Vandagriff is latest UGA 5-star QB signee. Why Smart says he’s a fit for Bulldogs
Georgia’s latest quarterback of the future has signed on the dotted line.
Five-star signal caller Brock Vandagriff signed with the Bulldogs on Wednesday in a ceremony at Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart, just minutes from Georgia’s campus. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback is one of three five-stars in Georgia’s 2021 class, joining offensive lineman Amarius Mims and outside linebacker Smael Mondon.
“He’s a really good athlete,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart told reporters Wednesday. “He’s tough, he’s a competitor. He grew up playing the game, not afraid to take a hit, deliver a blow. One of the first stories I heard about him when I got here was how he covered kickoffs, maybe in the eighth or ninth grade, and wasn’t afraid to hit people. When you look at a quarterback nowadays, that’s one of the things you’ve got to say.”
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Vandagriff is the sixth five-star quarterback all-time to sign with Georgia. Some have worked out, others have not.
At the top of the list is Aaron Murray, who left Athens as the school’s all-time leader in attempts, completions, completion percentage, passing yards and touchdown passes.
Several years before Murray came Matthew Stafford, who won 21 games and a Sugar Bowl in his final two seasons as a starter. His play at Georgia led to him being chosen first overall in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
D.J. Shockley in 2001 was the first five-star quarterback to sign with the Bulldogs. Unlike many top-ranked recruits today, he operated in a part-time role from 2002-04 before leading Georgia to an SEC title in his one season as the starter in 2005.
Those are the success stories. The two most recent five-star quarterbacks, however, haven’t worked out quite as well.
First came Jacob Eason in the Class of 2016. He had one up-and-down season starting as a freshman before losing his job to Jake Fromm due to injury in 2017 and eventually transferring to Washington.
The Class of 2018 produced Justin Fields, rated by 247Sports as the highest-rated prospect Georgia has ever signed. Needless to say, that marriage didn’t work and Fields is now putting up video game numbers at Ohio State and projected as a high 2021 NFL Draft pick.
Smart knows the criticism that’s come with how quarterbacks have been managed under his tenure in Athens. However, he also realizes the program is still a premier destination for the top signal caller prospects in the nation.
“They want the opportunity to win championships,” Smart said. “If you’re putting yourself in the conversation to win championships is always going to put you at the forefront of every quarterback in the country’s list. When they start talking about, ‘Where I want to go, I want to go win a championship.’ At least that’s what the best quarterbacks want to do.”
Vandagriff has embraced that mindset. That, along with the ability to play in front of his family, played a major role in his decision to sign with Georgia.
One of the aspects of Vandagriff that separated him from the other prospects in the class is his athleticism. He has the ability to run and make plays with his feet, something Georgia has lacked at the quarterback position in recent years.
The game has changed on both sides of the ball. Pass rushers are more athletic and explosive, and so are the quarterbacks they’re chasing. That, along with the mental side of the game, is why Smart feels Vandagriff is a great fit for the program.
“When you look at the success Kyler Murray’s had or guys had in the NFL, you right away say athleticism is the overriding factor,” Smart said. “You want to have someone that can do those things, but they’ve got to have the ability to process all the information, to put you in the right situation to make plays, to change plays, to do a lot of things. We think he’s a good athlete. He’s shown that over his career.”