Georgia Bulldogs 'still in it' for 5-star DL Aydin Breland

Of the top 10 prospects that are currently uncommitted in the 2024 cycle, five are defensive linemen. Decision dates have been announced for Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North Five-Star Plus+ Williams Nwaneri, Oklahoma City IMG Academy Five-Star Plus+ David Stone and Buford (Ga.) five-star Eddrick Houston, but not yet for Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star Aydin Breland.

The 6-foot-4.5, 320-pounder announced his top 10 schools in May, selecting Oregon, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, USC, Michigan, Texas A&M, Nebraska, LSU and Tennessee. Breland told CaneSport in late July that he will be trimming that list down to four schools “soon,” however.

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), it’s still a wide-open race for Breland, the No. 26 overall prospect, No. 6 DL and No. 3 player from California, per the On3 Industry Rankings. Four programs currently hold at least a 10% chance to win the coveted lineman’s recruitment.

Leading the way is the Oregon Ducks, who hold a 23.9% chance. Georgia follows in second at 20.9%, while Miami and Texas A&M are next at 15% and 10%, respectively. Those were the four schools that received official visits from Breland in June.

While its Oregon that sits atop the RPM in August, DawgsHQ recruiting insider Rusty Mansell says not to count out Georgia by any means. He talked the Bulldogs’ chances on On3’s Inside Scoop recruiting show on Thursday.

“They’re still in it,” Mansell said of UGA. “From everything I hear, (Breland) is going to take a couple more visits, maybe in September. I think Oregon is a big threat for anybody. If Georgia can get him back on campus at some point in September, I really feel like they’ve got a great chance there.”

Recent Mater Dei commitment could help Georgia land Breland

While Athens is on the opposite side of the country from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, that isn’t stopping Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs from infiltrating California. On Aug. 6, Breland’s teammate, top-50 four-star running back Nathaniel Frazier, pledged to UGA over Oregon.

While Breland and Frazier are by no means a package deal, having already tapped into the powerhouse high school program can only help Georgia. Mater Dei has an off week in the middle of September — setting up the perfect time for a return trip to Athens, in the eyes of Mansell.

“He’s got a teammate committed … when you look right now, a player like Breland, I think you follow the visits in September, they’re off the weekend of Georgia-South Carolina, which would be Sept. 15-16 weekend, so that would be the weekend to watch,” Mansell said. “If you’re gonna get a kid from California, that would be the weekend to watch to see if they can get him back in town.”

Georgia’s class ranks No. 1 in the nation, thanks to its collection of top-end talent, but also the amount of talent that has already pledged. The Bulldogs currently have 26 commits, tied for the third-most of any Power 5 program.

Five of those 26 commits are defensive lineman. Three of the five are top-150 overall prospects: Conroe (Texas) Oak Ridge four-star Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco four-star Jordan Thomas and Lawrenceville (Ga.) Mountain View four-star Justin Greene. Georgia is also recruiting top-50 Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland four-star DL LJ McCray.

The class is already jam-packed, but neither that, nor the additional recruiting of other top DL prospects would sway Smart and his staff if Breland were to choose to come to the back-to-back national champions. Defensive lineman remain superbly valuable on the recruiting trail.

“Those premium defensive linemen, you don’t see a school go ‘nah, we don’t have a spot for you big man, you go somewhere else.’ You got to work the numbers, you got to work the spots, but a player like Breland — and LJ McCray … another major target on the Georgia defensive line, I don’t know that they’re gonna get both of them, but if both want to commit to Georgia, they’re gonna have a spot,” Mansell said.

Breland has an On3 NIL Valuation of $184K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.