Take Two: Will Georgia land Arik Gilbert?
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.
MORE: Gilbert outshines all tight ends at Five-Star Challenge
THE STORYLINE
One-hundred percent of FutureCast picks are in for five-star tight end Arik Gilbert to Georgia. For so long, the chatter has been that the Bulldogs are the clear front-runner for the Marietta, Ga., standout.
But it might not be so easy. Ranked as the No. 1 tight end in the 2020 class, Gilbert is expected to watch Georgia’s offense very closely this season, especially with new offensive coordinator James Coley running the show and Todd Hartley now coaching the tight ends.
It will be important for Gilbert to see Georgia’s new offense throw to the tight end more than the Bulldogs have in recent years.
Tennessee could be a huge threat for the five-star tight end - and the Volunteers could move up even more especially if Gilbert likes what he sees from new offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Alabama is also involved with Gilbert.
When all is said and done, though, will Georgia land Gilbert to this recruiting class and add a huge threat in the passing game?
FIRST TAKE: JAKE REUSE, UGASPORTS.COM
“I think he’s waiting to see how everybody uses their tight ends this year. Georgia has promised a lot of change in regards to that with Coley taking over and with Hartley as the new tight ends coach. They want to expand the role of that and quite frankly they’re going to have to if they want to recruit Gilbert's caliber in this class.
“Gilbert is going to be watching that pretty closely this year and I do think Georgia will have a more tight end-friendly offense. Alabama is a contender. Anytime Alabama is involved in a recruitment, it’s a contender. I still think Tennessee is still Georgia’s top competition, but this will go into the season and it will be interesting to see how these offenses play out.
"I still have my FutureCast in for Georgia and in the end that will probably be what happens. If it were today I don’t know if it would be Georgia, but the longer this goes on I think it favors Georgia.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“Tennessee has even mentioned playing him at wide receiver or at least putting him outside, so that is attractive to him. Alabama put O.J. Howard in the first round and he didn’t have a great career, but it shows even if you’re not utilized as much as possible, you can still be a first-rounder coming out of Alabama.
“I don’t think he’s committed because he just wants to see exactly how things play out this season and listen to more pitches as teams show whether they’re using the tight end or not. I still think he ends up at Georgia.”