Georgia Bulldogs lose major recruiting battle for five star LB but Kirby Smart may land immediate replacement amid SEC Media Days
The Georgia Bulldogs have been on fire with their recruiting here recently. It's only right that Kirby Smart and company finally actually lost a meaningful recruiting battle–and that's exactly what happened on Tuesday.Georgia already has 29 players committed for their 2026 recruiting class. Coach Smart and company have brought in 19 commits since the beginning […]
The Georgia Bulldogs have been on fire with their recruiting here recently. It's only right that Kirby Smart and company finally actually lost a meaningful recruiting battle–and that's exactly what happened on Tuesday.
Georgia already has 29 players committed for their 2026 recruiting class. Coach Smart and company have brought in 19 commits since the beginning of June alone, and they're just one player away from claiming the top overall spot in the team class rankings for this recruiting cycle.
However, they finally lost an in-state recruiting battle for a five star linebacker prospect this week. The good news? Kirby Smart may turn around and immediately land a high pedigree replacement amid SEC Media Days anyway.
Tyler Atkinson chooses Texas Longhorns instead of Georgia Bulldogs
Tyler Atkinson, a five star linebacker from Logansville, Georgia had been an extremely high priority for the Bulldogs throughout his entire recruiting journey. Coach Smart would take his helicopter and fly to his games on Friday nights. Atkinson was quoted as saying that he essentially "grew up at Georgia" given how often he visited.
Yet somehow, for the second time in the last two recruiting cycles the Texas Longhorns have gone into Georgia's back yard to land a five star defensive talent over the Bulldogs as Atkinson committed to Steve Sarkisian on Tuesday.
Georgia Bulldogs could land 4 star LB Nick Abrams amid SEC Media Days
The good news here is that Georgia Bulldogs fans might not have to wait too long to see exactly who Kirby Smart will be landing at linebacker in place of the high pedigree Atkinson.
High four star linebacker Nick Abrams will be announcing his commitment on Wednesday July 16th and Georgia is one of the finalists. He'll be choosing between the Bulldogs, Alabama, Michigan, and Oregon.
Abrams has been slowly climbing up recruiting boards following an impressive junior season where he racked up about 80 tackles, a handful of sacks, and clearly added some explosion to his game. He would be the perfect attacking off-ball linebacker for Georgia if he does end up choosing the Bulldogs.
When asked about what he likes with Georgia as his commitment is approaching Abrams said, "What's special about Georgia is the versatility that they have once again and coach [Glenn] Schumann coaching three Butkus Award winners."
Nick Abrams is the exact style of linebacker that Georgia builds their defenses around. He's 6'2", 220 pounds with great speed to close in tackle pursuit, but he's also agile and powerful enough to win in pass rush situations–a must for Georgia linebackers.
If coach Smart and his staff close on this recruitment they will likely lock in the top overall class for the 2026 cycle and there's still more high pedigree recruits considering joining their stacked young roster later this fall.
Kirby Smart admits what Georgia Bulldogs will have to overcome if they want to make it back to College Football Playoff
Kirby Smart is not one to hide away from issues that his team is facing. He understands exactly where the Georgia Bulldogs program is more than anyone else. At SEC Media Days on Tuesday coach Smart kicked things off immediately addressing the elephant in the room, admitting what Georgia is going to have to overcome […]
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If you want to see how good Nick Abrams is at linebacker you find his junior season highlights video below.
