The Georgia Bulldogs walked away from the 2021 season with, for the first time in 34 years, a national championship. The Bulldogs did so off the back of a capable enough offense complementing one of the greatest college defenses ever assembled. However, unfortunately for Georgia, this past season also culminated in a wave of departures, to all of graduation, the transfer portal and the draft, leaving holes in that defense, as well as a couple on offense as well. This made the Bulldogs' 2022 recruiting class especially important.

With a third overall ranking in the 247Sports Composite, you may be wondering why you should consider Georgia's recruiting class to be the best in the country. Luckily for you, I've got the answers. Here's exactly why you should think of the Georgia Bulldogs' 2022 college football recruiting class as the pick of the litter and the very best in the country.

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Why Georgia Bulldogs' 2022 recruiting class rules

2. Filled needs better than anyone else

As mentioned, Georgia was left with quite the task going into the offseason, knowing they were losing a boatload of starters. With a very solid five 5-star players signed, you'd think Kirby Smart probably spread them all over the field, but you'd be mistaken. Of the Bulldogs' 10 highest-ranked signings, eight of them play on the defensive side of the ball. It seems less like Georgia is rebuilding their defense, and more like they're reloading it. In fact, each of the eight highest-rated Bulldog freshmen were in the top 50 of 247Sports' composite player rankings.

Kirby Smart has built his team defense first from Day 1, and that recruiting trail was once again blazed in 2022, to much success. It remains to be seen how much any of these players will play their freshman year, but even if they get little playing time this year, the Bulldogs are set up to be a force on the defensive side of the ball for years to come. This should, and undoubtedly will, place the fear of god in any offensive coordinator who has to take his team into Athens.

1. Volume

Another thing Georgia went for in their 2022 class was volume. No one took more players in this class than Georgia, and only Texas A&M equaled the Bulldogs' 30 signings. Kirby Smart, as he always does, recognized a need for more depth at every position, and went out and got not only great depth pieces, but future stars in the making just about everywhere on the field.

There are all the defensive players we just talked about, there are receivers to replace the likes of George Pickens and Jermaine Burton, there's a quarterback who may eventually take the reins from Stetson Bennett, there are offensive linemen,. You name it, the Bulldogs probably signed it. Including a punter!

Being able to lock down this number of players in a single class is nothing short of astounding, especially in today's recruiting market where the power resides with the players in deciding which program is the best for their future. Never before have we existed in an era where players hold as much leverage as they currently do thanks to NIL and the transfer portal. To be able to pull in 30 players in this climate, with what can only be assumed is an NIL budget far inferior to the likes of Texas and their in-state rivals Texas A&M, is nothing short of astounding. This earns high praise not only for Kirby Smart himself, but his entire staff and the wonderful job they did and continue to do as recruiters for Georgia.