Commitment analysis: Five-star Kendall Milton to Georgia
Georgia has landed plenty of five-stars under coach Kirby Smart and now the Bulldogs have gone to California for one of the best running backs in the 2020 class.
Clovis (Calif.) Buchanan five-star Kendall Milton committed to Georgia over Alabama, LSU and Ohio State on Monday after taking a round of visits to his four favorites in the last few months.
UGASPORTS.COM: Five-star RB Kendall Milton commits to Georgia
WHAT IT MEANS
Georgia’s running back room is loaded but Milton provides something a little extra special because he can run between the tackles, he has the speed to get to the outside and make people miss and he’s also versatile as a pass catcher coming out of the backfield.
He’s not exactly D’Andre Swift. He’s not Zamir White. He’s not quite James Cook. Milton is his own blend of running back who can do a whole lot of everything and brings qualities that each of those running backs bring to Georgia.
More than anything, Milton could develop into a power running back like LSU saw in Leonard Fournette or Derrius Guice. For someone his size, the five-star is surprisingly elusive in tight spaces and he should be able to handle the punishment delivered by SEC defenders. He’s big and strong and should be able to have a whole lot of success in Athens.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR OTHERS
The top running back in the class is Houston (Texas) North Shore’s Zachary Evans and he just visited Georgia this past weekend. For those who think the Bulldogs couldn’t pull two five-star running backs in this class just look to 2018 with White and Cook. LSU, Alabama and Ohio State among others are also high priorities for Evans as he looks at his recruitment.
Alabama will be just fine at running back and already has a commitment from Hueytown, Ala., four-star Roydell Williams. LSU doesn’t have a running back pledge in this class but the Tigers always load up at that position.
The team maybe on the outside looking in here is Ohio State, who missed on Milton and it looks like top target Jaylan Knighton could be headed to Florida State over the Buckeyes. There are whispers that four-star Bijan Robinson, who’s had an outstanding offseason, might be leaning toward Texas or USC now over Ohio State, long considered his front-runner, although that chatter has not been substantiated by Robinson.
Alabama, Ohio State and LSU are all special programs who will be able to recruit the running back position - and all three have had tremendous success recently - but losing out on Milton does hurt a little bit (especially for LSU and Alabama since those teams are also in the SEC) and the dominoes that fall after his choice will make things interesting.