Take Two: Will Georgia emerge as leader for QB Brock Vandagriff?
MORE TAKE TWO: Who leads for five-star WR Julian Fleming?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
Brock Vandagriff is one of the top overall prospects in the 2021 class, a special quarterback with a big arm, excellent accuracy and mobility.
The Bogart (Ga.) Prince Avenue Christian standout also lives about 20 minutes from the Georgia campus so the Bulldogs have to be considered one of the early front-runners in his recruitment.
But the SEC power is not the only team seriously involved. Florida has made some in-roads with Vandagriff, who seems to like coach Dan Mullen’s success at the quarterback position not only with the Gators but also during Mullen's time at Mississippi State.
Oklahoma is also right in the mix and the Sooners make complete sense since they’ve developed back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners, back-to-back No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks and coach Lincoln Riley employs an offense that’s very quarterback-friendly.
The state of Georgia has produced six five-star quarterbacks in Rivals history with four of them not picking the Bulldogs (Trevor Lawrence, Cam Newton, Deshaun Watson and Davis Mills), one picking the Bulldogs but quickly transferring (Justin Fields) and one (Jake Fromm) currently enjoying tremendous success in Athens.
Will geography and success on the field help Georgia emerge as the leader for Vandagriff?
FIRST TAKE: CHAD SIMMONS, SOUTHEAST RECRUITING ANALYST
"I would not say Georgia is the leader today. If anyone had the edge right now, I’d say Oklahoma. Vandagriff spent time in Norman on spring break and was around Lincoln Riley, Kyler Murray, and that visit really has given the Sooners some momentum.
"Georgia is in that top group though, with Oklahoma and Florida. If – and, really, when – Clemson offers, it could become a player, too. Right now though, if there is a favorite, Oklahoma is it, not Georgia. UGA, the school right down the street, is very much a contender though."
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“You have to consider Georgia the leader. He has so many schools interested in him but playing at home, Fromm will be gone so he could step right in. The path is much more clear at this point in time.
“Florida could use him. They’ve had trouble developing quarterbacks quickly and that works against them. When he looks at Florida, he sees Feleipe Franks slowly developing and he sees Fromm developing from the start. Oklahoma is super tempting with two-straight Heismans and two-straight No. 1 picks but again distance from home might play a factor, especially with his dad as his coach.”