Commit! NT ‘John John’ Atkins is No. 13 for UGA recruiting class
Thomson DT John John Atkins picks UGA (Photo courtesy of Jim Wallace)
UGA didn’t have to go far to find its nose tackle of the future.
Loading ...John John Atkins committed to the Bulldogs on Friday morning. The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder from Thomson High School picked UGA over Georgia Tech, Auburn, Florida and Clemson. Thomson is located around 60 miles from Athens.
John John is recruit No. 13 for UGA’s 2012 college football recruiting class. He is the third defensive tackle to pledge to the Bulldogs, along with Jenkins County’s Jonathan Taylor and Georgia Military Junior College’s Jalen Fields.
“I don’t think John John has come close to realizing how good he can be,” said John Barnett, who retired as Thomson’s longtime defensive coordinator last season. “He has impressed college scouts with how quick he is for his size. Besides football, he plays basketball, soccer, and track. He has been a very versatile player during his four years at Thomson. He’s played TE, DE, OT, and noseguard. He has matured greatly and his upside is huge.”
- WOWZA: M.L. King wide receiver Blake Tibbs, who was recently offered by UGA coach Mark Richt, was the star of Thursday’s 33-23 win over South Gwinnett. Tibbs caught three touchdown passes and scored another touchdown on a electrifying 71-yard run. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder showcased his speed on the long run, sprinting by two defenders that had pursuit angles to the end zone. Will Blake commit to UGA? (click on story link)
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TOP 10 FOOTBALL RECRUITING STORIES
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M.L. King WR Blake Tibbs scored 4 TDs on Thursday. Tibbs was offered by UGA coach Mark Richt last week (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)
- DE Kenderius Whitehead names UGA as leader over Ohio State, Tennessee and UNC (click on story link)
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- What if a Georgia HS led nation in D1 football recruits and none of them signed with UGA or Georgia Tech (click on story link)
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104 comments Add your comment
first name
September 2nd, 2011
8:30 am
first
1eyedJack
September 2nd, 2011
8:33 am
I don’t think they’ll all play defensive tackle. Jalen will probably play end and somebody may end up on the offensive line.
Bulldawg Blawger
September 2nd, 2011
8:34 am
The Dawgs now have two of the best d line prospects in Atkins and Johnathon Taylor. Go Dawgs!!! BTW Congrats to G Tech on their crushing defeat over the Catamounts and over 600 yards in offense.
CMR
September 2nd, 2011
8:35 am
I’m Mark Richt and I want everyone to know I thought NFL #1 and Heisman Trophy winning QB Cam Newton would’ve been a great TIGHT END at Georgia. BAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!
GooseDawg
September 2nd, 2011
8:39 am
Yeah-Yeah! Big John #2 is still growing too. Nice pickup Dawgs, now let’s go make sure the smurfs march back to Idaho with plenty of black to go along with their blue!
Oh, & congrats to all of the Yellow Jackets fans who enjoyed watching Tech handled their business last night!
SIC EM JOHN JOHN!
JDawg1785
September 2nd, 2011
8:42 am
Welcome and congrats to you, John John! GATA!
Proud-Dawg
September 2nd, 2011
8:44 am
Nice pick-up by Richt and company. I believe Atkins could make the biggest impact on the O-Line, but wherever he plays, GATA
GT Bob
September 2nd, 2011
8:45 am
NEWS ALERT: UGA RECRUIT ARRESTED FOR BUSTING UP MAILBOXES
CNS
September 2nd, 2011
8:47 am
I’m Nick Saban and I didn’t even bother to recruit Cam Newton hard out of Junior College because I thought he was a lock to UGA.
(or so claimed Tide Roll for Bama’s failure to successfully recruit the QB who could have made Bama NCs.)
South GA Dawg
September 2nd, 2011
8:48 am
Damn good job Tech. Hope all of your games go that good for you. Except the UGA game. Hope to play Tech for the NC. I love to see all GA teams do good.
Great job. Really looked good.
BG
September 2nd, 2011
8:52 am
Great News!! GO DAWGS!!!!!
GO DAWGS
September 2nd, 2011
8:55 am
You got it wrong. The other John( Jonathon Taylor) is our next NT. Atkins is playin DE in college
Bob Loblaw
September 2nd, 2011
8:55 am
These Thomson kids can play some football. Great pickup. Time to start recruiting for the rest of your class, John John. GATA!
Go Dawgs!
CNS
September 2nd, 2011
8:55 am
I’M NICK SABAN & I DIDN’T RECRUIT SCAM DUE TO CHARACTER ISSUES!!!! MARK IT DOWN WE WILL WIN ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP WITH OR WITHOUT HIM!!!
GeoffDawg
September 2nd, 2011
8:59 am
Thinking the same thing – unless he can put on another 50 lbs and with that natural athletic ability I see him projecting to DE over NG.
Eaassyy
September 2nd, 2011
9:04 am
I watched the ML K game last night on TV. Tibbs has tremendous speed. He appears to get to full stride and speed instantly. Could be a solid player. Their QB aint bad either. Mike, is Tech or any other big names looking at him? could fit in well with their offense.
Michael Carvell
September 2nd, 2011
9:08 am
@GO DAWGS, you may be right but John Atkins said he was told he will play NT at UGA.
@Eaassy, M.L. King QB Jonquel Dawson is 5-9 but is an incredible talent. No D1 offers yet.
bwkdawg
September 2nd, 2011
9:08 am
Atkins will play NT he’s already just shy of 300lbs now when he gets in our S&C program he will certantly put on more weight yes we have johnathan taylor but you need more than one NT.
RambleOn84
September 2nd, 2011
9:09 am
I think he would have had a better shot at immediate playing time at Tech, but he wants to be at UGA. Oh well…congrats UGA and good luck Saturday!
how2fish
September 2nd, 2011
9:10 am
Congrats Mr.Atkins welcome to the Bull Dog Nation, best of luck in the classroom and on the field!
RRTDawgs
September 2nd, 2011
9:10 am
What a way to kick off the weekend TGIF big John Atkins and John Taylor wow we still could add Jordan Watkins to Go Dawgs !
how2fish
September 2nd, 2011
9:11 am
@RambleOn84 classy comment Sir. And congrats on your win last night impressive it was !
JB
September 2nd, 2011
9:12 am
Rambleon84………I’m a Dawg and I think you and I both know you can spend more time on football in Athens if you get my drift. Welcome John John.
JB
September 2nd, 2011
9:15 am
Western Carolina is 10-46 since 2006 and 0-27 vs the ACC. Paul after last night does still not know what he has or hasn’t got. Giving up 21 points in one quarter should set off alarm bells.
RambleOn84
September 2nd, 2011
9:16 am
Thanks…we still have a lot to improve upon but last night was impressive in many ways. Hopefully we’ll both be ranked when we meet in November
JB
September 2nd, 2011
9:17 am
That’s hard to believe Nick since you offer everyone that puts on a jock and moisture on a mirror.
RRTDawgs
September 2nd, 2011
9:18 am
I hope we can add Tibbs and Whitehead two very productive players from what people are saying .
RambleOn84
September 2nd, 2011
9:18 am
Agree to a point, JB. I was at our first game last year against a weak opponent, and the intensity was much greater last night. That is a bright spot. The 2nd quarter, however, was incredibly sloppy.
RambleOn84
September 2nd, 2011
9:20 am
We made some mental mistakes, but no one was just going through the motions…that’s a big improvement from last year
D Bag Trolls!
September 2nd, 2011
9:23 am
Grantham ROCKS! Welcome JA to UGA.
JB
September 2nd, 2011
9:23 am
Ramble, i would feel better if we could open up with someone like them. We have NO IDEA what’s going to happen Saturday night. If a Dawg fan say’s he does know, he’s lying. Us, like you, feel like we have made strides since last year and have some new faces, but that Dawg team last year had lot’s of Demons.
RedandBlackDAWG
September 2nd, 2011
9:26 am
And this young man is still going to probably put on 30 pounds by the time he sets foot on the field for UGA. Now, lets go after some big Ol’s as well. The game is won or lost starting at the line positions and with a few more quality recruits at OL for UGA, the potentail exist for UGA to rise to the top again. I like that UGA seems sold on the 3-4 and is getting the athletes to insure it will be a successful defense.
Congratulations to the young man.
GO DAWGS and GATA
RRTDawgs
September 2nd, 2011
9:26 am
Who says UGA can’t get instate players i know it has been hard to keep all them in Georgia but we get a few every now and then .
JB
September 2nd, 2011
9:26 am
Two nightmares keep popping up in my head about big profile games. The Bama blackout game and the bowl game against West Virginia. Hopefully, this team is better focused and prepared.
dekalbfootball1
September 2nd, 2011
9:26 am
Congrats! MLK fb team on their win. Darnger Will Rodger! MLK still have a few players were hurt and did not play! 33 points maybe the lowest score this year!!!!
RevThomas
September 2nd, 2011
9:32 am
Go Dawgs – God is Good!!! http://www.wedgeorgia.com
Walmartdawg
September 2nd, 2011
9:34 am
Hope he gets in.
RRTDawgs
September 2nd, 2011
9:35 am
Have to give credit to some of the Tech fans on here classy commits guys .
PoDawg
September 2nd, 2011
9:37 am
Anybody have any updates on the Dream Team’s Cootie Harrow? Is he going to start?
Blake
September 2nd, 2011
9:48 am
Congrats mini big john. This recruiting class is coming about and shaping up to be really solid. what i like most about it is the fact that as of right now over half that have commited will play in the trenches and that 11 of the 13 are from Georgia. Lets build a wall around this state and keep guys like Berry, Newtown, Norwood, and Heyward in state.
carlton
September 2nd, 2011
9:49 am
Maybe Bozo can use him on third and long as a RB.
Eat and Tweet
September 2nd, 2011
9:50 am
Hope this kid wont be out of shape like Jenkins.
VA DAWG
September 2nd, 2011
9:53 am
Welcome to DAWG NATION “John John!” Look forward to seeing you play between the hedges. Good luck finishing up your senior year (on and off the field) and we’ll see you in Athens next year. GO DAWGS!
Jacket Man
September 2nd, 2011
9:55 am
Great kid and great pick up for UGA. Glad John stayed in State. Congrats to both. Now we all need to win some games this season. JM
dauggie dawg
September 2nd, 2011
9:56 am
John John is over 300 around 310.He is a Hoss and really plugs up the middle.He is like a brick wall on NT.Super guy with tons of ability,very agile and played Goalie on the soccer team.He is a diamond in the ruff.Great pickup for Dogs.
tide roll
September 2nd, 2011
10:00 am
This is a nice pick up for the Dawgs. Would someone tell the “Chewtobacco Brothers” (Bobo and Friend) that they have a precedent in Guy McIntyre, who came to Uga as a tight end (from Bobo’s hometown of Thomasville). Very similar to Atkins (who also plays tight end for Thomson). When McIntyre arrived at Uga he was moved to offensive guard and went on to star at Uga and later for Super Bowl champion 49er(s). Great athlete and was a beast on the OL. Atkins would also bring a defensive mentality to the position (i.e.agressiveness), that Georgia seems to always lack (this year may be an exception). However, I know the “Chewtobacco Brothers” and you Dawg fans. Your hearts are set on the Theus’ brothers lining up side by side with the Long boys out of Briarcrest Christian. That’s why you lose year after year, Starting a stud like Atkins over these guys is to quote Richt: “NOT THE GEORGIA WAY.” Pitiful, just pitiful.
TECHFAN
September 2nd, 2011
10:04 am
I do not see Atkins beating out Johnathon Taylor for the NT spot. It will be interesting to see where he plays on the field…
BigTimeTechFan
September 2nd, 2011
10:04 am
Congrats “John John”, very nice get for UGA, was really hopeing he would pick Tech.
Wow UGA gets John Atkins and John Taylor, loaded
Tech has Roderick Chungong and Pat Gample, very nice
Moobs Johnson
September 2nd, 2011
10:06 am
We didn’t want him anyway. He would have never made the academic cut at Tech.
I wear short jorts
September 2nd, 2011
10:08 am
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