In terms of numbers, there wasn’t a whole lot for Georgia to add to its already burgeoning class during National Signing Day.
Oh, but there was certainly a couple of surprises.
The decision of five-star wide receiver George Pickens to flip from rival Auburn to the Bulldogs certainly opened a lot of eyes.
His signing wasn’t the only shocker. By adding Pickens, it allowed Georgia to move ahead of Alabama to become for No. 1 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings for the second straight year.
Rivals made the news official Wednesday night.
Pickens was almost an afterthought when the day began Saturday. That is, until he pulled the Bulldogs hat out during a ceremony at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, announcing that he was Georgia bound.
“George was a kid who visited over here multiple times, came to our game against Auburn as an unofficial visitor, and had a great time,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I thought we had a tremendous official visit with him a couple of weeks ago when he came over to campus, We didn’t have a lot of other official visitors; we only had a few spots and were really kind of narrowing our focus and even into our in-home this last week. I thought we had a great in-home visit. He was very honest with us, kind of told us where we stood. It was a case of staying alive and keeping working, and he felt this was the best for him.”
Smart’s comments came during an interview on ESPNU Wednesday afternoon. The coach didn't hold his customary signing day press conference with beat writers.
He explained why he and his staff never gave up on Pickens, who was one of Auburn's first commits for the Tigers' 2019 class.
“I recruit them as hard as other people recruit our committed players. It’s certainly an open game, and you know that really when you’re committed, you’re just a target. Nobody stops recruiting kids these days. It’s just the way of the world,” Smart said. “I think just keeping an open line of communication, because when you do that. and you keep yourselves in the areas you need and the areas you're concerned with, you’re able to sign good players.”
Pickens wasn’t the only new addition to the Bulldogs’ roster.
Later, three-star tight end Brett Seither chose Georgia over Alabama during a ceremony at Central Catholic High School in Clearwater, Fla.
His addition gives Georgia 24 signees for the Class of 2019.
Signing Pickens and Seither helped Georgia soften the loss of Riley Ridley, Mecole Hardman, and Isaac Nauta to the NFL, along with Luke Ford, who transferred to Illinois.
“Coming out of the December signing day, we had some surprise guys leave early from juniors, tight ends, and receivers especially. So we had to fill those needs,” Smart said. “That’s what we really went after and really targeted, and we were able to fill that.”
Looking ahead, Smart made it clear what position is on his recruiting agenda for 2020: defensive tackle.
“There were not a lot of defensive linemen, and that was a big area we needed. We needed to sign some defensive linemen this year,” Smart said. “We’ve got six guys leaving off our defensive line next year, so in this 2020 class, we’re really going to have to hit the defensive line class hard and get some good pass rushers. There weren’t a lot in our state. The ones we targeted we didn’t get, so we had to go out of state and get some more areas of need.”
