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Not all five-star recruits pan out. Conversely, numerous three-star talents rise up to five-star level.
The prospect of proving the “experts” wrong is one of the oldest motivators in all of sports. And plenty of former and current Georgia players done that to fuel their Bulldog careers and beyond.
Here is a look at several Georgia players over the past few years to dispel any myth that they were mere three-star talents.
S Bacarri Rambo, 2008 recruiting class
Bacarri Rambo has been proving critics wrong since his freshman year at Georgia, where he began his career as a three-star member of the Bulldogs’ 2008 recruiting class.
Rambo went on to pickoff 16 passes during his career, leading Georgia with 8 interceptions as a junior. Three of those 16 picks went the other way for touchdowns, to go along with six career forced fumbles.
The safety finished second on the Bulldogs in 2010 as a redshirt sophomore with 82 tackles and was an Associated Press All-American a year later. Still, the NFL wasn’t overly impressed — perhaps due to a pair of failed drug tests — as Rambo fell to Washington in the sixth round of the draft with the 191st overall selection in 2013.
After being cut by Washington, Rambo caught on with the Buffalo Bills, tallying 77 tackles in his first two seasons with 3 interceptions.
QB Hutson Mason, 2010
Another three-star recruit out of Marietta, Ga., Hutson Mason was only a starter for one season in Athens, but he made it count. Known as the man who replaced Aaron Murray at quarterback, Mason appeared in four games in each of his first three seasons in a backup role.
As a senior, however, Mason tossed for 2,168 yards and 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Georgia went 10-3 with Mason under center, including a Belk Bowl-win over Louisville.
He finished his Georgia career with 3,492 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and a mere 7 interceptions. Not bad for a player ranked No. 677 in the 2010 class, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Mason tried his hand in the NFL with Washington and in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before eventually moving on to the coaching ranks at Georgia State.
ILB Ramik Wilson, 2011
Amarlo Herrera began his Georgia career as a higher-rated athlete than his 2011 recruiting class counterpart and fellow inside linebacker Ramik Wilson. And while the four-star Herrera (334 career tackles, 3.5 sacks) lived up to his billing, Wilson proved that his three-star designation was too low.
Wilson rung up 235 career tackles and nearly more sacks (6.0) than Herrera.
As a result, Kansas City picked him in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He started two games, earning 13 tackles and a fumble recovery for a touchdown as a rookie.
DE Sterling Bailey, 2011
Sterling Bailey arrived in Athens with a three-star label. Five years later, the defensive end exits with 108 career tackles — including a career-high 46 tackles (2.5 for loss) and a sack as a senior.
A team captain, Bailey started 19 of the 41 games he appeared in, tallying 2.5 sacks. His exploits on the field have led to pre-NFL Draft workouts this spring with the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots.
SS Quincy Mauger, 2013
Finding undervalued three-star talents at the safety position appears to be Georgia’s modus operandi over the past decade.
Between Quincy Mauger and Dominick Sanders, the Bulldogs have built one of the nation’s staunchest pass defenses, one they helped finish in the top 5 nationally each of the past two seasons.
Mauger was a three-star prospect out of Marietta, Ga., who started 25 games in his first three years, racking up 166 career tackles and 5 interceptions. The rising senior should create plenty of chaos in both coverage and blitzing packages in 2016.
WR Reggie Davis, 2013
Reggie Davis was the third-highest rated wide receiver in Georgia’s 2013 recruiting class. And now, the only non-four-star talent from the trio is the lone receiver left from the group.
Both Tramel Terry — who switched to defensive back and transferred to Jacksonville State — and Jonathon Rumph — a Holmes (Miss.) Community College transfer who was limited to just a dozen games in his two years in Athens — are gone.
The rising senior Davis finished fourth on the Bulldogs last year in all-purpose yards (692 yards) in wide receiver, as well as, kick and punt return roles.
The team’s No. 1 kick returner, Davis finished No. 8 in the SEC averaging 23.18 yards per return.
With Terry Godwin expected to fill the void in the Bulldogs’ No. 1 receiver slot created by the departure of Malcolm Mitchell, Davis will have a shot at the No. 2 or No. 3 spots.
FS Dominick Sanders, 2014
Dominick Sanders has surpassed his three-star designation and then some. The Georgia safety tied Alabama’s Eddie Jackson for tops in the SEC with 6 interceptions as a sophomore in 2015.
Through two seasons, Sanders has accrued 84 tackles, 9 picks and was named the program’s Newcomer of the Year as a freshman.
The first-team All-SEC athlete returns as a junior to a Georgia secondary that led the nation last season in pass defense.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
