Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart lose a critical battle for elite offensive recruit but still boast a stacked 2026 class

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated May 13, 2025 9:27 PM ET

The Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart have been on a hot streak with their recruiting in the month of May, adding five top tier talents in the last two week alone. It was about time they suffered a loss, and that's exactly what happened this week. Georgia fans will likely wish it wasn't such a critical battle that the team lost, but there have been plenty of wins to celebrate lately.

Still, the Bulldogs already have nine talented recruits committed for the 2026 class, putting them well on pace for another top ten class (if not top five).

Jackson Cantwell, Five Star OT Recruit

Somehow Georgia lost the recruiting battle for five star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell despite late intel–up until about a few hours before his commitment–suggesting that he may end up landing with the Bulldogs.

Steve Wiltfong, among a few other experts, announced that they were predicting Cantwell to land with the Miami Hurricanes just hours before the official commitment took place, and unfortunately that came to fruition.

BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT Jackson Cantwell has Committed to Miami, he tells me for @on3recruits

The No. 1 Recruit in the ‘26 Class chose the Hurricanes over Georgia, Oregon, & Ohio State

“Southwest Missouri ➡️ South Beach #GoCanes x #NSGB”https://t.co/5y15Hop09Q pic.twitter.com/xsErPaZ0lD
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 13, 2025

For those unfamiliar, Jackson Cantwell is largely considered the consensus number one overall recruit in the 2026 recruiting class. Losing out on him is a big punch to the gut, but Georgia still has plenty of options to pivot towards with plenty of time left before signing day.

Georgia fans will now want to keep an eye on five star Immanuel Iheanacho (although he may be leaning Oregon), high four star Ekene Ogboko, and IMG Academy's Breck Kolojay for other talented possibilities at offensive tackle in the 2026 recruiting class. The team did also already land a commitment from Graham Houston from Buford, Georgia just two weeks ago as well.

The Georgia Bulldogs just lost the majority of their starting snaps from last year's offensive line, so obviously the team needs to make sure they continue heavy emphasis in that direction with recruiting efforts. Tate Ratledge, Jared Wilson, Dylan Fairchild, and Xavier Truss (2000 snaps from last year's OL) are all now in the NFL.

This year's offensive line will be quite a young group, so most of them will likely still be around when five star quarterback Jared Curtis arrives on campus next year. However, the depth is already likely a problem. Hopefully Kirby Smart and his staff can bounce back and regain some of the momentum they were already building this spring, securing the future of the offensive line for Georgia.

We'll be back with more Georgia Bulldogs coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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