Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football and to build a dominant program requires securing the top athletes during each recruiting cycle.
Under Kirby Smart, Georgia has finished in the top four in the recruiting race in each year of the Coach Smart era. He landed the No. 1 overall class during the 2020 recruiting cycle and landed the No. 2 overall class in 2019. The 2019 class, led by five-star defensive recruits Nolan Smith Jr. (WDE), LB Nakobe Dean, DT Travon Walker and offensive recruits George Pickens (WR) and Clay Webb (OC), made significant contributions to the Bulldogs.
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The analytical gurus at Pro Football Focus unveiled their “wins above average metric” to rank the top 10 true freshman from the college football season. LSU’s 2019 class finished first, led by the dominance of cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. North Carolina, which only had four, four-star recruits, finished second with freshman quarterback Sam Howell leading the Tar Heels. Georgia ranked third, led by the talents of Dominick Blaylock and George Pickens.
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The Dawgs’ freshman class was followed by Southern Cal, Oregon, UCF, Washington, Clemson, Florida and Cincinnati. PFF’s analysis of UGA’s 2019 class follows:
Why they’re ranked here: Many of the Bulldogs’ true freshmen were called on to be role players in 2019, and almost all of them had a positive impact on the team. Georgia landed two of the top six wide receivers in ESPN’s rankings in Dominick Blaylock and George Pickens, and both led the pack for the Bulldogs, ranking among the 10 most valuable true freshman wide receivers in the country. On the defensive side, off-ball linebacker Nakobe Dean was the most valuable true freshman at his position, and it wasn’t close. Dean’s coverage skills shined, as he allowed just five of his 14 targets in coverage to be caught, with a couple of pass breakups mixed in.
How their top recruit fared: Edge defender Nolan Smith was ESPN’s second-ranked recruit of 2019, and he played the second-most snaps of any true freshman on Georgia’s roster, with 287.
Best true freshman: Pickens finished the season first among true freshman wide receivers in WAA, and he finished 19th among all wide receivers in the FBS. The best thing we saw from Pickens was his reliable hands, as he was one of 10 wide receivers to not drop a catchable target beyond the first-down marker.