HOOVER, Ala. - Georgia currently has the nation's No. 60 collection of football commitments for the 2018 signing class, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
Coach Kirby Smart isn't worried about that, and he doesn't believe Bulldogs fans should be, either.
"You judge things by signing day, and I would tell everyone to relax and breathe," Smart said this week at SEC media days. "We've got tough decisions to make because we've got a limited number of scholarships, and in that case we may not have the same impact because of the sheer numbers. I'm not concerned with where we are, because I'm talking to these kids every day and I'm communicating with them each day, so I feel good about it."
Georgia's class currently ranks 13th among SEC teams, with Alabama, Auburn and Florida also residing in the league's lower echelon.
The Bulldogs signed the nation's No. 5 class this past winter, which was Smart's first full recruiting cycle since being hired to replace Mark Richt in December 2015, and they landed the No. 9 class in 2016. Georgia signed 12 of the Peach State's top 20 prospects in February but has yet to get a pledge from a top-20 in-state prospect this time around.
Georgia's seven commitments so far for 2018 include five-star running back Zamir White of Laurinburg, N.C., four-star guard Warren Erickson of Suwanee, Ga., and four-star cornerback Chris Smith of Atlanta.
"Are there some battles we haven't won in the state? Yeah, but that's going to be the case every year," said Smart, who was a guest of "Press Row" on Chattanooga's 105.1 FM. "There are 29 draft picks in the state of Georgia, and we want to get as many of those as we can. Our goal is to evaluate properly and get the right kids.
"It's not the ones you don't get. It's the ones you do get."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.