Georgia Football Recruiting: 5-star Mecole Hardman Jr. commits to Bulldogs
By Dustin Hull
The No. 2 ranked recruit in the state of Georgia and five-star athlete Mecole Hardman Jr., has chosen to stay home and play for the Georgia football team.
He made the announcement that he will be playing for the Georgia Bulldogs next season from his high school in Elberton, Georgia, a signing that will help cap off a tremendous first class for Kirby Smart.
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Hardman had given a lot of thought to teams such as Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson, and Ohio State, but, in the end, chose to make the 45-minute drive west to Athens.
Ranked the best athlete in this class, Hardman is a top-15 prospect overall, according to 247 Sports, with a slim build and plenty of quickness with a 4.4-second 40-yard dash. He can play all over the field, but it’s assumed that the Georgia Bulldogs will play him primarily at wide receiver though he could slot in as a halfback in certain offensive packages.
With quarterback and No. 5 overall recruit Jacob Eason having already committed to Georgia, this could create one of the best duo’s in the country between him and Hardman Jr. over the next four years. They’ll also have the ability to stretch the field with no. 1 overall TE recruit, Isaac Nauta, creating quite the assembly of targets for Eason.
Hardman Jr. will be joining a solid core of receivers for the Georgia Bulldogs, but with X-slot receiver Malcolm Mitchell having graduated, he could grab a starter’s role as soon as this fall. He’ll have plenty of competition from receivers who’ve been in Athens longer, but with new offensive coordinator Jim Cheney coming in, everyone on the offense will be learning a new philosophy together.
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So if Hardman Jr. can keep up mentally with the rigors of being a college student-athlete, he certainly has the physical abilities to be a force right away for the Dawgs.