Jordan Jenkins commits to UGA over Alabama
Jordan Jenkins picks UGA over Alabama
Check back for more UGA recruiting news at 11 a.m.
If UGA is going to have anywhere near a top 10 recruiting class, they will need to land some big fish before Feb. 1’s national signing day.
They landed the biggest fish in Georgia on Monday night.
Defensive end Jordan Jenkins, who is ranked as the state’s No. 1 overall prospect by many, committed to UGA over Alabama. The 5-star prospect from Harris County High School also listed Florida and Auburn as his finalists.
“I’m picking Georgia and I’d like to say ‘Go Dawgs,’” Jenkins said on Fox Sports South as he lifted the UGA helmet.
“[It was] just that the depth chart wasn’t as deep, and my family … they didn’t exactly feel safe with me going to Alabama. And I love Alabama, I love them to death. My first few years ago, I thought I was going to end up at Alabama. I never would’ve thought I was going to Georgia. In my first interview with [Scout's Chad Simmons], I said ‘I didn’t like Georgia.’ He tried to save me. He said ‘Did you mean Georgia State or Georgia College?’ I was 14 years old. So [I said] ‘Oh, I meant Georgia College’ …
“Georgia is a better fit for me and my family together because I don’t want to go to some place where my mom is worried about me all the time. I just want to go to a place I can feel comfortable, and I can go to the coach and I can confide in him and stuff like that. And that’s why I chose [Georgia].”
It was a shocking turn of events for UGA with the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder. How much of a shock? Jenkins nearly cancelled his November official visit to UGA twice due to rampant speculation over Mark Richt’s future. Even after the recruiting trip to UGA, the Bulldogs weren’t thought to be a serious contender – with Jenkins listing Alabama or Florida as his leader since last summer.
Loading ...How did UGA pull off the recruiting shocker? Most of the credit goes to UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who developed a close relationship with Jenkins and his father. They were mesmerized with Grantham’s NFL background and “chalk talk” football conversations.
Jenkins gives UGA some much-needed momentum headed into the final three weeks of recruiting. He is commitment No. 16 for UGA’s 2012 recruiting class and – by far – the most highly-regarded defensive prospect.
“Jordan Jenkins has NFL talent written all over him,” said Rusty Mansell, National Recruiting Analyst for 247Sports. “He had to play a lot of different positions in high school, wherever they needed him. In college, he will be able to focus on rushing the passer. That’s his specialty, and people get paid a lot of money to do that in the NFL.”
UGA seems to be recovering after a slow start in recruiting this year. The Bulldogs will be hard-pressed to keep their 10-year streak intact of finishing in the top 10 of the Rivals.com team rankings each season (UGA was at No. 21 before Jenkins’ announcement).
The star of UGA’s class is RB Keith Marshall of Raleigh, N.C., who provided Richt with “a moment to grin” when he reported to Georgia on Sunday to enroll early in college. Two other UGA commits, junior college OL Mark Beard and QB Faton Bauta, will also begin classes this month.
What’s next for UGA? RB Todd Gurley of Tarboro, N.C., will decide between UGA, North Carolina, Clemson and NC State at 2 p.m. Friday.
Here’s video of UGA’s newest commit, DE Jordan Jenkins, an AJC Super 11 selection …
– By Michael Carvell, AJC Recruiting Blog
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377 comments Add your comment
RollTide14
January 10th, 2012
7:12 pm
Kid doesn’t want to play for National Championships?
ARdawg
January 10th, 2012
7:45 pm
Welcome to Bulldog Nation Jordan. You will make the difference.
Ripper
January 10th, 2012
8:29 pm
Good move by the kid. Now he can watch the next few BCS Championship games while he sits at home.
UGAAthens
January 10th, 2012
8:33 pm
Ripper, that was SOOOOOO cold-blooded….. but unfortunately, SO true….
StackedDeck
January 10th, 2012
10:12 pm
Welcome to Dawg Country…can you say ‘junkyard dawg? It is great to have Jordan on the Team!
UGA / 74′
To RollDog……CMR is our leader, and yes we will play in THE GAME in the near future….GO DAWGS!!!
easymoney
January 10th, 2012
11:21 pm
thats good for him and his family that they feel better he stays close to home, good luck jordan, and god bless! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!!!!!
GatorNation19
January 11th, 2012
8:43 am
No flame but what are UGA fans hearing about Falcons going after DC Todd Grantham? Rumor out of the coaching convention is they have been talking since Monday and what to meet before he get new UGA deal done. Top 2 targets for Falcons DC are Todd and Raheem Morris.
Whiskey Breath
January 11th, 2012
9:06 am
If recruits go to Ga instead of Alabama, they are only hurting themselves.
CMR will coach you down. Basically he just doesn’t put in the hours.
LSU 42 UGA 10..... ALABAMA 21 LSU 0
January 11th, 2012
9:18 am
Weeeeeeeeeeeee! UGA finally beat ALABAMA at something!
Dream Team Part II…
fred g.
January 11th, 2012
10:34 am
Just beat Auburn.RTR.
Recruit007
January 11th, 2012
10:58 am
Yeah BAMA got snubbed….that is why our assistant told him he couldn’t accept his commitment it was too late. Bama snubbed him…not the other way around. RTR Should have came when we had room…RTR!!!
Crystal Balls
January 11th, 2012
11:40 am
Dear Mr. Jenkins Bama has 5 first round draft picks this year….mama should be scared of Bama…
Mr. SEC
January 11th, 2012
12:40 pm
To bad all of these Ala. & Auburn commits are going to be sitting on the sideline line next year while UGA’s commits are going to be on the field! This year was a prime example, it is going to happen again, just watch!
Fact Finder
January 11th, 2012
12:45 pm
Hey: LSU 42 UGA 10….. ALABAMA 21 LSU 0 You can not even sign your name, by the way Bama beat us at something else also, KILLING TREES!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
MR. SEC
January 11th, 2012
1:16 pm
Man look at all those commits at Ala. 27 and counting; what happened to over signing? Are all of you 27 AND COUNTING going to get somr PT next year? Maybe you will get lucky and get you a gray shirt; but for the special recruits you get the beautiful RED shirt. Heck you could have both at UGA, a RED shirt (with a number on it) and you would get some PT.
Ya’ll are getting lied to big time! Let’s see how many of you start or even get some PT next year!
Remember, signing day is not here yet, not to late to make a better choice!
OBGYN
January 11th, 2012
1:19 pm
Hey, Crystal Balls, maybe you should had listened to your Mama and you would have some REAL BALLS and not FAKE see through ones!
LSU BCS Co-Champions
January 11th, 2012
5:39 pm
Poor white trash in allybammer. They have nothin at all in their lifes except for a championship they didn’t even deserve.
Brown Dog
January 11th, 2012
8:13 pm
Classy post, LSU. And it was really unfair us to miss enough kicks the first time around to make you think you were more than you are. Really thoughtless of us, in retrospect.
UGA may be close to offering state’s “hottest prospect” | AJC College Sports Recruiting
January 12th, 2012
4:13 am
[...] UGA’s Todd Grantham has signature recruiting moment [...]
Satellite Tv Installation Guide
January 12th, 2012
9:51 am
Hello! I love actively playing Farmerama, still just who doesnt?
Golden Dawgs Says: UGA "Bloggers" Stink .... and are probably not real UGA Fans
January 12th, 2012
10:30 am
Congrats and Welcome J. Jenkins – the latest 5-Star. We Need You – All.
Congrats to the 2011 Dawgs (SEC East Champs) – Very Good Year.
Please know that the many of the Bloggers can NOT be true UGA fans.
They applaud you decision to come to UGA, but degrade and belittle O. Charles (UGA’s Record Breaking Tight End) when he decides to do what he believes is best for HIM.
Bottom Line: UGA Fans needs to support these players while they are at Georgia (win or lose) AND when they decide to leave – just as much as you support them when they sign with UGA.
The comments on the Charles Article (http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2012/01/11/ugas-charles-says-hes-leaving-early-for-nfl/) are shameful and hopefully are NOT from UGA fans.
Go DAWGS – 2012 “NATIONAL CHAMPIONS”!!!
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January 12th, 2012
5:58 pm
[...] UGA’s Todd Grantham has signature recruiting moment [...]
tell me again
January 13th, 2012
9:23 am
A lot of talent comes off the redshirt bench this year ~ our defense was stellar except for maybe 2 halves this year ~ it will get better. Our skill players will be top notch – we’ll be fine there. Special teams – who knows. And play calling? Our biggest weakness is here. Here’s the thing ~ the competition level in the SEC week in and week out is absoultely fierce and the coaching talent is NFL quality in many cases. It’s a tough league to be the big dog in……but, like I have said before, if CMR, whom I greatly admire, will be objective and make the tough calls on his coaching staff, we will be in the thick of things. But until he makes a significent upgrade at offensive coordinator, well, that position alone will cost us about two games a year. Bobo does several things very well – being the OC is not one of them. If Bobo was that great people would be after him — nobody is going to offer Bobo $750,000 a year to coach against SEC defenses – ain’t happening.
Todd Gurley to pick UGA, Clemson or NC State | AJC College Sports Recruiting
January 14th, 2012
6:30 am
[...] UGA’s Todd Grantham has signature recruiting moment [...]
Preston Thompson
January 14th, 2012
9:12 am
1eyedjack…….never mind his spelling of offense. He’s just a king’s man that refuses to spell it the American English way. You’re still a commoner to him.
And did I read it right that Gurley had committed to UGA? I saw that on Rivals.
Will UGA flip the commitment of Vanderbilt DE commit Josh Dawson? | AJC College Sports Recruiting
January 15th, 2012
9:36 pm
[...] is Georgia’s “hottest recruiter” after swinging 5-star DE Jordan Jenkins from Alabama last week. Will Jenkins’ decision affect how Dawson feels about UGA? “No sir. I just feel like [...]
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January 16th, 2012
2:00 pm
[...] got off to an emphatic start when defensive end Jordan Jenkins committed to the Bulldogs, and it ended with another big commitment. [...]