Top QB Brock Vandagriff commits to Georgia: What it means, and what they’re saying

The biggest piece of Georgia’s 2021 recruiting puzzle fell into place Tuesday morning.

Brock Vandagriff, the top-ranked pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2021 according to the 247Sports Composite, announced his commitment to Georgia via Twitter. He is the third commit in the 2021 class, and the first five-star.

“I’m staying home. #GoDawgs #CommitToTheG,” he shared on social media.

The Bogart native and Prince Avenue Christian School student decommitted from Oklahoma on New Year’s Day, citing a desire to play collegiately closer to home.

“These last couple of months have brought to my attention how hard it is going to be for me to attend college so far away from home,” Vandagriff said in his decommittment tweet on Jan. 1.

The decommitment came after a junior season in which Vandagriff completed nearly 72 percent of his passes for 2,471 yards and 31 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He accumulated those numbers in eight games after a broken fibula caused him to miss four contests.

Now, he has the chance to play his college football less than 30 minutes away. He told Rusty Mansell of 247Sports that he and his family began discussing and praying about the decision to stay closer to home over Thanksgiving break.

“The Lord put it on my heart to stay closer to home and I feel like I have been blessed by him with a skill set I can be successful wherever I go if i put the work into somewhere,” Vandagriff told Mansell.

Vandagriff’s commitment adds a new dimension to the potential quarterback battle for 2021. Graduate transfer Jamie Newman seems to have the edge for the job in 2020, but he has only one year of eligibility left.

With Carson Beck and D’Wan Mathis presumably still in Athens for the 2021 season, the addition of Vandagriff sets up a possible three-way battle for starting duties. With three talented signal callers either enrolled or committed, the future of the quarterback position is bright in Athens.

His commitment has some historical context as well. According to a tweet from Rivals, “Brock Vandagriff would be the 3rd highest-rated signee #UGA has landed during the @Rivals era, trailing only Justin Fields (No. 2 in 2018) and Nolan Smith (No. 2 in 2019).”

Here’s some reaction about the commitment via Twitter on Tuesday:

This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 1:24 PM.