Georgia Bulldogs: Ranking the reigning champions’ top-10 recruits of 2023

Here are the top 10 highest-ranked players who have committed to their class of 2023.

Georgia is on top of the mountain in college football, having won the last two national championships in convincing fashion.

Maintaining that dominance will be difficult, especially because they’ll be losing some of their best players – such as DL Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith – in the 2023 NFL draft at the end of April.

Keeping ahead of the competition will require head coach Kirby Smart and his staff to continue recruiting the best high school football talent from around the country.

Here are the top 10 highest-ranked players who have committed to their recruiting class of 2023, which ranks No. 2 in the nation.

Monroe Freeling, the No. 47 overall prospect, signs with Georgia

Monroe Freeling is a Dawg.

4-star offensive tackle Monroe Freeling ranks as the nation’s No. 47 overall player in the class of 2023 and as the No. 7 ranked tackle.

He committed to Georgia back in August, and on Wednesday he officially put pen to paper and signed with the Georgia Bulldogs. He originally picked the Bulldogs over Florida, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State and Miami

At 6-foot-7 and 283 pounds, Freeling hails from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. He is Georgia’s highest ranked offensive member of the 2023 class so far.

Twitter reacts: UGA football adds commitment from South Carolina’s top recruit

Kirby Smart and Georgia football have added commitments from the top recruit in South Carolina in two of the last three signing classes.

The Georgia Bulldogs have added a commitment from Monroe Freeling, who is the highest-ranked recruit in South Carolina. Freeling is a tall, lengthy four-star offensive tackle from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, which is just outside of Charleston.

The four-star offensive line recruit committed to Georgia over Alabama, Clemson, Florida and Miami. Kirby Smart and Georgia football have added commitments from the top recruit in South Carolina in two of the last three signing classes.

Freeling is a senior who plays high school football for Oceanside Collegiate Academy. The 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive tackle recruit is a member of the class of 2023.

The Oceanside star is the No. 8 offensive tackle prospect in the class of 2023 and is rated as the No. 63 recruit. Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have commitments from 19 prospects in the class of 2023. Georgia has the No. 3 recruiting class in the country behind Alabama and Texas.

The touted offensive tackle also plays basketball. He shows great athleticism, mobility and footwork for someone of his size.

Here’s how Georgia football Twitter reacted to Monroe Freeling’s commitment:

Freeling waived a Georgia flag in his commitment to the Bulldogs:

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4-star OT Monroe Freeling commits to Georgia

Freeling (6-foot-7, 283 pounds) is the top-ranked recruit in the state of South Carolina and is No. 13 at his position.Ā 

The Georgia Bulldogs won the College Football National Championship this past season on the strength of a dominant defense and consistently winning in the trenches. And they’re already hard at work building up their line of the future.

On Monday, the school scored a commitment from one of the top offensive tackles in the recruiting class of 2023.Ā According to Sports Illustrated, Oceanside Collegiate Academy (S.C.) offensive tackle Monroe Freeling has committed to playing his college ball at Georgia.

Here’s a clip of Freeling making the news official.

Freeling (6-foot-7, 283 pounds) is the top-ranked recruit in South Carolina and is No. 13 at his position.

He had offers from 26 schools, including Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame and Miami.

This is the fourth offensive lineman and the 19th overall commitment of 2023 for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. They currently rank third in theĀ recruiting class rankingsĀ behind Texas and Alabama.

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Florida misses out on 4-star OL to Georgia after making final cut

The Gators missed out on four-star offensive tackle Monroe Freeling to this SEC rival. Will the Gators add another blue-chip piece to the trenches this cycle?

The Gators hoped to make a late push in the recruitment of [autotag]Monroe Freeling[/autotag] but the four-star offensive tackle committed to the Georgia Bulldogs on Monday.

Freeling’s decision wasn’t much of a surprise. UGA was a heavy favorite coming into the day, and Kirby Smart’s recruiting team was treating him as a priority target. He made an official visit to Florida in June and left with some curiosities about the program after seeing Napier’s commitment to the offensive line, but Georgia was the school that felt like home to him.

He named Florida among his final five schools, along with Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Miami, but he didn’t sound too high on the Gators in the days leading up to his announcement.

ā€œI really enjoyed my time in Florida when I went down there,ā€ Freeling said to On3 when discussing his finalists. ā€œThe campus was really pretty and they have great academics. Coach Sale and I have a good relationship and I think that Florida is heading in the right direction!ā€

Missing out on Freeling isn’t a huge blow to Florida’s recruiting staff, even if Georgia is getting a player who could earn a fifth star before all is said and done. The Gators weren’t ever seriously in the race for him, unlike other elite offensive linemen Rob Sale has missed out on in this cycle (e.g. Francis Mauigoa).

Florida currently has a pair of offensive linemen committed to its recruiting class of 2023, four-star interior offensive lineman Knijeah Harris and three-star offensive tackle Bryce Lovett. 247Sports ranks UF 10th overall in the cycle at this point, but another blue-chip lineman would be a welcomed addition.

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4-star in-state OL commits elsewhere

A four-star, in-state offensive lineman committed elsewhere on Monday night. Oceanside Collegiate Academy (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) tackle Monroe Freeling announced his verbal pledge to Georgia, choosing the Bulldogs over stated finalists Clemson, …

A four-star, in-state offensive lineman committed elsewhere on Monday night.

Oceanside Collegiate Academy (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) tackle Monroe Freeling announced his verbal pledge to Georgia, choosing the Bulldogs over stated finalists Clemson, Florida, Miami and Alabama.

Freeling received an offer from Clemson after competing at the Dabo Swinney Camp in June 2021 and had been on the Tigersā€™ radar early, though he wasnā€™t recently.

The 6-foot-7, 285-pound senior is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the state of South Carolina, No. 8 offensive tackle nationally and No. 63 overall prospect in the 2023 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Clemson owns commitments from three offensive linemen — Permian High School (Odessa, Texas) four-star Harris Sewell, Vandegrift High School (Austin, Texas) four-star Ian Reed and Eagleā€™s Landing Christian Academy (McDonough, Ga.) four-star Zechariah Owens — each of whom is ranked as a top-150 national prospect, regardless of position, by at least one of the major recruiting services.

South Carolina’s top recruit sets commitment date

4-star OT Monroe Freeling has set his commitment date. Freeling is considering Clemson, Miami, Georgia, Florida, and more.

The Georgia Bulldogs are hoping to add a commitment from the highest-ranked recruit in South Carolina. Monroe Freeling is a tall, lengthy four-star offensive tackle from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, which is just outside of Charleston.

Freeling plans to announce where he will play college football on Aug. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The four-star offensive line prospect will decide among Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Florida, and Miami.

Monroe Freeling plays high school football for Oceanside Collegiate Academy. The 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive tackle recruit is a member of the class of 2023. Freeling is currently projected to commit to the Georgia Bulldogs per 247Sports.

The Oceanside star is the No. 13 offensive tackle prospect in the class of 2023 and is rated as the No. 80 recruit. Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs currently have commitments from several players along the offensive line including in-state offensive tackle Bo Hughley.

Monroe Freeling will continue adding to his frame before he plays college football in 2023. The talented offensive tackle has recently visited Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Miami.

The touted offensive tackle also plays basketball. He shows great athleticism, mobility and footwork for someone of his size. Check out a few of his dunks and a ferocious block from one game during the 2021-2022 high school basketball season:

South Carolina’s top recruit committing to the Georgia Bulldogs would be fitting. The Clemson Tigers have added commitments from some of the top players in Georgia, so it is only fair that the Bulldogs return the favor.

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You’ve got mail: TCI answers your recruiting questions

The Clemson Insider has decided to take a relatively old concept and put a new spin on it. As we already introduced on our message board, TCI will field weekly recruiting mailbag questions, which will be answered in an article format. We’ll choose …

The Clemson Insider has decided to take a relatively old concept and put a new spin on it. As we already introduced on our message board, TCI will field weekly recruiting mailbag questions, which will be answered in an article format. Weā€™ll choose questions to answer and provide you with the most relevant information regarding Clemson recruiting.

Without further ado, we took a crack at answering some of your mailbag questions. It should be noted that the questions have been edited for clarity.

Q: Have we moved on from (Monroe) Freeling? Has he moved on from Clemson?

Clemson is no longer at the forefront of Monroe Freelingā€™s recruitment. For a while, the Tigers seemed to be the perceived favorite to land the Oceanside Collegiate Academy product, but as we know, things are fluid in recruiting.

To no fault of his own, Freeling was unable to make Clemsonā€™s official visit weekend. It was his parents’ anniversary the weekend of June 3 and it unfortunately just didnā€™t work out with his schedule. That paved the way for the trio of Vandegrift (Texas) four-star Ian Reed, Permian (Texas) four-star Harris Sewell and Eagleā€™s Landing Christian Academy (Georgia) four-star Zechariah Owens to verbally pledge to Dabo Swinneyā€™s program in the coming weeks.

While Clemson is set with taking three offensive linemen in the class of 2023, thereā€™s been chatter that Thomas Austin could possibly take a fourth commit. Whether that would be Freeling hinges on a couple of things, but as of August, the likelihood that heā€™ll end up at Clemson has grown increasingly unlikely.

We know Clemson really likes the prospect, as Swinney and Co. have attended his basketball games and such, but that arrow that was once pointed at Clemson and since trended in another direction.Ā 

Freeling has made official visits to Notre Dame, Miami and Florida. Whether Freeling takes those remaining two officials remains to be seen, but the teams most heavily involved appear to be the latter programs mentioned, as well as Alabama and Georgia.

Q: Any traction with any RB?

It goes without saying, that Clemson continues to evaluate its options at the running back position.Ā 

A name that Iā€™ve heard in some circles is Heights High (Kansas) four-star John Randle II. While heā€™s ranked as the No. 20 running back in the nation, per the 247Sports composite, youā€™re looking at a player whose recruitment is still waiting to take off.

I donā€™t know how much traction Clemson has with Randle if any, but heā€™s a name worth monitoring as he heads into his senior season.

Q: How many more do you think weā€™ll take before we shut it down?

This is always a fun question.

After Ronan Hanafin and Shelton Lewis committed last week, Clemson is now up to 20 total verbal commitments.

My best guess would be two or three more prospects, which would put Clemsonā€™s class at either 22 or 23 commitments. Anything can happen between now and then, whether a player enters the transfer portal or decides to step away from the game like Landen Zanders did earlier this month.

As we know, these things tend to be fluid. Thatā€™s not to say that I expect a Clemson player to enter the transfer portal or anything of that nature. More so, weā€™d be naive to assume that the ever-changing landscape doesnā€™t affect roster turnover and the number of scholarship players that a program like Clemson has to work with at any given time.

Q: What are the biggest needs now?

Running back. Point blank.

While Clemson recently placed Domonique Thomas on scholarship, itā€™s worth noting that Keith Adams, Jr. is the last running back to commit to Clemson since Will Shipley did so on May 5, 2020. Itā€™s a position that Clemson hasnā€™t had much success with on the recruiting trail as of late, just barely missing out on the likes of Trevor Etienne (Florida), Andrew Paul (Georgia) and Jeremiah Cobb (Auburn),

From what weā€™ve heard regarding CJ Spiller ā€” heā€™s a good coach with the necessary recruiting chops. Clemsonā€™s lack of movement at the position on the trail shouldnā€™t be an indictment of who he is as a coach. As we previously mentioned, Spiller did a nice job of identifying a guy like Paul, who was one of the best high school backs in the state of Texas.

Q: Any traction with Tomarrion Parker and a visit for the season?

Yes!

I answered this on our message board, but for our readers who didnā€™t get a chance to see this, Clemson has a lot of traction with Tomarrion Parker. The four-star defensive end out of Central (Alabama) is eyeing an official date of Oct. 22, which would be the weekend that Clemson plays host to Syracuse at Memorial Stadium.

There is mutual interest here, as Parker wants to take a long, extended look at Clemson, now that the Tigers have extended an offer.

More on Parker here:Ā 

Newly offered 4-star Alabama DE dishes on Clemson offer, talks official visit plans

Q: Are we done at WR with the Ronan (Hanafin) commitment or will we continue to push for Tyler Williams to sway him away from the Dawgs?

As of now, Clemson is only planning to take two wide receivers in the class of 2023 and some pretty good ones at that. With Sundayā€™s commitment, Buckingham & Browne (Massachusetts) four-star wide receiver Ronan Hanafin joined Rockwall (Texas) four-star Noble Johnson, as the two receivers that Clemson will be taking in this class.

Earlier this year, some prospects informed TCI that Clemson was looking to add up to three wide receivers in this class because it was likely going to be losing a number of wideouts after the 2022 season. Itā€™s entirely possible that Clemsonā€™s thinking has changed since the end of January.

That would make Clemson an unlikely suitor for Lakeland (Florida) four-star Tyler Williams, but my hunch is that has more to do with his recruitment trending in the direction of Georgia and less to do with numbers. Williams sent a commitment date of Sept. 27 and will pick between Clemson, Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Ole Miss.

Williams has one official visit remaining and with a month and change until he renders a college decision, the University of Miami is rumored to be pushing for him to take his final visit to Coral Gables.

Clemson hosted Williams during the programā€™s official visit weekend from June 3-5. From what we gathered, Williams mostly kept to himself during the weekendā€™s festivities. Thatā€™s not a knock on Williams, who has spoken very highly of Clemson in the interviews heā€™s done in the past, but rather an observation from a source that we wanted to pass along.

Many in the industry have Williams pegged as a Georgia guy, but that remains to be seen, as other programs continue to push for his commitment. I just wouldnā€™t expect him to land at Clemson at this time.

Q: Next possible verbal?

Iā€™m not going to make any projections at the moment, but the next possible commitment in terms of announcement timing is North Gwinnett (Georgia) four-star defensive lineman Kayden McDonald. The expectation is that heā€™ll be taking an official visit to Clemson sometime this fall.

Come out to support Clemson softball at Dear Old Clemsonā€™s second event which is set for August 27 at the Madren Conference Center. Ā Clemson returns as one of the top teams in the nation and adds some new talent to the mix. Ā If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events or purchase your tickets today atĀ Dear Old Clemson.

Alabama making late push for 2023 OT Monroe Freeling

Alabama is set to host several visitors this weekend. One of those visitors will be 2023 offensive tackle Monroe Freeling.

Alabama’s coaching staff has made it clear that their goal is to sign five or six offensive linemen in the 2023 recruiting class. Thus far, they have commitments from Wilkin Formby, RyQueze McElderry and Olaus Alinen. One uncommitted lineman is offensive tackle, Monroe Freeling. He is the highest-rated recruit from South Carolina.

In May, Freeling released his top-seven schools. Alabama was not one of the schools listed. Nonetheless, there is still interest amongst both parties. This weekend, Freeling will be on campus for an unofficial visit. It will be his first trip to Tuscaloosa since receiving an offer from the Crimson Tide.

As of right now, Clemson holds a commanding lead in his recruitment, according to On3’s RPM. The Tigers are the favorite to land Freeling at 45.9% likelihood. If the Alabama coaching staff can make a good impression, Freeling may reevaluate his top seven. If that were the case, he would likely add Alabama as a finalist.

2023 Recruiting Profile: Can Florida make late push for 5-star OT Samson Okunlola?

After missing out on most of the high-profile in-state offensive tackles, can Florida land this elite OT from the northeast?

When Billy Napier and his staff touched base with five-star offensive tackle [autotag]Samson Okunlola[/autotag] in February, the Gators were prioritizing in-state targets at the position such as [autotag]Payton Kirkland[/autotag] (Oklahoma), [autotag]Francis Mauigoa[/autotag] (Miami) and [autotag]Tommy Kinsler[/autotag] (flipped from Florida to Miami). All three of them landed elsewhere, and now Florida’s best shot at landing a blue-chip tackle might the top-20 recruit from out-of-state.

Okunlola is a big 6-foot-5-inch, 305-pounder out of Thayer Academy in Brockton, Massachusetts. He’s the kind of prep player that’s never truly been on a field of athletes that can match up to his size, and his ability has him ranked in the top 15 by most services. That’s top 15 in the class of 2023, not just at his position.

Of course, a talent like that comes with fierce competition, and the favorite to land him is the same school that’s been dominating the recruiting trail for the past couple of weeks ā€”Ā  Miami. The Hurricanes are a 95.3% favorite according to the On3 recruiting prediction machine, and the experts at 247Sports have also cast crystal balls in UM’s favor.

Alabama, Miami and Michigan State are the three schools that have hosted him on official visits so far, and he’s named six other schools to a top nine that he can pick from for his final two visits. Florida is one of those six schools and needs to get the official visit to make a late push.

There’s certainly a need at the position for Florida, and it would be easy to promise early playing time to a player of his caliber. Of the top 15 offensive tackles in the class, Okunlola is the highest rated at 14th overall on the 247Sports composite. [autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] and [autotag]Monroe Freeling[/autotag] are around the No. 60 mark and also options for the Gators.