Former Georgia Bulldogs player named as one of the biggest busts in modern football history
A former Georgia Bulldogs player was named by 247Sports this week as one of the biggest busts in modern football history.
Former five-star tight end Arik Gilbert, who is from Marietta, GA, was rated as the No. 1 tight end in the nation in the 2020 recruiting class (he was also rated as the No. 1 player in the state of Georgia and the No. 5 overall player in the nation).
Unfortunately for Gilbert, he hasn’t even come close to living up to expectations that he faced coming out of high school, which why he landed on 247Sports’ list this week.
From 247Sports: While he still has time remaining on his eligibility clock, it would take a significant turnaround for Arik Gilbert to revitalize his college football career. He landed at LSU ahead of the 2020 season as one of the most prized tight ends in recruiting history, delivered a promising start to his career as a true freshman and has hardly seen the field since. Gilbert transferred to his home state and suited up for Georgia as a converted wide receiver, but he also missed much of his sophomore year for personal reasons. He later joined the Nebraska roster but was promptly arrested and never played for the Huskers. Gilbert is now back in the transfer portal for a third time.
Gilbert signed with LSU during the 2020 recruiting cycle after an intense recruiting battle that involved some of the biggest programs in the sport.
The Georgia native played in eight games for LSU in 2020 before opting out of the final two games of the season. Gilbert transferred to Georgia after the 2020 season, but he didn’t play for the Bulldogs in 2021.
In 2022, Gilbert played in three games for Georgia and caught two passes for 16 yards and a touchdown.
Gilbert left Georgia after the 2022 season and transferred to Nebraska. He didn’t play in any games for the Cornhuskers over the last two seasons. Gilbert re-entered the NCAA transfer portal this past December.
It’s unfortunate that Gilbert, who is an elite athlete, hasn’t lived up to his potential as a football player. Maybe he’ll figure out in 2025 if he lands with a new program, but it feels pretty safe at this point to officially label the former five-star recruit as a “bust”.
