Can Richt build on this?

While Mark Richt likely looked on with pride, University of Georgia wide receiver AJ Green was selected fourth overall in the 2011 NFL Draft Thursday by the Cincinnati Bengals. Over the last few seasons, Richt has seen Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Green go early in the first round of various drafts while Mohamed Massaquoi went in the second round of the 2009 draft. Richt has also sent Fred Gibson, Michael Moore and a few tight ends to the next level as pass catchers but none have gone as highly regarded as Green.

But does that mean that Richt will be getting big-time looks from the prep nation’s top wide receivers this coming February? Maybe not. Green declared he was gone well before this past National Signing Day and while the Bulldogs were in contention for some of the biggest names in the land, the Dawgs landed just Chris Conley, who was already on campus on signing day, as well as a project in pint-sized Justin Scott-Wesley and the lightly-regarded Sanford Seay, who joined the class late.

Perhaps the two incoming-players that could have the biggest impact at wide receiver will be two young men that were considered prep stars on the defensive side of the ball in Malcolm Mitchell and Damian Swann. Georgia missed out on Charone Peake as well as in-state talent Alex Chisum.

Now Richt can go into living rooms and say, “I just put AJ Green in the first four picks.” Hopefully that sells the likes of JaQuay Williams, the Sandy Creek (GA) star that is picking up camp MVP awards and scholarship offers like they are free samples at Costco on Saturday. The Dawgs “have” four-star CJ Curry committed but could use another standout receiver like Williams to bring the thunder like Green was able to do the last three seasons. Georgia fans can only hope that Richt can repeat whatever he said to Green to these other recruits and do with them what he did for Green. The only difference: hopefully more wins if you are a Bulldog fan.