The Skinny on UGA's class of 2010

Ok, so UGA limped to the recruiting finish line this year. The most disappointing part of the day (which most of us knew was coming) happened at 9:45am when the top player in the state Da'Rick Rogers confirmed reports and sent his LOI to the University of Tennessee. I really think Rogers will make an immediate impact at the collegiate level and this one hurts. Physically, the guy could step on the field on Sunday's at age 18. Mentally, I'm not so sure. The last I heard he still hadn't achieved a qualifying SAT score. I'm sure Tennessee will find a way to get him enrolled, but if they don't, this one may not be over guys. The whole thing smells fishy and if it were Lane Kiffin instead of Derrick Dooley, I'd be convinced that something was up. Basically Tennessee offered Rogers' best friend and QB Nash Nance a scholarship two weeks ago hoping Rogers would follow him. Nance's dad if extremely close to Rogers and a father figure type. In my opinion, he used Rogers to improve the level of school his son would get an offer too. Nance will never touch the field at Tennessee. Anyway, enough about DR. We had two other long time commitments de-commit this past week as well. Deon Rogers and Nickell Robey both backed out of their commitments and are headed to Louisville and USC respectively. Rogers is a 3* LB and Robey is a 4* CB. These guys were never "solid" commits though and we anticipated them changing when Willie was fired. On to the good news, Alec Ogletree, Garrison Smith, TJ Stripling, Brent Benedict among others are now Dawgs. We didn't just try and fill up the class with second tier guys once players started backing out. This opens us up for a full class next year, which we haven't had in several years. One of my favorite dawgs already is Kenarious Gates. He was only offered on Monday night and he immediately switched his commitment from Kentucky to his "dream school". He is a 6-5" 300lb offensive lineman with good feet and good smarts. The story I read about him talked a lot about how he loves UGA and is grateful to have a chance to play for his home state Bulldawgs. I love this kind of kid. We had two surprises go our way today in Michael Thornton, a 4* DT that will probably play the nose position in the 3-4 and an unranked 6-6 WR named Lonnie Outlaw. This guy is a "sign and place" kid that will play for GMC and get his grades in order. The good thing about him is that he is Nick Marshall's (2011 QB already offered) cousin and they are very close. That's a quick recap of UGA's signing day coverage. Go Dawgs!!!