back over the summer in July, Johnson was been back in Athens during the fall, visiting on Nov. 4th. He has also taking an official visit to Tennessee on Sept. 30th and visited Auburn on Nov. 11th. Johnson has a big, athletic frame and the question is will he play at ILB, OLB, or WDE at the next level.
It looks like it may be a Georgia-Tennessee recruiting battle for the Columbus, GA prospect, but where the Bulldogs are concerned, it may come down to a numbers game and how many spots are left with 20 signed.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
RICK SANDIDGE
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: DL – No. 10 DT
HT, WT: 6 foot 5, and 288 lbs
SCHOOL: Concord High School
CITY, STATE: Concord, NC
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 01/19/2017.
# OFFERS: 23
NEWS & NOTES: Rick Sandidge was offered back in January by Georgia and included the Bulldogs in his top-11 schools on May 1st. UGA’s new D-line Coach Tray Scott recruited Sandidge when Scott was coaching the position group at UNC.
This has been a Bulldogs vs. Gamecocks battle with South Carolina having a big edge here for much of the fall. This football season, Sandidge has visited UNC on Sept. 9th and South Carolina on Sept. 16th, and he visited Columbia, SC again on Oct. 28th. Sandidge did take a visit to Athens on Saturday, Nov. 4th for Georgia’s game versus the Gamecocks. He also took an official visit to Michigan on Nov. 25th. But at this point, it would be a pretty big surprise if Sandidge were to commit to and sign with another program outside of USCe.
Still, until he signs his LOI, there is a chance he could be recruited to Athens, and he is not planning on signing his LOI till Feb. 7th. Right now, Sandidge has scheduled an official visit to UNC on Jan. 19th.
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
MICHAEL THOMPSON, JR.
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: DL – No. 2 DT
HT, WT: 6 foot 3.5, and 291 lbs
SCHOOL: Parkway North High School
CITY, STATE: St. Louis, MO
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 03/02/2017.
# OFFERS: 25
NEWS & NOTES: Georgia offered Michael Thompson back in March and since then, there hasn’t been much news about Thompson and UGA… at least until the early signing period just a little over a week ago. Could the Bulldogs be in the running to pick up the Parkway North High School D-lineman?
That is the scuttle butt on the street, but we will have to wait about six weeks until Feb. 7th to find out. His most recent official visit was to the University of Missouri on Dec. 9th, which is at least his third trip to Columbia this fall. He also took an official to Southern California on Nov. 18th.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
RASHAD “BUBBA” CHENEY, JR.
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: DL – No. 11 DT
HT, WT: 6 foot 3, and 270 lbs
SCHOOL: Cedar Grove High School
CITY, STATE: Ellenwood, GA
STATUS: COMMITTED TO UGA on 02/18/2017.
UGA OFFER: Yes, Offered on 02/17/2015.
# OFFERS: 11
NEWS & NOTES: Rashad Cheney, Jr. was a d-line target of the previous Georgia coaching staff, and Kirby Smart and company also have continued to diligently recruit “Bubba.” He committed to the Bulldogs back in February. He took an unofficial visit to UGA on Sept. 2nd for the Dog’s home opener versus the Mountaineers, and he has also visited South Carolina a couple of times during the fall.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
JOSHUA HARRIS
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: DL- No. 23 DT
HT, WT: 6 foot 5, and 295 lbs
SCHOOL: Person High School
CITY, STATE: Roxboro, NC
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on Nov. 9th.
# OFFERS: 5
NEWS & NOTES: The UGa coaching staff offered Harris last month, and the big man out of Person High School is another talented big man out of the state of North Carolina.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
KEENAN HESTER
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: DL – DT, SDE
HT, WT: 6 foot 5, and 279 lbs
SCHOOL: St. Petersburg Catholic High School
CITY, STATE: St. Petersburg, FL
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on Nov. 18th.
# OFFERS: 3
NEWS & NOTES: Georgia was the second program to offer St. Petersburg, FL D-line prospect Keenan Hester.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE