Rankings Spotlight: Alabama-Georgia game features unmatched roster talent

The biggest game of the season is this weekend. Alabama hosts Georgia in a game that will impact the College Football Playoff standings and recruiting efforts in the 2025 and 2026 classes. It’s a huge chance for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart to show everyone that the Crimson Tide won’t roll on as usual after Nick Saban’s retirement. This game will be the first real chance to see if Kalen DeBoer was the right coach to succeed the greatest coach of all time.

From a talent and depth perspective, only Ohio State can offer an apples-to-apples comparison. The number of five-stars and four-stars on the Alabama and Georgia roster is as good as it gets in the 2024 college football season.

Alabama: 11

Georgia: 10

Using their ratings as high school prospects, Alabama has a slight edge on Georgia. Four of Alabama’s players were top-10 prospects in the Rivals250 when they graduated from high school: Ryan Williams, Keon Keeley, Jeremiah Alexander and Kadyn Proctor. Other members of the Crimson Tide who were five-star high school prospects include Jaylen Mbakwe, Elijah Pritchett, Zabien Brown, Jihaad Campbell and Yhonzae Pierre. Transfers Domani Jackson and LT Overton were also included here because they were five-stars when they graduated from high school.

Tate Ratledge is the only one of Georgia’s 10 former five-stars to play on the offensive side of the ball. The other nine are defensive players. Ellis Robinson was the highest ranked of the group but Mykel Williams and Samuel M’Pemba were also top 10 prospects in their class. KJ Bolden, Damon Wilson, Julian Humphrey, Justin Williams, Jordan Hall and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye round out Georgia’s group of five-stars.

Alabama: 54

Georgia: 54

Between the two teams there will be more than 100 players who were rated as four-star prospects in high school. Let that sink in for a minute.

There are 66 other Power Four teams trying to recruit these prospects, too. Georgia and Alabama were each able to get more than 50 of them. It’s astonishing that they both somehow have the same number on the roster.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that about 75-percent of these players, many of whom can barely find playing time this year, would start for almost any other team in the nation.

Both starting quarterbacks in this game, Jalen Milroe and Carson Beck, were rated as four-stars coming out of high school. The leading rushers for both teams, Jamarion Miller and Trevor Etienne were also four-stars. Georgia’s leading receiver, Dominic Lovett, and top tackler, CJ Allen, had four-stars on their high school profiles. Alabama’s Keon Sabb, who leads the SEC in pass breakups, was also a four-star.