National Signing Day was on Wednesday, and we’ll forgive you if it slipped your mind. Many in the media overlooked it, too—but not us at Last Word. While the days of hat-swapping theatrics and dramatic fax machine signings are largely behind us, National Signing Day still delivers plenty of storylines. Most of the nation’s top recruits solidified their commitments during the early signing period in December, but key developments were still worth discussing. So, let’s look closer at Georgia NSD 2025 and what it means for the Bulldogs moving forward.
Georgia NSD Recap
New Rival: Texas Longhorns
For most of Kirby Smart’s tenure, he has had to battle Alabama for the top spot in recruiting. Nick Saban’s retirement opened the door for a new but familiar rival: the Texas Longhorns. Texas has not even celebrated its first anniversary in the SEC but has announced its presence with authority. Georgia and Texas played twice in 2024, with the Bulldogs coming out on top in the regular season in Austin and the SEC Championship. The Longhorns were the only SEC team to make it to the semifinals, but Sarkisian has shown to be a formidable foe to Georgia and the rest of the conference in recruiting and its use of the Transfer Portal.
Steve Sarkisian beat out Georgia two years ago for Arch Manning. Manning will now be QB1 for the likely top-ranked Longhorns. Georgia will have a five-star of their own in Gunnar Stockton but will not have the publicity their Texas counterparts will have. Sarkisian has also done a masterful job of using the Transfer Portal to fortify his roster. Two years ago, it was bringing in Adonai Mitchell from Georiga. Last year, it was Isiah Bond from Alabama. Sarkisian has fit right into building and gathering talent.
For most of the 2024 recruiting cycle, it looked like Georgia would lock out the top recruiting class. Sarkisian came in late again with several big commitments and locked out the top spot. The Longhorns and Bulldogs are shaping up to be a helluva rivalry on and off the field.
Meet the 5 Stars
Let’s meet the five stars of the Georgia NSD 2025 class. For all the naysayers out there about NIL, the sky is not quite falling. Sure, Georgia, Texas, and Alabama can no longer horde all five-star talent. Georiga still did a nice job in their Class of 2025. Here is a quick highlight of some top talent coming in (or already in Athens). Look for them to make an early impact as early as next season. It’s great to see that all of the five stars are coming from the Peach State.
- Elijah Griffin (DL) Savannah Christian Prep (Savannah, GA)
- Isaiah Gibson (EDGE) Warner Robins (Warner Robins, GA)
- Juan Gaston (OT) Westlake (Atlanta, GA)
- Zayden Walker (LB) Schley County (Ellaville, GA)
Georgia and Texas tied with Texas for the most five stars. They had another 20 four-star commitments and three three-star commitments. Smart has done a masterful job of keeping Georgia in the Top 3 in the recruiting rankings. This has enabled the Bulldogs to withstand those recruits that either don’t pan out or leave when they don’t find the field right away.
It Just Means More SEC Teams
2024 may have been a down year on the field for the SEC, but it did not hurt the recruiting rankings. Take a look at the following numbers of how each of the conferences faired in the Top 25. It’s fair to say that it still just means more, and the Georiga NSD 2025 class shows that the Bulldawgs are not going anywhere. 11 of the 16 SEC teams finished in the Top 25, with six teams finishing in the Top 10. The Big Ten had three times in the Top 10, with seven being ranked overall. The ACC was a distant third with three teams in the Top 25, and Notre Dame and the Big 12 had one team represented. Next week, we’ll look at the Transfer Portal rankings, but the talent disparity continues to grow. Here is a look at the top 25 list broken down by conference.
- SEC: (1) Texas, (2) Georgia, (3) Alabama, (7) Auburn, (8) Florida, (9) Texas A&M, (10) LSU, (11) Tennesee, (16) Ole Miss, (17) Oklahoma, (18) South Carolina, (20) Missouri
- B1G: (4) Ohio State, (5) Oregon, (6) Michigan, (14) USC, (15) Penn State, (22) Nebraska, (23) Washington, (25) Maryland
- Independent: (12) Notre Dame
- ACC: (13) Miami, (19) Flordia State, (21) Georgia Tech
- Big 12: (24) TCU
Main Image: Imagn/USA Today
