Roquan Smith's Unprecedented Recruitment Results in a Major Win for Georgia

Tom Petty once sang that "the waiting is the hardest part," and the wait for 4-star linebacker Roquan Smith was worth it for head coach Mark Richt and the Georgia football program.

After committing to UCLA on national signing day, Smith delayed signing his national letter of intent to give himself more time.

Instead of sticking with his commitment to the Bruins, Smith—a Montezuma, Georgia, native—announced on Instagram on Friday that he will sign a financial aid agreement with the in-state Bulldogs.

After a long and bizarre week in which Smith wavered not only between schools, but the decision to either sign a national letter of intent or financial aid agreement, Smith's recruiting saga has resulted in a huge win for Georgia, as Richt demonstrated on Twitter.

The 6'2", 205-pounder is a monstrous hitter, lighting quick and has some of the best football instincts in the class of 2015. He's comfortable in coverage, which will be huge against running backs out of the backfield and the athletic tight ends who have inundated the SEC over the last few years.

With Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins moving on soon, finding a running mate with rising sophomore Lorenzo Carter was imperative for Richt and his staff in this class.

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Smith is that guy, but he's also versatile enough to do much more.

Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt loves ultra-athletic linebackers who can shed blocks, find the football, dislodge it and create big plays on defense. One look at Smith's highlights, and it's clear that he fits the bill.

B/R national college football video analyst Michael Felder even suggests that Smith could put on a few pounds and play inside in Pruitt's scheme from Day 1, which would give Georgia one of the most fearsome and athletic linebacking groups in the country.

Is that a stretch? Not really.

Pruitt does a great job of mixing and matching his linebackers to find the best four and gets them on the field regardless of size.

When Pruitt was the defensive coordinator at Florida State and won a national championship in 2013, it was 6'4", 215-pound Terrance Smith in the middle of that defense. Fellow linebacker Telvin Smith was 6'3" 218 pounds, according to the 2014 VIZIO BCS National Championship Game notes, and Christian Jones chimed in at 6'4", 235 pounds. 

Pair smith up with Carter and a defensive line class in 2015 that's loaded with stars like No. 1 overall player Trent Thompson, and the future of Georgia's defense looks incredibly bright.

From a recruiting standpoint, Smith's saga since national signing day is groundbreaking. According to Michael Carvell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Smith didn't sign his national letter of intent, which Georgia signed off on, to provide more flexibility over the next few months in case some unforeseen changes happen across the college football landscape.

"He’s not going to sign a letter of intent," Macon County High School head coach Larry Harold told Carvell. "The reason why is because what he went through last week. This just gives us flexibility in case something else unexpectedly happens again."

As Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports notes, that could set the trend for more top-tier prospects down the road.

It might start a trend for top-tier prospects in the future, who don't want to be bound to the one-sided national letter of intent.

"The UGA coaches were fine with Roquan not signing an NLI—actually one of the coaches said that if their son is good enough, they’re not going to let him sign an NLI either," Harold told the AJC.

As Carvell notes, this practice isn't as friendly as the national letter of intent.

Get ready for more of that from around the country. Now players know that, if they're really wanted, coaches conceivably could tell them to pass on the letter of intent in favor of the financial aid agreement. In the latter agreement, players can back out prior to enrolling in classes.

Essentially, the school is bound to the player rather than the other way around.

Smith's future on the field could be obvious from the moment he steps foot on Georgia's campus, but his legacy could live on for a long time if others follow his lead and sign aid agreements instead of national letters of intent.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.