Ever since Brock Bowers graduated from Georgia and was picked in the NFL first-round draft, the Tight End position has become the most illustrious position in Georgia. Brock Bowers not only played that position but also redefined it entirely. A John Mackey award winner in the 2022 and 2023 seasons still makes him the sole player to win the award twice. Naturally, the oncoming tight-end talents will have an affinity to follow in his footsteps.  Kaiden Prothro is someone who may be looking at Kerby Smart to help him do just that.

While that is true on many aspects of Kaiden Prothro’s recruitment, the reality is somewhat the opposite. This is the time when Georgia and Kirby Smart need Kaiden more than Kaiden needs Georgia, and he knows that. Moreover, it certainly doesn’t help when you are a player in the middle of a recruiting war between powerhouses of college football. For context, hear this.

For starters, Georgia Bulldogs had some very good tight ends in their 2024 roster, but hardly anyone at the level of Kaiden. Certainly, Lawson Luckie notched up 24 receptions for 348 yards and Oscar Delp, who received 21 receptions for 248 yards. But, these two players, while good, didn’t fully provide the levels at which Georgia wants their Tight Ends to perform. And that’s why they need Kaiden, who is a nearly 5-star-rated tight end in the country, for their long-term plans. Except there’s a slight hiccup.

Kaiden Prothro has been quite vocal with his statements recently about which college he wants to join. So far, he has made the highest number of visits to Georgia Bulldogs (7 visits) as opposed to any other program. Furthermore, since he is a native of Georgia too the close proximity of the program certainly helps. But, according to Chad Simmons of On3, he may have a slight change of mind now and has opened up his options fully. Currently, he has 5 programs in his mind: Texas Longhorns, Auburn, Alabama, and Florida Gators, excluding Georgia. But, Chad Simmons provided further insight on his potential destination.

“Georgia kind of sells itself as an instate program the way they use the tight ends obviously appeals to a guy like Prothro as well. And their development and putting guys like Brock Bowers first round into the league they have a lot going for him no doubt. But when you’re going up against guys like Alabama, Auburn Florida, Texas…they’re not the clear-cut leader or front runner“. Well, that does say a lot about why Georgia isn’t the only program Kaiden is interested in. But what are his interests in other programs?

Potential destinations for Kaiden Prothro

Well, Chad Simmons mentioned Texas as the other program that Kayden might be interested in. ” Texas is the wild card, they use the tight end as well and he hasn’t been to Texas. He’s been to Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Georgia. He’ll try to get there in the spring they’re one to of the unknown right now“. And Chad Simmons is right since Jaiden has his official visit scheduled in Texas on 20th June this spring. But, even then it seems Auburn is one unexpected program running in the front. And here’s why.

The player visited the college earlier this February and had all the words of praise for their coach Hugh Freeze. “I just really like how they run things around here. The coaches are great, and I feel like they use their tight ends a good amount here”. Now you know that Kaiden is just starting to get the feel of his market value, and he definitely will not decide so hurriedly about his destination. The verdict?

Well, Hugh Freeze, Kirby Smart, and even the Gators have a significant chance (ranked 4th ) to land the prospect. But the real update will be only after June when he has made all his official visits. So far, we can only say that Georgia does make sense due to their proximity, but that doesn’t mean Auburn doesn’t have a chance, as they are listed as second to land him on On3. Or even Alabama, for that matter, who also have an 11.1% probability to land him and are ranked third.