Even though game week is in full swing, recruiting efforts for the class of 2008 continue . . .
Rivals' analyst Randy Rodgers compares Georgia commitment Deangelo Tyson to other 2008 defensive tackles and concludes that Tyson should be "a four year fixture" in Athens. I'm not sure Tyson will play as a true freshman given the depth Georgia will return next season. But I do think he uses his hands well, plays with great leverage, and doesn't give up on plays. Those qualities remove three major barriers to playing time faced by a lot of young defensive tackles.
Offensive linemen Cordy Glenn and Vinston Painter are working on their decisions. Painter (from Norfolk, VA) has raved about Georgia, while Glenn (out of Riverdale) has a bevy of offers from across the southeast. Bama fans I've heard from seem to think they lead for Glenn's commitment. But then some Bama fans think they lead for everyone's commitment. It just so happens that this year they've been right an awful lot. I'll believe Painter is headed to Athens when Frank Beamer loses the young man's cell phone number, and not a minute sooner. While we've tried mightily to recruit the mid-atlantic recently, it's still hard to get the players out of Virginia that Coach Beamer really goes after.
Speaking of awful, I had a chance to see some of Summerville High School's game Saturday against Miami's Booker T. Washington High. Summerville of course features Georgia commit A.J. Green at wide receiver and South Carolina commit Reid McCollum at quarterback. Summerville lost 36-3, in a game which showed exactly why speed kills. McCollum had little time to get Green open downfield and finished 12 of 26 for a mere 113 yards. A.J. Green accounted for 5 of those completions and 52 of the yards.
Georgia fans really shouldn't be too discouraged by the outing. McCollum was harassed unceasingly, which accounted for a lot of errant throws. And as anyone who's seen Green's highlights knows, Summerville's modus operandi is to block 3.5 seconds, throw it up, and let A.J. go get it. Without those 3.5 seconds, the plan doesn't work. Green did look discouraged at times and may have slacked off a little when the ball was not headed his way. But Coach Eason can fix that very quickly, I'm sure. Green is just as physically gifted as he was last Monday.
Also on the wide receiver front, Little Rock receiver Joe Adams picked Southern Cal over Arkansas and Georgia on friday. With this commitment, it's looking more and more like we may be done at receiver for this season. While there are a lot of big name receivers nominally still interested in Georgia (Josh Jarboe, Chris Tolliver, and DeAndre Brown for example) none has been vocal in touting their interest, and all have been getting significant interest from schools where they could be the marquee receiver in the 2008 class. Given the raw numbers that we have at the position now, I'm completely pleased with Tavarres King and A.J. Green. The last thing we need is a "warm body offer" to a guy who fills a spot on the depth chart but never gets on the field.