Georgia may be missing out on the headline-grabbing name in the 2027 running back race, but the Bulldogs still landed the top-ranked back - and did it without getting dragged into the kind of bidding war that’s making everyone else blink.
The player drawing the biggest spotlight is David Gabriel-Georges, the five-star Baylor High School standout from Chattanooga, Tennessee. His tape has turned him into one of the most talked-about prospects in the country, and Rivals has him ranked second nationally at running back.
The noise around him has been loud. The money attached to him has been even louder.
But the top-ranked running back in the class is Kemon Spell, and he’s already committed to Georgia.
According to Rivals, Spell’s deal with the Bulldogs is worth $750,000, the same figure current Georgia running back Nate Frazier signed for this offseason. That number is substantial on its own, but it looks modest next to what’s being floated around Gabriel-Georges.
Rivals values him at just over a million dollars, while multiple media outlets and experts are reporting Tennessee offered him $2 million per year on a multi-year contract. Over three years in Knoxville, that would come out to roughly $6 million.
That gap matters, especially because Spell is the higher-ranked recruit.
Kirby Smart has made it clear before that he’s not in the business of “buy players.” The reality of modern recruiting means money is part of the conversation now, but Georgia’s approach has stayed consistent: target players who are looking beyond the check. Landing the best running back in the class for half of what some schools are reportedly paying the next-best option says plenty about how the program is operating.
The Bulldogs have also got a built-in sales pitch that doesn’t rely only on the present tense. Georgia’s 2021 title defense has turned into a massive NFL pipeline, with that group now earning more than $320 million total at the next level. At running back, James Cook just led the league in scrimmage yards, and D’Andre Swift had a solid year as well.
Sure, another school can offer more over three years. But Georgia’s message is that the bigger payoff comes later.
That’s the pitch in Athens: come to Georgia, and Kirby Smart and his staff will develop you, not just pay you.
In Other News...
Georgia May Have Let The Receiver It Now Needs Walk
Anthony Evans was one of those Georgia receivers who never quite found a clear lane in Athens, then headed to Mississippi State in 2025 and immediately showed what a change of scenery can do. After limited production with the Bulldogs, he settled in with the Bulldogs in Starkville and gave Mississippi State the kind of reliable target it had been searching for, turning himself into a much bigger part of the offense than he ever was in Georgia.
Now Georgia is staring at a familiar offseason problem at a less familiar position: wide receiver uncertainty. With top pass-catchers gone to the NFL, the Bulldogs need younger options to emerge quickly, and the spotlight is on names like Talyn Taylor and Isiah Canion to help fill the void. Evans success elsewhere only sharpens the question of what Georgia lost, and whether it can replace that production before the season starts to ask the question for itself. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Finally Addressed The Andrew Buzz Georgia Fans Saw Coming
Andrew Smart is only heading into his freshman year of high school, but the buzz around Kirby Smarts son has already started to build in a way that feels familiar for Georgia fans. A reported scholarship offer from Georgia Tech put his name into the recruiting conversation early, and Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, who once worked on Kirby Smarts staff at Georgia, is also expected to get involved soon.
Kirby Smart was asked about it at SEC Media Days, where the topic naturally turned from the father to the coach and how he plans to handle the attention around his son. For now, the bigger storyline is less about where Andrew might end up and more about how quickly the recruiting world is circling, even before the rankings for his class are really in focus. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Nears Massive Recruiting Swing With Top DB Decision Looming
The next big recruiting swing for Georgia is sitting on the calendar for July 31, when four-star defensive back Seth Williams is expected to make his choice between the Bulldogs and Clemson. Williams had originally planned to decide earlier in the month before pushing back his commitment, and both programs still believe they have a real shot as the finish line approaches.
For Georgia, the stakes are especially clear in the 2027 class, where the defensive back group still needs help and Williams would fill a major need. A commitment would also give the Bulldogs a meaningful boost in the national recruiting picture, but for now the focus is on whether they can land one of the cycles most important defensive targets. [Read more 🡒]