Winning the battle that went right down to the wire for 5-star outside linebacker Nakobe Deam was a big thing for the Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs. He’s that good of a player, and he becomes the fifth 5-star commit in this 2019 class.

And convincing former walk-on quarterback Stetson Bennett to come back was big for an entirely different reason. Everybody loved him when he was the scout team quarterback last year as a walk-on, and he helped make people better around him. Add those two to the others already committed and then signed, and this is a solid No. 2 in the country class. There’s plenty of  reasons to be thrilled

“It was a good day for us. We got a lot of good Bulldogs,” Smart said Wednesday night. “We have few spots left and we’ve still got some targets out there that we want to go after. I think the totality of the class is, it’s a good balance.

“You can obviously see we had to go after some defensive linemen, the good big-bodies types and we were pleased to get that done. There are areas we’ve still got to work on, probably defensive back, receivers and another offensive lineman. So, those are things to add to this class to make to this class but we’re excited about what we have.”

There are always misses in recruiting, for everybody. Georgia really wanted Trey Sanders, the 5-star running back from IMG Academy, but he chose Alabama. Smart much preferred talking about the running back they did sign, 4-star Kenny McIntosh of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who’s 6-foot and a solid 225 pounds.

“We’re excited about Kenny. Kenny gives us something we don’t have,” Smart said.  “We’ve thought all year we needed a 225-pound (back). We thought we were missing that. And running back is a unique position, guys. Look at what D’Andre Swift was as a freshman. Look at what Nick Chubb was as a freshman. Look at Sony (Michel) and (Todd) Gurley, all these guys. So it’s not a position where you have to have – you can go out and sign really good players and we know we’ve got the possibility of having three guys leave next year if Holyfield stays. So we’re going to have an opportunity to go out and sign the best backs in the country next year.

“We’ve got good backs in our program. And we’ve got good young backs. And we think Kenny gives us something, I mean Kenny’s going to be a 225-pound guy who’s a bruiser and very athletic out of the backfield. We’re very excited about what he can do.”

Here’s the latest look at the class, with the additions of Dean and Bennett:

Defensive line

5-stars:  Nolan Smith, DE, IMG Academy; Travon Walker, DT, Thomaston, Ga.

4-stars: Bill Norton, DE, Memphis, Tenn.; Jermaine Johnson, DE, Independence (Kan.) CC;  Zion Logue, DE, Lebanon, Tenn.

3-stars:  Tymon Mitchell, DT,  Nashville, Tenn.; Tramel Walthour, DT, Hutchison (Kan.) CC.

Linebackers

5-stars: Nakobe Dean, OLB, Horn Lake, Miss.

4-stars: Rian Davis, OLB, Apopka, Fla.; Trezmen Marshall, ILB, Homerville, Ga.; Makiya Tongue, OLB, Baton Rouge, La.

Defensive backs

4-stars: Lewis Cine, S, Cedar Hill, Texas; D.J. Daniel, CB, Milledgeville, Ga.

Quarterbacks/running backs

4-stars: Kenny McIntosh, RB, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; John Rhys Plumlee, QB, Hattiesburg, Miss. (committed but not yet signed), Dwan Mathis, QB, Belleville, Mich.

Unranked: Stetson Bennett, QB, Ellisville, Miss.

Offensive line

5-stars: Clay Webb, C, Oxford, Ala.

4-stars:  Xavier Truss, OT, Warwick, R.I.; Warren McClendon, OT,  Brunswick, Ga.

Wide receivers/tight ends

5-stars: Dominick Blaylock, WR, Marietta, Ga.

4-stars: Ryland Goede, TE, Acworth, Ga.

The best thing about this class is it validates what happened a year ago with the Bulldogs had the No. 1 class in 2018. Adding so many highly regarded players two years in a row means Georgia is going to be deep and  talented, and certainly capable of contending for SEC and national titles once again in 2019.

There’s still more work to be done between now and February, and there’s room for Georgia to sign two or three more players. As always, the work never ends.