5-star UGA target Smael Mondon announces commitment date

Five-star outside linebacker Smael Mondon is ready to make his commitment. Mondon is projected to join the Georgia Bulldogs.

Five-star outside linebacker Smael Mondon released his top five schools over the summer. Now, the elite in-state recruit, Mondon, has set his commitment date for Nov. 18.

Mondon put LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida in his list of top five schools. He released the same top five when setting his commitment date.

Out of Paulding County High School in Dallas, Georgia, Mondon ranks as the nation’s No. 27 overall player, the No. 2 outside linebacker and the No. 3 player in the state of Georgia, per 247Sports. Kirby Smart and Georgia are looking to secure the state’s top talent in the class of 2021. The Dawgs already landed the top Georgia prospect in the class.

Georgia is viewed as the favorite to land Mondon, with all nine crystal ball votes going to UGA on his 247Sports player profile page. 

At 6 feet, 3 inches and 220 pounds, Mondon will likely be an inside linebacker in college football. He additionally plays running back in high school.

In addition to football, Mondon competed in the 100 meters, 200, long jump and triple jump for the Paulding County track team last year. He has solid speed, which is now key for linebackers who are expected to cover large swaths of the field these days.

Georgia offered Mondon back in 2019. He and the Georgia coaches met in person three times in the month of January, including two visits by coaches and one trip to Athens.

Mondon announced his commitment date via his Twitter account:

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Watch: Georgia is LBU

Georgia football former players and current coaches release ‘LBU’ hype video in an effort to recruit the top LBs in the country to UGA.

A number of former Georgia players and current coaches have released an ‘LBU’ hype video in an effort to recruit the top linebacker prospects in the nation to Athens.

The video features former Dawg linebackers such as Roquan Smith, Natrez Patrick and Tae Crowder, who have now made it to the NFL, crediting UGA and its coaches for preparing them for the next level.

WATCH:

Glenn Schumann, the Georgia inside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator, gets high praise throughout the video.

“Being coached by the best linebacker coach in the country, coach Schumann, everything we did at Georgia I do now in the league,” said Smith.

Smith was the recipient of the 2017 Butkus Award, awarded annually to the most outstanding linebacker in college football.  Smith is the only Georgia player to receive this high honor.  That year, Smith also won the title of SEC Defensive Player of the Year, First-team All-SEC as well as the SEC Championship Game MVP.

“The linebackers should be the tone-setters for the defense, I want my energy to be contagious to other people on the field and I want my players’ energy to be contagious.” said Schumann in the hype video.

Current Georgia linebackers Nakobe Dean, Monty Rice and Quay Walker are also featured in the video.  These three are all expected to play pivotal roles in Georgia’s defense in 2020, a defense that finished No. 1 overall in team defense in 2019 and allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season.

In Georgia’s 2020 No.1 overall recruiting class, the sole linebacker committed is 4-star Washington, D.C. native MJ Sherman, listed as the No. 2 outside linebacker recruit in the country by 247Sports.

For the 2021 class, Georgia currently has the No. 10 inside linebacker committed in 4-star Baltimore, MD native Jamon Dumas-Johnson.

The Dawgs hope to land 2021 5-star Dallas, GA native Smael Mondon, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 220 lbs and the No. 2 outside linebacker in the country.  247Sports experts have all given their Crystal Ball predictions for Mondon in favor of Georgia.

With the departure of Rice and his fellow rising senior Nate McBride coming following this season, the emphasis on locking down the next wave of linebackers is huge for the Georgia coaching staff.

This video shows why players want to come to Georgia, and that is ultimately to be NFL ready by the end of their college careers.  Showcasing the likes of NFL stars Roquan Smith and Natrez Patrick, as well as Tae Crowder’s transformation from a 2-star wide receiver to an NFL linebacker, is the perfect plan to recruit the top linebackers in the country to Georgia.

5-star LB recruit has LSU in list of top schools

Each of Mondon’s finalists were SEC programs.

The LSU Tigers are on another level on the recruiting front right now.

Just last week, the defending national champions picked up three commitments in a span of four days, moving LSU into the No. 6 spot in 247Sports team rankings for the 2021 class.

Several of the country’s top uncommitted players have the defending champions among their finalists, including five-star linebacker Smael Mondon.

Mondon, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker from Paulding County High School in Dallas, Ga., recently released a top-five and included LSU in that group.

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Mondon’s finalists were all from the SEC and included Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn.

After he released his list, Mondon spoke to Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports and said distance would not be a factor in his decision as the other four of Mondon’s finalists are reasonably close to his Georgia residence.

“Being home state is not too much of a factor,” Mondon said. “If I go to Auburn it’s the same distance from my house as Georgia is. Tennessee is close by and Florida is not too much farther.”

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When asked what he liked about the defending national champion LSU Tigers, Mondon spoke of the culture and his relationships with the coaches.

The culture at the program, they have a good team culture. Coach O seems like a real personable coach and seems like he cares about all their players. I used to talk to their d-coordinator Dave Aranda and I started talking to Bo Pelini and there’s no drop off relationship-wise.

Mondon did not indicate a decision would be made.

According to 247Sports internal rankings, Mondon is the No. 9 overall player in the 2021 class and the No. 1 linebacker.

Consider Mondon a major priority for head coach Ed Orgeron.

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5-star LB Smael Mondon releases top five

Smael Mondon, one of the top linebackers in the class of 20201, released his top five schools Sunday afternoon, and Auburn is part of the All SEC group that will battle it our for the coveted recruit. 

Smael Mondon, one of the top linebackers in the class of 2021, released his top five schools Sunday afternoon, and Auburn is part of the all-SEC group that will battle it out for the coveted recruit.

Mondon has Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and LSU as his top schools and talked with 247Sports Steve Wiltfong about each one.

Auburn: “I just felt like it’s a good program for me. I felt like I fit in there. Whenever I visit Auburn it’s a place I can see it being my home. I feel like I have a good relationship with their coaching staff there. T-Will (Travis Williams) my position coach he’s a real genuine dude.”

Florida: “My relationship with Christian Robinson. I see the program trending upwards. With C-Rob he played the position that he coaches so that gives him a different understanding than a lot of coaches. T-Will is the only other one who played it, not saying you have to play the position to coach it but you have more insight into it.”

Georgia: “It’s my home state. The last couple years they’ve had a real solid defense and shows they put an emphasis on that. Coach (Kirby) Smart he’s like a regular guy, easy to talk to, you can sit down and talk to him like a regular person. You don’t want to feel like you’re talking to your boss even though that’s what he is. You can get comfortable with him. I like (Dan) Lanning too.”

LSU: “The culture at the program, they have a good team culture. Coach (Ed) O(rgeron) seems like a real personable coach and seems like he cares about all their players. I used to talk to their d-coordinator Dave Aranda and I started talking to Bo Pelini and there’s no drop off relationship wise.”

Tennessee: “Coach (Brian) Niedermeyer, they’ve been recruiting me the longest of any school. They were my second offer November of my sophomore year. I’ve been talking to Coach Niedermeyer since that spring. I’ve been up there three times. I’ve been up there enough times to be comfortable there and they’re building a good recruiting class and it shows the program is in the right direction. (Jeremy) Pruitt is a good coach, I’ve seen a lot of stuff he’s done at Alabama as the defensive coordinator.”

Georiga is seen as the favorite to land the 6-foot-3, 220 pound linebacker who is the No. 26 overall player, the No. 2 outside linebacker and the No. 3 player in the state of Georgia, per 247Sports Composite.

5-star Georgia recruit Smael Mondon releases top five

2021 five-star outside linebacker Smael Mondon has released his top five schools including the Georgia Bulldogs.

2021 five-star outside linebacker Smael Mondon confirmed to Dawgs247 earlier this year that he would announce his commitment in June. Mondon has pushed back his commitment, but decided to release his top five schools.

Mondon puts LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida in his top schools.

Out of Paulding County High School in Dallas, Georgia, Mondon ranks as the nation’s No. 26 overall player, the No. 2 outside linebacker and the No. 3 player in the state of Georgia, per 247Sports. Kirby Smart and Georgia are looking to secure the state’s top talent in the class of 2021.

Georgia is viewed as the favorite to land Mondon, with all eight crystal ball votes going to UGA on his 247Sports player profile page. 

At 6 feet, 3 inches and 220 pounds, Mondon will likely be an inside linebacker in college football. He additionally plays running back in high school.

In addition to football, Mondon competed in the 100 meters, 200m, long jump and triple jump for the Paulding County track team last year. He has solid speed, which is key for linebackers nowadays, who are expected to cover large swaths of the field.

Georgia offered Mondon in 2019. He and the Georgia coaches met in person three times in the month of January, including two visits by coaches and one trip to Athens.

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Report: 5-star Georgia recruit Smael Mondon to announce next month

5-star Georgia football recruiting target Smael Mondon told Dawgs247 that he plans to announce his commitment next month.

2021 five-star outside linebacker Smael Mondon confirmed to Dawgs247 last week he will announce his commitment in June.

Out of Paulding County High School in Dallas, Georgia, Mondon ranks as the nation’s No. 27 overall player, the No. 3 outside linebacker and the No. 2 player in the state of Georgia, per 247Sports.

Georgia is viewed as the favorite to land Mondon, with all nine crystal ball votes going to UGA on his 247Sports player profile page. 

At 6 feet, 3 inches and 220 pounds, Mondon will likely be an inside linebacker at the next level.

In addition to football, Mondon competed in the 100 meters, 200m, long jump and triple jump for the Paulding County track team last year.

He also played running back in addition linebacker.

Georgia offered Mondon in May of 2019. He and the Georgia coaches met in person three times in the month of January, including two visits by coaches and one trip to Athens.

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5-star UGA QB commit Brock Vandagriff recruiting top talent to Georgia

Georgia football 5-star QB commit Brock Vandagriff is doing some recruiting of his own on Twitter, encouraging prospects to sign with UGA.

Georgia’s 2021 recruiting class, led by 5-star quarterback commit Brock Vandagriff, is starting to take shape as we head into the summer.

Vandagriff, from Bogart, Georgia, plays for Prince Avenue Christian School and seems to be actively recruiting some of the most talented recruits to play along side him at UGA in 2021.

Tuesday, Vandagriff tweeted 5-star offensive tackle Amarius Mims from Cochran, Georgia, encouraging him to be the next piece of Georgia’s talented offensive line.

Mims (6-7, 315)  is rated as the No. 2 OT and the No. 1 player in Georgia, so we can’t blame Vandagriff for wanting Mims to protect his blindside next year.

Next, Vandagriff continued his recruiting on Twitter by tweeting 5-star linebacker Smael Mondon out of Dallas, Georgia.

Mondon (6-3, 220) is rated as the No. 2 OLB and the No. 3 player in Georgia.

According to the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions, both Mims and Mondon are predicted to sign with Georgia.

I suppose we can add Vandagriff to the list of recruiters with Kirby Smart and the Georgia coaching staff. It’s always nice to see a young leader with the willingness to help his program before he even takes the field.

A look at some of Georgia’s top recruiting targets for 2021 class

We list our top-10 Georgia Football targets for the 2021 recruiting class.

Georgia currently holds the No. 12 ranked recruiting class overall and the 3rd best class in the SEC behind Florida and Tennessee. (link to sec class story here)

The Bulldogs hold seven commitments for their 2021 class which is led by 5-star QB Brock Vandagriff, 4-star OT Micah Morris and 4-star ATH David Daniel.

With much of the recruiting cycle still remaining, there are still plenty of great young prospects the Bulldogs will be pursuing over the next year or so.

Here is our list of some of Georgia’s top recruiting targets for the class of 2021. Just because a player is not listed does not mean Georgia is not targeting him.

All rankings via 247Sports:

  1. 5-star OT Amarius Mims (Cochran, GA)
  2. 5-star DB Tony Grimes (Virginia Beach, VA)
  3. 5-star S James Williams (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
  4. 5-star DT Leonard Taylor (Miami, FL)
  5. 5-star DT Mason Smith (Houma, LA)
  6. 5-star OLB Smael Mondon (Dallas, GA)
  7. 4-star DB Isaiah Johnson (Bluefield, WV)
  8. 4-star RB Donovan Edwards (West Bloomfield, MI)
  9. 4-star LB Barrett Carter (Suwanee, GA)
  10. 4-star DE Quintin Somerville (Scottsdale, AZ)
  11. 4-star WR Mario Williams (Plant City, FL)
  12. 4-star OLB Xavien Sorey (Graceville, FL)
  13. 4-star WR Chris Hilton (Zachary, LA)
  14. 4-star CB Nyland Green (Covington, GA)
  15. 4-star TE Brock Bowers (Napa, CA)

Will Georgia football land three of 2021’s top-ten recruits?

Georgia football is predicted to land three of the nation’s top-ten recruits in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

Right now, Georgia has the nation’s 17th ranked recruiting class for the 2021 cycle.

Headlining Georgia’s class is 5-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff out of Bogart, Georgia. Vandagriff ranks as the No. 12 overall player in the country.

Aside from Vandagriff, Kirby Smart has secured commitments from 4-star athlete David Daniel and 3-star defensive tackle Marlin Dean.

For the time being, recruiting is suspended nationwide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. That includes both on and off campus recruiting.

As far as recruiting goes, it’s not time to hit the panic button based on Georgia’s No. 17 ranking. Smart has secured the nation’s No. 1 class three years in a row and is on a quest to make it four. This year, though, it’ll just take a bit longer to climb up the rankings than in years past.

Related: Georgia’s top defensive targets for 2021 – can UGA land three 5-star DBs?

Related: Georgia’s top offensive recruiting targets for the class of 2021

When recruiting picks back up, Georgia will find itself in prime position for three of America’s top-ten recruits.

According to 247Sport’s Crystal Ball predictions, the Bulldogs are seen as the favorites to land the nation’s No. 6, 7 and 8 ranked recruits. Additionally, outside of the top-ten, Georgia is viewed as the leader for the No. 23 recruit.

Let’s start from the top.


No. 6 overall: James Williams

The No. 6 overall recruit, James Williams, is a safety out of Opa Locka, Florida. In February, Williams released a top-three of Georgia, Alabama, and Clemson.

The five-star junior is the state of Florida’s top prospect both at the safety position and overall as per 247Sports, which currently projects him as a 100% Bulldog lean according to seven recruiting analysts.

At six-foot-five and nearly 220 pounds, Williams’ size (particularly his length) is rare for a defensive back. Head coach Kirby Smart, a former safety, and defensive backs coach Charlton Warren would have big plans for a player with the speed and vision necessary to play both strong and free safety combined with the size and physicality to play STAR.

That speed and vision give the out-of-state standout the ability to quickly diagnose plays and react accordingly. Whether he joins the Dawgs, Tide, or Tigers, three programs which have dominated the past three years’ recruiting cycles, he is capable of making an immediate impact on a playoff-caliber team as a true freshman.

Georgia football top recruiting targets for class of 2021

Here’s a look at the top Georgia football recruiting targets for 2021

Georgia football wrapped up a 2020 recruiting class that ranked No. 1 in America.

Right now for the class of 2021, the Bulldogs have two commitments for a class that currently ranks No. 24.

Those two commitments are pretty big, however. The headliner for this class is, and will continue to be, 5-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff (Bogart, Ga.), the No. 1 ranked quarterback and No. 8 player overall.

Accompanying Vandagriff as the only other commit in this class is 4-star defensive back David Daniel (Woodstock, Ga.). Daniel, who is recruited as a safety, is considered an athlete on 247Sports and ranks as the nation’s 45th player.

Until both Vandagriff and Daniel officially sign with Georgia roughly a year from now, Kirby Smart and staff will continue to recruit both of them heavily. But there’s still 20+ others guys that Smart will need to land a commitment from for the 2021 class, and we are taking a look at a few players that should be Georgia’s biggest targets.

Here are Georgia’s top targets for 2021:

OFFENSE

5-star OT Amarius Mims

Amarius Mims is 2021’s Broderick Jones, who was Georgia’s 5-star offensive tackle in the 2020 class.

At nearly six-foot-eight and 320 pounds, the junior out of Cochran, GA is already considered to be a Georgia lean. As per 247Sports, 100 percent of recruiting experts predict he will enroll at the University of Georgia.

Mims recently released a top-12 that included Georgia and a plethora of other SEC powerhouses.

He is the ranked as the No. 13 player in the country.

5-star RB Will Shipley

5-star running back Will Shipley is a priority recruit for just about every major program in the country.

Ranking as the nation’s No. 21 overall player and No. 1 all-purpose back, Shipley could join Tim Worley, Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall and Zamir White as the next great Georgia running back out of North Carolina.

Shipley comes from Weddington High School in a town about 5 minutes south of Charlotte where he has a 4.375 grade-point average.

He clocked a 4.46 40 time, rushed for 2,066 rushing yards last season and averaged 11 yards per carry.

Georgia coaches have been in contact with Shipley, with Kirby Smart and Dell McGee both visiting separately.

4-star OT Micah Morris

Another offensive lineman, Micah Morris is a 4-star out of Kingsland, Georgia.

He ranks as the nation’s No. 44 overall player and No. 7 ranked tackle. It looks like right now it’s mainly between Georgia and South Carolina.

Morris, 6-4, 316 pounds, visited Georgia on February 1st.

4-star WR Jaquez Smith

Right now, Georgia is the favorite to land 4-star wide receiver Jaquez Smith out of Westlake High School in Atlanta.

Smith, who ranks as the No. 136 overall player in the 2021 class, is being recruited by a lot of the usual suspects. He visited Georgia for last season’s Notre Dame game

Smith could compliment freshman George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock in future seasons.

4-star RB Evan Pryor

I think Georgia could bring in two running backs for the 2021 class and Evan Pryor would be a player to keep an eye on regardless of what happens with Shipley.

Pryor ranks as the nation’s No. 86 overall player and 6th ranked running back. He, like Shipley, also hails from North Carolina, in a town called Cornelius. Much like Shipley’s hometown of Weddington, Cornelius is a city that is on the outskirts of Charlotte, so it’s an ok bet to assume the two high profile backs have crossed paths multiple times.

The last time Georgia brought in two running backs from North Carolina we saw Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall takeover the SEC and put up wild numbers. Pryor recently visited Georgia, and the Dawgs will do their best to land the speedy ball carrier.

NEXT: DEFENSE