Georgia Football: Trouble brewing as top recruits back out?

You’ve got to hand it to Kirby Smart, Georgia football has recruited as well as anyone in the country. Will the Bulldogs’ reign of dominance be short-lived?

More: Top college football recruiting updates from Week 8

Is there trouble brewing in Athens? John Emery, the nation’s No. 1 rated running back, announced that he is decommitting from the Bulldogs and opening back up his recruiting process. Emery becomes the fourth highly-regarded member of the 2019 Georgia class to back out this year, joining Jadson Haselwood, Jalen Perry and J.D. Bertrand.

Of course, the Bulldogs still sit fourth in the nation according to 24/7 Sports with 16 hard commits, including Nolan Smith, Travon Walker and Dominick Blaylock. But losing out on four players who could all wind up at SEC schools or fellow national title contenders could become a major issue for Georgia moving forward.

The Bulldogs finished with the top recruiting class last year with the additions of Justin Fields, Zamir White and Jamaree Salyer. Fields has caused some quarterback controversy with incumbent Jake Fromm, while White has missed the season with a knee injury.

Is the way Smart and his coaching staff have mixed Fromm and Fields caused some of these players to decommit? It’s highly possible that other coaches are playing that card in hopes of getting them to enroll at their school.

Emery said everything politically correct on Twitter about his decision, giving thanks to the Georgia staff for “recruiting me and giving me tips after some of my games, and getting to know me and my family on a personal level.” He added that the decision “can determine a lot with my future during and after football.”

https://twitter.com/Emery4____/status/1055579230304722944

While Emery looks at other schools, Georgia still has pledges from Trey Sanders, Noah Cain and Kenny McIntosh to help round out the backfield next to either Frohm or Fields – or whoever else lines up under center.

But whenever high-level players decide to back out from top-of-the-line programs, you have to wonder what happened. Georgia faces Florida this Saturday, two weeks removed from falling to 6-1 with a 36-16 loss to LSU.