Analyzing The 2007 UGA Recruiting Class: Receiver And Tight End

It appears UGA has completed a solid 23-player recruiting class set to sign their letters of intent on Wednesday.

The AOL college team Sites will no longer be updated starting on signing day, so we will go ahead and analyze this class in a six-part series over the next two days. Georgia fans, though, should be pleased with this group, which met all of the Bulldogs' major needs and filled out the future depth chart farily well.

Please remember that recruiting is about filling needs and blending talent at specific positions with previous classes. Georgia did very well in that respect, particularly since by far the most pressing need was adding immediate and long-term contributors on the offensive line. Overall, I would give this class a grade of A-/B+.

Missing out on several top instate prospects was slightly disappointing, but please remember this class is still ranked No. 8 nationally by Rivals.com. If that holds, this will mark Mark Richt's sixth consecutive recruiting haul ranked in the national top 10 by Rivals.com.

• Receiver

Need: The Bulldogs were hoping to sign 2-3 receivers, including a dynamic, speedy playmaker. It was assumed by many fans that the presence of Matt Stafford and the golden opportunity for early playing time would help lure in marquee national recruits at receiver.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs' annual horrendous play at this position and poor recent history of developing NFL receivers (a position group low of 1 who went on to play in the NFL during Mark Richt's tenure) may have deterred away perspective recruits. Georgia has an outstanding coaching staff, but this is one area that needs an upgrade.

Committed: Walter Hill (6-5, 200), Israel Troupe (6-0, 200)

Analysis: Troupe is a solid prospect, who is rated among the top 30 overall players in America by ESPN.com, although he is not a consensus top-10 national receiver by other lists.

He could be a solid physical, possession receiver with some big-play capability, but he is also a major threat to forgo college football to sign a lucrative contract to exclusively play pro baseball. This positional grade goes up a full letter if Troupe stays at Georgia for his career, but drops a full-letter grade if he never enrolls.

Hill was committed to play only basketball at UGA, but switched to football, believing he has a better shot at a professional career. He is an intriguing prospect, but is very raw in football and will likely not contribute until at least 2009 at the earliest.

Georgia recruited Aron White as a receiver and he will likely begin his career outside. However, the Georgia coaches will likely acquiesce to his wishes and move him to tight end eventually, although he will be more of a hybrid like Randy McMichael. Therefore, I am counting him as a tight end for this analysis.

Grade: C+

• Tight End

Need: Georgia now rivals Miami as the top NFL factory for tight ends. The Canes get more attention due to the embarrassing and pedantic acts of Kellen Winslow, Jr. and Jeremy Shockey. But the Bulldogs had a national-high four alumni starting at tight end for NFL teams last fall.

With Martrez Milner heading to the NFL next year, the Bulldogs wanted to add a national recruit at this position in this class.

Committed: Bruce Figgins (6-4, 238), Aron White (6-4, 213)

Analysis: Last year Georgia signed the Rivals.com No. 2 tight end in the country in NaDerris Ward. But this year Georgia landed Rivals' No. 1 prep tight end in White. He may end up the best receiving tight end ever at Georgia, which has regularly churned out NFL players at the position since the early 1980s.

Ironically, though, White may not be the best tight end prospect in this Georgia recruiting class, which is one reason why the Bulldog coaches would prefer having White begin his career at receiver. The underrated Figgins is a tremendous in-line blocker with solid hands.

Grade: A+