Justin Fields is a Georgia Bulldog!

Now that’s how you start the weekend. Georgia picked up its biggest commitment of the class of 2018 this morning with the pledge of Harrison High quarterback Justin Fields. We often talk about stars and offer sheets and other metrics in determining the relative significance of any commitment.

You can throw that out with Fields. This is as big as it gets. He is the top recruit in the country according to the 247Sports rankings, just ahead of fellow Georgia high school signal caller Trevor Lawrence. Georgia fans were a little dismayed back in December when Lawrence chose to cross the border to Auburn’s lakeside campus. This commitment is a pretty good reminder that things have a way of working out. When Kirby Smart took over in Athens one could have argued persuasively that he inherited the worst quarterback depth chart in the SEC. If things go according to plan, he could enter 2018 with arguably the best in the country.

What does Fields’s decision mean for the 2018 class? Immediately, Georgia’s slow-starting class jumps from #13 in the nation to #6, ahead of the Florida Gators and just behind the concrete balloon that is the Tennessee Volunteers’ class. As recently as May that class was ranked in the fifties.

Down the road, Fields can begin putting together the finishing touches on a class that could once again rank in the top 3-4 nationally. I expect that it will also help out with some class of 2019 prospects both instate and elsewhere. Fields is just one of those guys other prospects want to play with.

While there were plenty of reasons for Fields to look elsewhere, it appears that in the end he decided to stop analyzing depth charts and just go where he wanted to go to school. Thankfully, that was Athens.

The commitment adds to the inferno of momentum this staff has built through the early part of the season. A lot of top prospects, including Fields, appear to have been in “show me” mode with the Bulldogs, waiting to see if Smart’s infectious sales pitch would translate into wins on the field. With that now happening, Georgia is in position to reel in more top prospects in route to building the kind of depth needed to compete for SEC and national titles. Happy Friday, y’all. And . . .

Go ‘Dawgs!!!