4-Star OL Decommits From Georgia and Class Ranking Plummets

When news broke former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman was leaving Athens to take over as head coach at Arkansas, it figured to have an affect on UGA's recruiting efforts leading up to Signing Day.

Well, unfortunate news indeed arrived for Bulldogs fans out there, as 4-star offensive tackle Joshua Braun has officially backed off his pledge exactly one week before the Early Signing Period begins on Dec. 18.

De-commit alert: Georgia has lost a commitment from OT Joshua Braun, a four-star from Suwannee, Fla. The first de-commitment since the departure of Sam Pittman. Georgia now down to 14 overall commits, the class drops (for now) to No. 9 in the 247Sports Composite.
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) December 11, 2019

Obviously, this is a pretty big blow for Georgia, as the 6-6, 335-pound Braun is ranked the No. 19 OT in the country. Throughout his recruitment, he has picked up offers from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, Michigan and others. He seemed destined to be a Bulldog, but the Pittman news clearly changed things.

Even more concerning for Kirby Smart and his coaching staff is UGA now holds just 14 verbal commits. Its No. 9 national ranking in the 247Sports composite also stands out, and surely not in a good way.

4-star OL Joshua Braun takes 'step back' from his #UGA pledge https://t.co/fzGZZKOGf0 -- @KippLAdams @Mansell247 @Rowe247 pic.twitter.com/tbJjnnzXsE
— Dawgs247 (@Dawgs247) December 11, 2019

We'll see how the Bulldogs bounce back from losing a key part of the 2020 class, as Braun parting ways with the program stings for a lot of folks out there.