As promised (though a bit later than planned), I'm pleased to present this way, way too detailed profile of the latest University of Georgia football commitment, Dartmouth, Massachusetts tight end/defensive end Arthur Fontaine.
Fontaine originally committed to the Boston College Eagles, but admitted soon thereafter that he had ended his recruitment too soon. He visited Georgia last weekend with his family, and that visit seems to have confirmed his desire to come to Athens. On Tuesday the 6'4, 245 pounder made his intentions public, choosing Georgia over Boston College, Maryland and Virginia. That's not the most impressive offer list I've ever seen, but it's not bad, especially for a kid from a part of the country where SEC schools aren't usually concentrating their scouting efforts.
Honestly, I know a lot less about Fontaine than I do a lot of other guys in this class. For example, I've seen Washaun Ealey in action twice and feel like I know what we're getting with him. All I have to go on with Fontaine is the very short highlight film from Rivals that you can find on UGASports.com.
His statistics are not terribly impressive: 10 catches for 160 yards as a junior. It should be noted however that Fontaine was instrumental in leading the way for Dartmouth tailback Jordan Todman, who rushed for over 1900 yards in route to state player of the year honors and a scholarship to UConn.
The impression I get from the film is that if you like Tripp Chandler, you'll love Art Fontaine. He's a tall, rangy guy who plays like Kris Durham would if he woke up one morning 40 pounds heavier than the night before. He seems to have pretty good hands and body control on the few catches showcased on the video. But again, I don't know how representative these are of his full body of work.
There's been some speculation that this means Georgia won't have room for Tampa (Plant HS) tight end Orson Charles, a teammate of Georgia quarterback commitment Aaron Murray. I'm not convinced. For one thing, our unfortunate disciplinary problems this offseason freed up a scholarship or two ahead of schedule. Second, we don't seem to be having much luck picking up the 1-2 wide receivers we were looking for in this class, so there may be room for a guy like Charles who could play wide receiver depending on how his body develops. I envision Charles in the 230+ range eventually, but you never really know. Finally, Charles and Fontaine are very different players, with Fontaine being the more traditional tight end and Charles being the new-fangly pass catching type that Urban Meyer loves to point and stare at. Charles for one has said Fontaine going to Georgia doesn't affect him at all.
All that being said, the impression I get is that Charles may be headed to Miami anyway. If that happens, then I'm glad we went ahead and locked up Fontaine (as much as any verbal commitment is "locked up") now. I also think that if we had to choose one or the other, Fontaine would be the guy to go for. With Aron White only a redshirt freshman (albeit one reportedly now working as the second team tight end in front of Bruce Figgins), we don't really need a guy who has almost the exact same size and attributes in this class. We do however need a guy to come in and back up Bruce Figgins next year as the "big tight end". Fontaine seems like the guy the coaches have picked for that role.