HurricaneVision
Staff Writer
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- Nov 16, 2012
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Now that we have the majority of the coaches named and we know basically the offensive and defensive systems we will run I wanted to take a look at Richt’s recruiting during his time with Georgia. I’ll be going through his recruiting position-by-position until I get through all 293 recruits from 2002 to 2014. I chose 2002 to start for a couple of reasons:
- It’s easier because most of the sites start at 2002
- It’s difficult to evaluate him on the 2001 recruiting class due to limited time to put a class together
I’ve covered the QB's, RB's, WR's and TE's. Now I'll move on to OT's.
Richt recruited 27 OT's and they averaged 6-5, 287 lbs. and averaged 3.30 stars. Five players did not make it to campus (Antonio Mercier, Tom Gainous, James Lee, John Miller, DeVondre Seymour).
Here are the OT's recruited:
Dan Inman- 6-7, 300 and 4.00 average stars. From NC, made 48 career starts and was All-SEC.
Trey Chandler- 6-6, 255 and 3.50 average stars. From GA and made 11 career starts. Injuries ended his career.
Ken Shackleford- 6-5, 300 and 3.00 average stars. From GA and made 13 career starts. Was a 6th round draft pick after entering draft early.
Chester Adams- 6-6, 325 and 3.00 average stars. From AL and made 0 career starts.
Josh Davis- 6-6, 295 and 2.67 average stars. From MS and made 21 career starts. Had injuries, but started every game after soph. season.
Justin Anderson- 6-5, 320 and 4.00 average stars. From VA and made 29 career starts. Drafted in 7th round.
Clint Boling- 6-5, 270 and 2.67 average stars. From GA and made 49 career starts. All-American was drafted and now excellent pro G.
Trinton Sturdivant- 6-5, 280 and 4.00 average stars. From NC and made 21 career starts. Started as true freshman, but injuries robbed him of NFL career.
Cordy Glenn- 6-6, 315 and 3.33 average stars. From GA and made 50 career starts. Was All-SEC and drafted in 2nd round. Massive man still plays LT.
AJ Harmon- 6-4, 308 and 4.00 average stars. From GA and made one career start. Left program.
Austin Long- 6-5, 270 and 4.00 average stars. From TN and made 0 career starts.
Kenarious Gates- 6-5, 301 and 2.67 average stars. From GA and made 49 career starts.
Kolton Houston- 6-5, 265 and 3.67 average stars. From GA and made 43 career starts. Beat out 5-star player John Theus to keep RT job. Injuries prevented all-SEC career.
Xzavier Ward- 6-6, 260 and 3.33 average stars. From GA and made 0 career starts.
Zach DeBell- 6-7, 265 and 3.00 average stars. From FL and made 0 career starts.
Mark Beard- 6-3, 290 and 3.00 average stars. Junior College player made 2 career starts.
John Theus- 6-6, 295 and 4.67 average stars. From FL and made 47 career starts. All-SEC and future pro.
Aulden Bynum- 6-5, 260 and 3.00 average stars. From GA and made 1 career starts.
Vince Vance- 6-7, 300 and 300 average stars. Junior College player made 6 career starts.
What does this tell us?
Richt obviously likes height in his tackles, with 12 of the tackles standing 6-6 or taller and only two tackles listed under 6-5 recruited by Richt. Richt also likes to take undersized tall OL and develop them while adding good weight. 10 of his Tackle recruits weighed under 280 while recruited. Richt also liked to add size at the RT position, with 9 players listed over 300 lbs. as freshmen.
Can Richt identify talent at OL?
The 3.30 average stars for the T's that Richt brought in was one of the lowest for any position group, but he fared pretty well in developing the talent. Clint Boling went from 2.67 stars to NFL draft pick. Sturdivant was a decently recruited player who started as a true freshman and had All-American talent prior to his injuries. Josh Davis went from 2.67 stars to starting every game after soph. year. Ken Shackleford was a consensus three star and was eventually drafted. Kenarious Gates went from 2.67 stars to 49 career starts.
Is Richt an elite recruiter at OL?
Richt brought in only one 5-star recruit- John Theus- who has turned out to be an All-American talent and already all-conference. Richt made the shrewd move to bring in his brother as a long snapper the year prior- the only P5 school to recruit him- and that secured John Theus the next year. Shrewd move, but also shows the difficulties in recruiting highly rated OL. Only 7 T's average 4.00 stars and one of those never played in a game (Brent Benedict). Austin Long and AJ Harmon are two other four stars and they combined for one career start.
Is this a negative position?
This is a position group that shows Richt prefers athleticism rather than pure size. He prefers to bring in guys with length and the frame to add weight while already possessing the feet to play the position. With his track record of actually developing lower rated players into starters and quality prospects you have to feel as though this is a position that Richt has an eye for the talent and recruits on his terms rather than worrying about stars.
For the current crop of players, St. Louis fits best what he traditionally seeks at LT. Odowu fits that huge, mauler type at RT. Depth needs to be developed there, but I feel like Richt has shown he and his staff can do that.
- It’s easier because most of the sites start at 2002
- It’s difficult to evaluate him on the 2001 recruiting class due to limited time to put a class together
I’ve covered the QB's, RB's, WR's and TE's. Now I'll move on to OT's.
Richt recruited 27 OT's and they averaged 6-5, 287 lbs. and averaged 3.30 stars. Five players did not make it to campus (Antonio Mercier, Tom Gainous, James Lee, John Miller, DeVondre Seymour).
Here are the OT's recruited:
Dan Inman- 6-7, 300 and 4.00 average stars. From NC, made 48 career starts and was All-SEC.
Trey Chandler- 6-6, 255 and 3.50 average stars. From GA and made 11 career starts. Injuries ended his career.
Ken Shackleford- 6-5, 300 and 3.00 average stars. From GA and made 13 career starts. Was a 6th round draft pick after entering draft early.
Chester Adams- 6-6, 325 and 3.00 average stars. From AL and made 0 career starts.
Josh Davis- 6-6, 295 and 2.67 average stars. From MS and made 21 career starts. Had injuries, but started every game after soph. season.
Justin Anderson- 6-5, 320 and 4.00 average stars. From VA and made 29 career starts. Drafted in 7th round.
Clint Boling- 6-5, 270 and 2.67 average stars. From GA and made 49 career starts. All-American was drafted and now excellent pro G.
Trinton Sturdivant- 6-5, 280 and 4.00 average stars. From NC and made 21 career starts. Started as true freshman, but injuries robbed him of NFL career.
Cordy Glenn- 6-6, 315 and 3.33 average stars. From GA and made 50 career starts. Was All-SEC and drafted in 2nd round. Massive man still plays LT.
AJ Harmon- 6-4, 308 and 4.00 average stars. From GA and made one career start. Left program.
Austin Long- 6-5, 270 and 4.00 average stars. From TN and made 0 career starts.
Kenarious Gates- 6-5, 301 and 2.67 average stars. From GA and made 49 career starts.
Kolton Houston- 6-5, 265 and 3.67 average stars. From GA and made 43 career starts. Beat out 5-star player John Theus to keep RT job. Injuries prevented all-SEC career.
Xzavier Ward- 6-6, 260 and 3.33 average stars. From GA and made 0 career starts.
Zach DeBell- 6-7, 265 and 3.00 average stars. From FL and made 0 career starts.
Mark Beard- 6-3, 290 and 3.00 average stars. Junior College player made 2 career starts.
John Theus- 6-6, 295 and 4.67 average stars. From FL and made 47 career starts. All-SEC and future pro.
Aulden Bynum- 6-5, 260 and 3.00 average stars. From GA and made 1 career starts.
Vince Vance- 6-7, 300 and 300 average stars. Junior College player made 6 career starts.
What does this tell us?
Richt obviously likes height in his tackles, with 12 of the tackles standing 6-6 or taller and only two tackles listed under 6-5 recruited by Richt. Richt also likes to take undersized tall OL and develop them while adding good weight. 10 of his Tackle recruits weighed under 280 while recruited. Richt also liked to add size at the RT position, with 9 players listed over 300 lbs. as freshmen.
Can Richt identify talent at OL?
The 3.30 average stars for the T's that Richt brought in was one of the lowest for any position group, but he fared pretty well in developing the talent. Clint Boling went from 2.67 stars to NFL draft pick. Sturdivant was a decently recruited player who started as a true freshman and had All-American talent prior to his injuries. Josh Davis went from 2.67 stars to starting every game after soph. year. Ken Shackleford was a consensus three star and was eventually drafted. Kenarious Gates went from 2.67 stars to 49 career starts.
Is Richt an elite recruiter at OL?
Richt brought in only one 5-star recruit- John Theus- who has turned out to be an All-American talent and already all-conference. Richt made the shrewd move to bring in his brother as a long snapper the year prior- the only P5 school to recruit him- and that secured John Theus the next year. Shrewd move, but also shows the difficulties in recruiting highly rated OL. Only 7 T's average 4.00 stars and one of those never played in a game (Brent Benedict). Austin Long and AJ Harmon are two other four stars and they combined for one career start.
Is this a negative position?
This is a position group that shows Richt prefers athleticism rather than pure size. He prefers to bring in guys with length and the frame to add weight while already possessing the feet to play the position. With his track record of actually developing lower rated players into starters and quality prospects you have to feel as though this is a position that Richt has an eye for the talent and recruits on his terms rather than worrying about stars.
For the current crop of players, St. Louis fits best what he traditionally seeks at LT. Odowu fits that huge, mauler type at RT. Depth needs to be developed there, but I feel like Richt has shown he and his staff can do that.
