Today on Bulldawg Illustrated’s UGA Recruiting Daily we look at the Bulldogs’ wide receiver recruiting for 2018 and 2019.
Headed into the early signing period the week before Christmas, Georgia had two wide receiver commits for 2018, Peach County’s Kearis Jackson and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Elijah Moore. On Dec. 20th, Jackson signed with the Dogs and Moore ended up flipping his commitment to Ole Miss. That leaves UGA with just Jackson as the lone receiver they have committed and signed for this recruiting cycle, but the Bulldogs are likely to add at least one more on Feb. 7th.
Let’s look at several 2018 prospects in Tommy Bush, Marquez Ezzard, and Mario Goodrich that UGA has the potential to get commitments from and sign; although, it is likely that with approximately 5 remaining spots the Georgia coaching staff are only going to take one more receiver out of that group in addition to Kearis Jackson. Which will be fine as the Bulldogs have two of the top wideouts committed in the 2019 recruiting class in Dominick Blaylock and Jadon Haselwood and could very well take as many as four receivers or more in the next recruiting cycle, which is very deep at that position group.
TODAY’S FEATURED PROSPECTS
If position ranking is noted, unless otherwise stated, it is 247 Sports latest composite ranking of the player.
TOMMY BUSH
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 37 WR
HT, WT: 6 foot 4.5, and 191 lbs
SCHOOL: Clemens High School
CITY, STATE: Schertz, TX
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 02/12/2017.
# OFFERS: 46
NEWS & NOTES: Tommy Bush has over 46 offers so far including one from Georgia. The Bulldogs’ staff hit the road and visited Bush before Christmas, and he was supposed to visit UGA during the weekend of Dec. 8th; however, the winter weather system that dumped snow over North Georgia and the Atlanta-metro area put a kink in his travel plans. He did finally make it to Athens, though, for a Dec. 15th visit.
So will Bush be Georgia’s second receiver in the 2018 class? Hard to say at this point, but UGA is definitely in the conversation here. Bush has also taken official visits to Nebraska, on Oct. 6th, and Michigan State, on Nov. 4th. Those two schools along with Baylor and Texas are definitely all in the mix, and both Florida and Michigan offered Bush this month right before Christmas.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2014 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
MARQUEZ EZZARD
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 16 Athlete – DB, WR
HT, WT: 6 foot 1.5, and 213 lbs
SCHOOL: Stockbridge High School
CITY, STATE: Stockbridge, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 01/05/2017
# OFFERS: 28
NEWS & NOTES: The Bulldogs offered Marquez Ezzard back in January, nearly a year ago, and he put UGA in his top-8 on 04/27/2017. Georgia was thought to be a favorite early on, but he ended up committing to FSU on July 21st. Now, several months later, Ezzard has reopened up his recruitment, de-committing from the Seminoles on Nov. 11th.
Is Ezzard back in play for Georgia? It’s possible. The problem for Ezzard is that Georgia’s 2018 class is getting full and very quickly. The Bulldogs have 20 signees with three other players currently committed who have yet to sign; although, some of those three committed prospects may end up signing elsewhere. I also don’t think the Georgia staff would take two another receiver if Tommy Bush ends up committing to and signing with the Dogs.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
MARIO GOODRICH
<CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 4 Athlete – DB, WR, Return specialist
HT, WT: 6 foot 2, and 180 lbs
SCHOOL: Lee’s Summit West High School
CITY, STATE: Lee’s Summit, MO
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on Aug. 1st.
# OFFERS: 18
NEWS & NOTES: UGA offered Mario Goodrich back in August and he plans on taking an official visit to Georgia on Jan. 19th after he takes an official to LSU on Jan. 12th. Goodrich also has officials scheduled to Ole Miss on Jan. 26th and Florida on Feb. 2nd. He had been committed to Nebraska but de-committed from the Cornhuskers on Dec. 2nd.
Right now, I think Goodrich likely lands at LSU but watch his last two officials with Ole Miss and Florida.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
PREP1FORCE 2016 HIGHLIGHTS REMIX – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
KEARIS JACKSON
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 23 WR
HT, WT: 5 foot 11.5, and 203 lbs
SCHOOL: Peach County High School
CITY, STATE: Fort Valley, GA
STATUS: SIGNED with UGA on 12/20/2017
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 04/25/2016
# OFFERS: 24
NEWS & NOTES: The talented Peach State receiver committed to UGA on Aug. 19th and signed with the Bulldogs during the early signing period on Dec. 20th. Kearis Jackson won’t burn you with 4.3 or 4.4 speed, but is quick in his routes, knows how to find spots in zone coverage, and makes the tough catches over the middle. He is a football player plain and simple is not afraid to mix it up, be physical, and fight for position and the ball. Will remind you somewhat of current UGA receiver Terry Godwin but with a thicker, more muscular frame.
Jackson had 11 catches for 852 yards and 9 TDs for Peach County as a senior. Last season, Jackson hauled in 52 receptions for 739 yards and 9 TDs as a junior in 12 games. He finishes his varsity high school football career with a total of 161 catches for 2,508 yards and 26 receiving TDs, averaging 15.6 yards per reception.
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
STEVEN PETERSON
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 253 WR
HT, WT: 6 foot 2, and 183 lbs
SCHOOL: Harrison High School
CITY, STATE: Kennesaw, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, PWO offer on Aug. 26th.
# OFFERS: 4
NEWS & NOTES: I put Steven Peterson in my top-10 class of 2018 wide receivers in the Peach State list way back in March. As a junior, he caught a whopping 81 passes for 1,362 yards and 16 touchdowns and was one of 2018 QB Justin Fields go to receivers at Harrison High School.
Peterson finished his senior season with 57 receptions for 1,157 yards and 11 TDs. Georgia has offered him as a preferred walk-on. He is one of the better route runners that I have seen out of this 2018 crop of WRs and is not afraid to get physical. Hard worker on and off the field. The big question here is will he follow Fields to UGA as a PWO or choose to take one of the scholarships offers from Air Force, Army, Mercer, or Western Carolina?
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
DOMINICK BLAYLOCK
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 2 WR
HT, WT: 6 foot 0, and 185 lbs
SCHOOL: Walton High School
CITY, STATE: Marietta, GA
STATUS: COMMITTED TO UGA on 07/16/2017
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 07/20/2015.
# OFFERS: 23
NEWS & NOTES: Dominick Blaylock was offered by the previous Georgia coaching staff, and Kirby Smart and his staff also have continued to recruit the talented 2019 prospect with gusto. Their efforts paid off as Blaylock committed to UGA back in July. He is considered one of the top receivers not only in the Peach State but in the country for 2019.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
JADON HASELWOOD
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 1 WR
HT, WT: 6 foot 3, 180 lbs
SCHOOL: Cedar Grove High School
CITY, STATE: Ellenwood, GA
STATUS: Committed to UGA on 03/16/2017
UGA OFFER: UGA offered on 05/10/2016
# OFFERS: 16
NEWS & NOTES: Jadon Haselwood was offered by UGA last year and he committed to the Bulldogs back in the spring on March 16th. Haselwood is considered one of the top wideouts in both the state of Georgia and the country,
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE