Borrowing an idea from our friends at Pitt’s Panther-Lair.com, UGASports is looking at previous Georgia recruiting classes and re-ranking the individual signees based on how their Bulldog careers actually transpired.
This week, we analyze the 29 signees of the 2015 class, or the final signing class for head coach Mark Richt. It's also the last class from which none remain on Georgia’s current roster.
THE CLASS
Georgia’s 2015 signing class was ranked No. 6 in the nation, including No. 3 in the SEC, both of which were team highs since 2011. The 29 signees continued what had been a multi-year roller coaster of the team’s signee total (beginning in 2010, ending in 2015): 19 to 26 to 19 to 33 to 21 to 29.
Signing two 5-star recruits, Trenton Thompson and Terry Godwin marked the sixth time in 15 classes that Richt inked multiple 5-star prospects (although he never signed three 5-star recruits in a single year). Six other signees were part of the Rivals100. In addition, two signees, No. 193 Pat Allen and No. 242 Rico McGraw, were part of the Rivals250. Speaking of Allen, he was also one of four offensive linemen signed. The other three: Sage Hardin, Sam Madden, and JUCO transfer Devondre Seymour.
The average Rivals Rating for the 29 signees was 5.738, a team-low since 2010 (5.737). The fact the Bulldogs signed a staggering nine high 3-star (5.7 Rivals Rating) players had something to do with the lower-than-normal average. Also, with the additions of Tae Crowder and Kirby Choates, Georgia had signed multiple two-star players for the first time since 2003.
Remarkably, 13 of the 29 signees were defensive backs and defensive ends. Of the seven defensive backs signed (under the direction of Jeremy Pruitt at the time), four were regarded as just mid-3-star players or lower.
Below is the original ranking of Georgia’s 2015 class (player listed with high school position according to Rivals). Note: To rank those signees with identical Rivals Ratings, the recruits’ rankings (overall, position, and state), along with the opinions of our recruiting writers, were considered.
