Georgia's overtaken Ohio State's No. 1 2018 class, powered by a monstrous ground game

Kirby Smart’s SEC champion Dawgs are a recruiting juggernaut now.

The Georgia Bulldogs could finish the 2018 recruiting cycle with the country’s highest-ranked class. They were No. 2 and closing in on top-ranked Ohio State in the 247Sports Composite on Wednesday afternoon.

They passed Ohio State for the No. 1 class in the nation late Wednesday night after two things happened. First, the Dawgs flipped safety Nadab Joseph from Alabama. Then, OLB Channing Tindall decided to sign with UGA.

This all happened in the span of about an hour.

Georgia has recruited elite players all over the field in Kirby Smart’s first full classes, last year and this year. They also recruited well in 2015, when Smart had been on the job for just a few weeks and finished with the country’s No. 6 class.

What’s set apart Smart’s classes in 2016 and ‘17 is a group of bulldozing offensive linemen, plus some all-world backfield talent.

In 2016, Georgia signed the best O-line class of any team. The crown jewel was five-star tackle Isaiah Wilson from New York. The Dawgs added three four-star linemen and another high three-star, all of varying positions, to round out the group. They paired that with five-star running back D’Andre Swift and four-star quarterback Jake Fromm.

The story is much the same this year. Georgia has an absurd six signees rated five stars on the 247Sports Composite so far. Those include tackle Cade Mays and the best guard in the country, Jamaree Salyer. They also include No. 1 running back Zamir White and No. 2 quarterback Justin Fields, who many think is the best in the class.

UGA can now score points any way it likes.

The Dawgs have constructed a roster that’s capable of winning games without ever throwing the ball, if that’s what they want to do. If they’d like to drop back one of their several blue-chip quarterbacks — Fromm, Fields, or 2015’s No. 1 overall QB, Jacob Eason — and throw all game, they can do that, too. It’s not like defenses are going to be able to pressure them much, because they have a brigade of five-star bodyguards.

And that doesn’t even mention Georgia’s defense.

The Dawgs were elite on that side of the ball this year. Smart is a highly regarded defensive coach and won a national title as Alabama’s defensive coordinator. He brought onboard five-star end Brenton Cox and five-star outside linebacker Adam Anderson on Wednesday.

He brought on a five-star safety, Richard LeCounte III, last year. And those guys are just the tip the iceberg for classes that are going to supplement the country’s No. 3 scoring defense. This is what it looks like when a program catches complete and total fire.

Georgia’s recruiting has long been good. It’s just better now.

It was good under Mark Richt. But the Dawgs have became one of the three or four best recruiting teams in the sport under Smart, with one Playoff berth to show for it so far. They’re now in a class with Alabama and Ohio State, and the result is that Georgia will have the best roster in the SEC East for the foreseeable future.

The rest of that division should be living in fear.