By: Drayton Hogarth

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

In college football, recruiting is the lifeblood of every program since schools must replace their entire roster no more than every five years.

Fortunately, football programs located within the state of Georgia typically do not need to travel too far in order to find players.

The state of Georgia is a top-five producer of football talent in the country. Let’s take a look at the current recruiting classes for the two power five football programs in the state of Georgia, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

The flagship university and football program in the state of Georgia is located in Athens.

The Bulldogs are now under the leadership of new head coach, Kirby Smart. The former Georgia player has hit the ground running when it comes to recruiting.

Already, Georgia currently sits with a top three recruiting class. The class currently consists of all Georgia natives except for two from the state of Florida.

This class looks to accomplish two goals, bring in more elite level talent that fits Coach Smart’s vision for the Bulldogs, and to add more size along the line of scrimmage.

When you take a look at the class so far, it appears both of those are well on their way to being checked off the list. Brunswick’s own D’Antne Demery, Pace Academy’s Andrew Thomas, and a pair of teammates from Cedar Grove, Netori Johnson and Justin Schaffer, are all Georgia Bulldog commits.

However, it is the size of these young men that really jumps out at you, 6’6” 320, 6’5” 310, 6’4” 350, and 6’5” 356. Coach Smart stated that the Georgia program needed to get bigger, and so far that has proven to be a top priority.

Look for Georgia to continue the tremendous run in recruiting, and if the recruits like what they see on the field as much as they like the coaching staff so far, the 2017 class could very well be the launching pad for the Bulldogs under Coach Smart.

With the triple option that Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson utilizes, recruiting for his teams never ranks near the top according to the pay sites and experts.

Johnson typically looks for players that are more of a fit for his system, rather than just going after the players with the most stars next to their names.

The Yellow Jackets have seven commitments in their recruiting class, including Savannah Christian offensive lineman Zach Quinney.

Quinney has a long frame at 6’6” and 260 pounds, and shows the type of mobility that Johnson requires of his offensive linemen.

The triple option must have linemen that can pull and get out in front to block for the backs carrying the ball.

The Jackets also have the top punter in the country in the fold as Pressley Harvin III, out of Sumter, South Carolina, was the first player to verbal in the 2017 class.

With the commitments of Jaytlin Askew and Dameon Williams, the Jackets defensive coordinator gets some much needed replenishments in the secondary. Askew and Williams are from the Atlanta area and both look to be solid playmakers to go along with their three star ratings.

The Yellow Jackets have only seven current commitments, but look for Paul Johnson’s staff to be able to use the promise of playing time, and continue to fill their needs.

Despite the two schools being located about an hour away from each other, there are not too many instances where the coaching staffs end up going head to head for recruits.

This is mostly due to the vastly different styles in which the teams utilize in their offensive and defensive schemes.

With Kirby Smart being a new coach, and Paul Johnson firmly entrenched in Atlanta, look for these two power five programs to continue to maintain their separate targets for their respective programs.