Kirby Beats Out Saban for 5-Star Recruit Clay Webb

This might be the most impressive pull of the Kirby Smart era in recruiting at UGA. 

On Monday, 5-star Oxford (AL) OL Clay Webb picked the Bulldogs over the home-state Crimson Tide. He is considered the top overall prospect in Alabama this recruiting cycle. 

There’s a lot to discuss here, but the basics are as follows: Kirby Smart and Sam Pittman went into Alabama and got the best player in the state.

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Here’s the context: 

Since Nick Saban took over as head coach at Alabama, the Crimson Tide have signed 16 of 20 5-star recruits from Alabama. Only two of those players have signed to play out of state. 

Georgia signed five Top 100 offensive lineman in the ten years before 2016. In the three years since the arrival of Sam Pittman and Kirby Smart to the recruiting scene in Athens, UGA has signed seven. The addition of Webb would make eight. 

Georgia just signed its first No. 1 overall recruiting class in school history in 2018. Alabama signed the previous seven No. 1 classes. Webb going to Georgia means the Bulldogs most certainly still have the ability to win the No. 1 spot for the Class of 2019. 

Question: 

What happens if UGA signs back-to-back No. 1 classes? If Alabama is fully loaded right now (and grabbing seven No. 1 classes is a row indicates that for sure) what will it be like when Georgia is fully loaded, so to speak, as well? 

All of these pieces to the puzzle, and Webb picking UGA over Alabama was a huge piece, add up to what you will see on the field in the coming years. And what you will see in the coming years is more balance in talent and depth between the Tide and Dawgs, and that will matter in the fourth quarters of games then as it did in 2012, 2017 and 2018.