Georgia Bulldogs lose out on another five star recruit to Texas Longhorns, but could still land perfect replacement
Georgia football recruiting has been on quite the heater this offseason, adding about 20 recruits in the last two months alone, but Kirby Smart and company keep running into one big problem: the Texas Longhorns.Two years in a row now the Texas Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian have stolen a five star recruit out of Georgia's […]
Georgia football recruiting has been on quite the heater this offseason, adding about 20 recruits in the last two months alone, but Kirby Smart and company keep running into one big problem: the Texas Longhorns.
Two years in a row now the Texas Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian have stolen a five star recruit out of Georgia's in-state back yard, despite the Bulldogs pushing heavily for them. Just last week five star linebacker Tyler Atkinson (from Georgia) committed to Texas.
Now, another five star (this time out of state) has chosen the Longhorns over the Bulldogs once again. However, there's still a chance Georgia lands the perfect replacement for him here soon.
Texas Longhorns beat out Georgia Bulldogs for another five star in RB Derrek Cooper
Five star running back Derrek Cooper has been furiously pursued by nearly every single blue blood college football program in the nation for the last two years now. The 6'2", 210-pound running back from Fort Lauderdale, FL is a wildly impressive athlete who made it to the state championships in track competing in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes and has dominated on both sides of the ball throughout much of his high school career.
Cooper would have been a perfect fit for Georgia, and could have brought back the old school feature back style of Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley to the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, Cooper chose to commit to the Texas Longhorns on Sunday, choosing them over both Georgia and Miami.
Georgia still has a path to win another five star RB anyway
The good news? Derrek Cooper isn't the only five star running back that Georgia has been pursuing this offseason. And now Georgia's sole focus can be on bringing in Savion Hiter–the consensus top overall running back recruit in the nation.
Hiter has narrowed his recruiting search down to Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Michigan. Some recruiting experts and sources A to Z Sports have contacted believe that Hiter may be leaning more towards Michigan and Tennessee (or at least was at some point this summer). However, now that it's clear Hiter is the lone focus for Georgia, Bulldogs fans should start paying attention to this recruiting battle more than any other remaining for the 2026 cyle.
Hiter has made it clear he's not in a rush to close out his recruitment, and likely won't commit until much later this fall. That means there is plenty of time for Georgia to flip this recruitment in their favor. Hopefully Kirby Smart and his staff go all in here since the Bulldogs rushing attack desperately needs a return to dominance following the 2024 season where they finished outside the top 40 in rushing success rate.
Georgia Bulldogs closing in on top overall recruiting class following latest four star commits for Kirby Smart
The Georgia Bulldogs have been on fire with their 2026 recruiting class. Kirby Smart and company already have 30 commits locked in for next year's freshman group with a handful of critical targets still to go. Now, thanks to a couple big commits this week (and a few potentially coming up) Georgia is closing in […]
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