Georgia Bulldogs

When offer No. 31 came in for Washington (Pa.) running back Shai McKenzie last week, he figured it was time to start cutting his list. It sounds simple, but McKenzie had a harder time when it came to putting pen to paper.

“He struggled to make a list,” Washington coach Mike Bosnic said. “He’s really unsure.”

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ESPN Watch List defensive end Keyon Brown of Wauchula, Fla., knows which play helped put him on the radar of a major college programs. The fourth game of his junior year involved his Hardee Wildcats in a close game against the Sebring Blue Streaks.

“We were playing Sebring, and they threw a screen to the wide receiver,” Brown said. “I had gone in to try to get the quarterback, but he had already thrown it, so I went after the receiver over by the sideline. He was trying to shake somebody, I guess, but he cut back inside, and I was headed out, so I hit him hard and he fumbled. It was a big hit. Everybody just went crazy and started yelling. We recovered it; the receiver was hurt on that play.”

Hustle like that earned Brown double digit scholarship offers, with the latest one coming from Florida State.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Outside linebacker Jacob Pugh (Tallahassee, Fla./Godby) isn’t exactly sure of how many offers he has. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior has not counted them. Once he had received over 30 offers to the top programs in the nation, there really seemed no point in doing so. Pugh is more concerned about the five that he has on top.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- The last time a running back traveled more than 600 miles to play for the University of Georgia, Knowshon Moreno wound up hurdling defenders and dropping jaws with his combination of balance and speed. After redshirting his freshman season, he played only two years before heading to the NFL draft, leaving Georgia fans wondering what could have been.

Now another top running back from the Mid-Atlantic region is looking at the Bulldogs, and now that Shai McKenzie (Washington, Penn./Washington) has the Georgia offer he wanted, maybe history will repeat itself.

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -– Team Nitro and Team Highlight took to the fields at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports on Monday for Day 1 of practice for Friday’s Under Armour All-America Game (5 p.m. ET, ESPN). Two powerhouse programs in the Southeastern Conference look to battle it out for one of the standout running backs, and one of the top uncommitted offensive linemen is out with an injury.

Tide and Dawgs at top for RB Kamara

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Do not let Shaker Heights (Ohio) lineman Donovan Munger's size fool you. The imposing, 6-foot-3, 280-pound two-way star is soft-spoken and aims to please.

The latter of those two traits is the reason why Munger's list was "cut" to 11 recently, and there is a good chance that list increases before it decreases.

The ESPN 300 defensive tackle's coach, Jarvis Gibson, said Munger's top 11, in no order, consists of USC, Ohio State, Michigan State, Tennessee, UCLA, West Virginia, Louisville, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Georgia and Pittsburgh. The Trojans are the only team that has not offered, but Gibson is expecting a call from the staff Friday night as Munger has already talked with an assistant at USC.

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Class of 2014 prospect Kris Harris (Tallahassee, Fla./Godby) has been forced to wear many hats thus far in summer training camp for his high school program. The 6-foot, 215-pound junior is cross-training at inside and outside linebacker but will also play some offense.

"I'm also working out at running back," Harris said. "I'll probably be one of our running backs when we're in the red zone or in short yardage."

It's the sort of versatility that has put Harris on the map so early in his career. He has played running back in the past and even got the attention of Alabama head coach Nick Saban when he worked out at Alabama's camp before his freshman season.

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Fresh off a positive visit to Michigan, Derrick Green is close to announcing his finalists.

The ESPN 150 tailback from Richmond (Va.) Hermitage said he plans to cut down his 14-team list of potential suitors later this week. Green previously told ESPN his other finalists are Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Clemson, Alabama, Miami, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Georgia and Oklahoma.

Since then, some schools have fallen from the list but Green hasn't declared the primary schools he is considering. The 6-foot, 215-pound prospect declined to confirm that Michigan would make the final cut.

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As a junior, Derrick Green (Richmond, Va./Hermitage) ran for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns, often being taken out early because after helping his team build a comfortable lead.

The 6-foot, 215-pound running back picked up offer No. 34 last week, interesting enough, from the University of Georgia, a program where No. 34 is associated with one of the all-time great running backs in college history, Herschel Walker. The courtship between the Bulldogs and the ESPN 150 prospect really only started at the beginning of the month, which just happens to be right after the departure of tailback and returning SEC Freshman of the year Isaiah Crowell.

“Bryan McClendon reached out to me a couple weeks ago and then offered shortly after,” Green said. “Coach McClendon talked me about the depth at running back and how even though I would have to come in and work for my spot, that he felt I would be a great fit for their offense.”

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Derrick Green's list of finalists has grown.

Just about a week after announcing his top 13 schools, the tailback from Richmond (Va.) Hermitage was ecstatic about a recent offer from Georgia, texting, "Just got my #34 offer from #UGA UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA."

Clearly the Bulldogs are in the market for a top, power tailback after Derrick Henry from Yulee (Fla.) High School. pulled his verbal pledge in June. Henry is ranked the fourth-best tailback in the nation; Green is ranked sixth.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Day two of the Mark Richt 7-on-7 tournament saw double digit FBS prospects compete on the intramural fields at the University of Georgia. We listed the top performers here, but there were several players who caught the coaches' attention. Here is a by-no-way-complete list of honorable mentions from Friday.

QB Brooks Barden (Cartersville, Ga./Cartersville) In the first couple of games on Friday, Barden was on fire, showing a live arm and making some impressive deep throws. But in front of Mark Richt, Mike Bobo and Will Friend, the rising junior struggled a bit on his timing with his receivers in the intermediate passing game. Still, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback has the tools to play at the next level, and should get a long look from Georgia over the next year.

OL Josh Cardiello (Buford, Ga./Buford) Cardiello worked mainly at center during 1-on-1 competition, and had his ups and downs in pass protection. As is the case with most linemen from Buford, the 6-3, 280-pound Cardiello is more advanced in run blocking at this stage. But with a new offensive line coach at Buford, Cardiello expects the Wolves’ to open things up this fall, giving Cardiello a possible development advantage over former school standouts Dallas Lee and Kolton Houston.

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New Georgia linebacker commit Ryne Rankin (Orlando, Fla./ East River) is a throwback to another era of football, when toughness and grit mattered more than spread options and 40 times. Speaking with him evokes images of leather helmets and players like Bronko Nagurski. Rankin likes to hit people, and he learned it young.

“Back when I was probably 7 years old, I was at football practice and going against a kid that was maybe 10 years old, way bigger than me, and he kept hitting me and knocking me down,” Rankin said. “My dad kept telling me to get up. ‘Get up, boy.’ I remember that. So I kept getting hit by this kid and I was crying and I was mad -- I didn’t want to play football anymore. My dad said, ‘Run right at him and put your face mask right between his numbers.’ And I did that and the kid fell on his back and he started crying. I said, ‘I got this now.’ Then I started hitting people. I looked up and my dad was smiling.”

Rankin’s father is still proud of his son and star player. Marc Rankin is the head coach at East River and has watched his son develop into a devastating inside linebacker.

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