Can a top-five recruiting class still be under the radar?
If so, Georgia's quietly strong class hit another high note Monday evening at a major position of need in towering Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside offensive tackle Monroe Freeling. It also came against prime competition, as Freeling picked the Bulldogs over announced finalists Alabama, Clemson, Miami and Florida–in other words, more of what many have come to expect of Kirby Smart's program on the recruiting trail.
Listed at 6'7", 285 pounds, Freeling racked up more than two-dozen scholarship offers before a busy spring and summer on the visit trail. While he spent time in Athens, even participating in a scavenger hunt to find Smart to cap pre-summer trips, he did not take an official visit to UGA. Instead, trips to Notre Dame, Florida and Miami on consecutive June weekends allowed for buzz to fluctuate between the three programs.
Georgia, under new offensive line coach Stacy Searels, stayed in the thick of the race even as Alabama and in-state Clemson pushed more as the offseason wore on. In the end, the SEC East power and reigning national champions had enough to offer the SI99 recruit, ranked as the No. 42 overall prospect (No. 4 offensive tackle) in the class of 2023.
Freeling becomes the fourth offensive lineman among Georgia's 19 verbal commitments and just the second projected as a tackle, along with Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes standout Bo Hughley. The newest Bulldog also sits as the No. 6 SI99 recruit to pick the program thus far in the 2023 recruiting cycle.
SI99 Evaluation
Already built like the modern offensive tackle recruit, Freeling's frame is in great shape from a height, weight and length standpoint, especially from a pass-protection perspective. But where the Palmetto State native flashes most on tape is where most prep linemen do, in the running game and at the contact point. For a prospect so tall, Freeling has little issue lowering his center of gravity and playing on a low plane while moving a defender against his will.
When it comes to the sport's most popular play call, Freeling has all the tools necessary to develop into an elite pass blocker. The length is immense, his base is lower than one would expect given his height, and, perhaps most importantly, he offers fluid and natural movement skills to boot. Scouting Freeling offers samples of the overall athleticism on various fronts, from smooth transitions in his kick step, to great extension, to even his work on the varsity basketball court.
Easily the biggest competitor on the court, Freeling works up and down the floor with relative ease. But when he anchors the defense, particularly in a zone look, the combination of footwork, spatial awareness and reaction time when contesting plays in the paint proves impressive. On offense, he offers a gathered bounce with the strength to fend off hackers in finishing off dunks and other plays inside.
Back on the football field, Freeling's ferocity at the point of contact can help him stymie pass rushers in the open field. The punch has come a long way dating back to his sophomore season, a promising sign in the projection game. Ditto for the pure running ability Freeling shows on tape, able to pull and lead plays in space as well as he can work towards the second level on assignment. In the day and age of run-pass option (RPO) football, his hybrid blocking strength will help him climb the depth chart as the patience and redirecting technique develop with time.
Projecting him into the top 50 nationally was a long-term play by the SI staff, especially considering there are no plans to play basketball in college. The single-sport focus will enable Freeling to not only add the weight necessary to compete in the SEC but also to add strength in enhancing the strong floor he displays in the run game and extension departments. The technical aspects of high-level pass blocking will likely come with time, as we have seen strong progress in his comfort level over the last 12 months during his ascent up recruiting boards of college programs.
What it Means
Georgia has a top-five class and plenty of targets still on the board at a variety of positions, but offensive tackle wasn't one of them. It illustrates why, combined with the need on the future roster given considerable turnover in personnel and coaching staff after two changes in as many years, this get feels like one of the biggest in the cycle for the defending champs.
Freeling was one of the tougher recruitments to track, given the heavy-hitting list of contenders and the frequency of visits. Miami got him on campus twice this offseason, something Georgia didn't enjoy with the Freeling family since a pair of trips in 2021. Clemson, the in-state program, pushed as the offseason wore on, as did Alabama in being the last offer on the table. The last trip of record Freeling took was, in fact, to Tuscaloosa.
After some narrow head-to-head losses for Smart versus his old boss, Nick Saban, it has to be satisfying to sway the momentum UGA's way just in time for the season. It hits harder knowing the aforementioned Hughley, who committed to former position coach Matt Luke, isn't the most rock-solid commitment on the list. The only other tackle projection, Hughley was hosted at both Auburn and Nebraska for June official visits. Other programs could soon get involved, too.
There has already been one UGA decommitment along the offensive line with Alabama native RyQueze McElderry, an interior talent who flipped to Saban in early July. Questions around the direction of offensive line recruiting under Searles rose to an apex before that point, but the wins in Freeling, in-stater Kelton Smith and Virginia native Joshua Miller as the summer progressed proved strong optically.
Now with Freeling, UGA has its headliner along the offensive line and it can swing for the fences with the No. 1 OT in America still undeclared in Samson Okunlola, who will have as long a list of finalists as Freeling did (including overlapping contenders like Alabama, Miami and Florida). If it is to add along the interior down the line, Austin (Texas) Westlake lineman T.J. Shanahan, who took an official visit to Athens the first weekend of June, could be a commitment candidate.
