This is Kirby Smart’s best recruiting effort at Georgia

A tight-lipped Nakobe Dean stood behind a podium to commit to any upper-echelon program nationwide, and no one knew where he’d end up.

I had an idea.

Take a look at what Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has done best throughout his four recruiting classes in Athens: close.

He did so time-and-time again last season: Brenton Cox, Channing Tindall, Tyson Campbell and others were last-minute adds. So, it’s now a pattern.

Those who predicted the same were right, and Dean sported a red long-sleeve shirt with a large Georgia logo. Another announcement, another No. 1 overall prospect added to the Bulldogs’ class all the way from Mississippi — two of Georgia’s commits have come from the Magnolia State.

Dean was the announcement of early signing day that brought the most fireworks and the biggest social media reaction from Georgia fans. But otherwise, it was quiet on most fronts as committed players signed their national letter-of-intent in a mad rush that started at 7:20 a.m.

“(Smart) can go into homes and pull anyone he wants, across the nation,” former Grayson assistant and recruiting camp coordinator Kenyatta Watson Sr. said.

Smart did just that as Georgia has commitments from 10 different states, and the top-rated player in Alabama, Florida, Georgia (JUCO), Kansas (JUCO) and Rhode Island. Bill Norton was No. 2 out of Tennessee.

That’s what makes this Smart’s best class yet. There are less five-star prospects than the top-ranked class in 2018 (two less, as a matter of fact, and more are on the radar in February), and Alabama looks to claim its spot at No. 1 again after the Bulldogs briefly stole it away.

If you’re a rankings fanatic then okay, it’s disappointing. But Smart has repeatedly stated that recruiting rankings don’t matter (although he uses them as recruiting tools at times), and at least for this year, that describes the Bulldogs’ success on the recruiting trail.

Instead, it was because Georgia knew what it had and got what it wanted.

And, trust me, the ratings on the Bulldogs’ recruiting sheet still rank among the best. There are plenty of No. 1s.

Here’s a brief breakdown of where things stand:

• Nolan Smith, the No. 1 overall prospect leads a group of defensive signees. 247Sports.com lists Smith as a weak-side defensive end, which gives Georgia the No. 1 defensive end nationally and the No. 1 inside linebacker.

• Away from the high school rankings, Georgia has the best outside linebacker out of JUCO, Jermaine Johnson. He is already on campus participating in practice.

• Georgia missed out on Evan Neal, a five-star out of IMG Academy, but signed five-star Clay Webb. He made it to campus before the shenanigans began.

• There’s a little bit of drop-off at defensive tackle. Wait for it -- Travon Walker is only No. 2 at his position. Please don’t get frustrated with that.

• Dominick Blaylock, who politely told schools to please stop recruiting him, is the nation’s No. 2 receiver. Georgia could also add No. 1 Jadon Haselwood during his Jan. 5 announcement.

• Georgia fans were upset about not landing Trey Sanders, a five-star who committed to Alabama. Uh, Dell McGee probably said ‘excuse me’ to the frustrations. Remember Zamir White? He was a former No. 1 recruit, and is expected to return next season.

• Worry at quarterback? No longer. Smart pulled former Ohio State commit Dwan Mathis, a four-star recruit.

So, describe this class.

“LIT,” Smith said in a Twitter direct message. “In all caps.”

After a hectic official visit period, Georgia’s biggest win came when Walker and Smith — two of the premier prospects of the 2019 class -- shut down their recruitment on that following Monday. At that moment, two of the Bulldogs’ longest-standing commitments who had looked elsewhere weren’t going to budge.

Neither were the rest of them.

“It was huge,” said four-star tight end signee Ryland Goede, who was the second future Bulldog to send in his paperwork on the day. “It makes the other recruits feel like this is a good and trustworthy option.”

So, to the recruiting panickers, take a breath. Not everything has gone right for Georgia in recent weeks. Transfer possibilities, a championship loss, coordinator turnover and everything else has people concerned.

This day, however, was a win. Smart’s best work is complete, and mainly because there wasn’t too much to happen on signing day.

“This is very special,” Walker said. “There were people who didn’t think it would turn out as well, but it did. Now, we play ball and quit trying to please the outsiders.”

Contact Brandon Sudge at bsudge@gmail.com or 404-374-6964.

This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 4:26 PM.