The transfer portal shapes every roster in college football.

Georgia is no different. The Bulldogs have seen players depart for other programs and added key contributors to championship teams.

Has the portal killed Georgia’s top recruiting classes, or has it been a net advantage for the Bulldogs?

UGASports examined the last few years.

Georgia signed 20 prospects in its 2021 class. Half of that group ended up transferring out of Athens:

– LB Xavian Sorey

– DB Nyland Green

– WR Jackson Meeks

– DL Marlin Dean

– WR AD Mitchell

– LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson

– RB/DB Lovasea Carroll

– DL Jonathan Jefferson

– QB Brock Vandagriff

– DB David Daniel-Sisavanh (dismissed from team)

Of that group, Mitchell and Dumas-Johnson were key starters on the 2021 and 2022 national championship teams.

Mitchell started 15 games over those two years, missing much of 2022 due to injury. He caught touchdowns in all four of Georgia’s College Football Playoff wins before transferring to Texas after the 2022 season.

Dumas-Johnson played in all but one game as a backup and special teams player in 2021. He then started 24 games in 2022 and 2023 before missing the last few games of 2023 due to injury. Dumas-Johnson then transferred to Kentucky for the 2024 season.

Several other players – Xavian Sorey, Nyland Green, Jackson Meeks, and David Daniel-Sisavanh – contributed extensively in backup roles and on special teams.

The players who stuck around from the 2021 class include:

– LB Smael Mondon

– DL Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins

– DB Kamari Lassiter

– OL Amarius Mims

– DB Javon Bullard

– TE Brock Bowers

– OL Jared Wilson

– OL Dylan Fairchild

– LB Chaz Chambliss

– OL Micah Morris

That year also proved kind to the Bulldogs in the transfer portal. Georgia added Derion Kendrick and Tykee Smith from the portal before the 2021 season. Both players went on to be starters and key contributors in Athens. Georgia also added tight end Arik Gilbert in the summer of 2021.

Georgia signed 30 players in the Class of 2022. Linebacker signee CJ Washington later medically retired after suffering a head and neck injury in practice.

Of the remaining 29 players, 14 later transferred out:

– RB Andrew Paul

– LB EJ Lightsey

– DE Marvin Jones Jr.

– WR CJ Smith

– DL Shone Washington

– DB Jaheim Singletary

– DB Julian Humphrey

– DL Bear Alexander

– OL Aliou Bah

– LB CJ Madden

– OL Jacob Hood

– OL Griffin Scroggs

– DB Marcus Washington

– WR De’Nylon Morrissette

– LB Darris Smith (dismissed from team)

Of that group, Marvin Jones, Julian Humphrey, Bear Alexander, and Darris Smith were the biggest contributors.

Jones played in 13 games as a freshman in 2022. He then played a key rotational role while appearing in 12 games in 2023. Jones transferred to Florida State after the season.

Humphrey played as a reserve corner and a special teamer in 2022 and 2023. He then started the first 10 games of 2024, rotating with and eventually losing his starting spot to Daniel Harris. Humphrey recently transferred to Texas A&M.

Alexander flashed as a freshman in 2022. He played in 12 games and had two tackles for loss and a sack in the national championship win over TCU. Alexander then transferred to USC for the next two seasons before heading to Oregon this offseason.

Smith played on special teams in 2022 and played a bigger role on the defense to open the 2023 season. But he was dismissed from the team and later transferred to Missouri.

The players who stayed in Athens from the 2022 class were:

– DL Christen Miller

– OL Earnest Greene

– DB Daylen Everette

– OL Drew Bobo

– DE Mykel Williams

– TE Oscar Delp

– WR Cole Speer

– WR Dillon Bell

– RB Branson Robinson

– DB Ja’Corey Thomas

– P Brett Thorson

– LB Jalon Walker

– DB Malaki Starks

– QB Gunner Stockton

Everette, Williams, Walker, and Starks declared for the NFL Draft this offseason after three years in Athens.

Georgia signed 26 prospects in the Class of 2023. Two of those players, offensive lineman Kelton Smith and tight end Pearce Spurlin, have since medically retired.

Of the remaining 24 players, 10 have since transferred out:

– DE Damon Wilson

– DE Samuel M’Pemba

– WR Anthony Evans

– WR Tyler Williams

– WR Yazeed Haynes

– DL Jamaal Jarrett

– LB Troy Bowles

– DB AJ Harris

– OL Joshua Miller

– DB Justyn Rhett

Damon Wilson and Anthony Evans have been the biggest contributors to depart so far.

Wilson appeared in 12 games in 2023 and 13 more in 2024, starting two. He played a key rotational role at outside linebacker for the Bulldogs.

Evans, meanwhile, served as Georgia’s primary punt returner in 2024. He also played a limited role on the offense, seeing a little bit more playing time than he did as a freshman in 2023.

Other contributors as reserves or special teams players included Samuel M’Pemba, Jamaal Jarrett, Troy Bowles, AJ Harris, and Justyn Rhett.

Georgia also dipped more into the portal, adding receivers Dominic Lovett and RaRa Thomas, running back Len’Neth Whitehead, and defensive back Smoke Bouie after the 2022 season.

Whitehead and Bouie never contributed and have since left the team. Lovett has been a key piece of the offense for the past two seasons. Thomas showed promise in 2023, but was dismissed from the team ahead of the 2024 season after a domestic violence arrest. He is currently in the transfer portal.

Georgia signed 29 players out of high school in the class of 2024. All 29 remain on campus as of this writing.

The Bulldogs also brought in their biggest transfer portal haul yet in the 2024 offseason, signing the following:

– RB Trevor Etienne

– WR Colbie Young

– WR London Humphreys

– TE Ben Yurosek

– QB Jaden Rashada

– DL Xzavier McLeod

– DB Jake Pope

– WR Michael Jackson III

– DB Collin Gill

– K Charlie Ham

– Long snapper Beau Gardner

Etienne battled some injuries but was one of the focal points of Georgia’s offense when healthy.

Young was off to a strong start in the first five games, catching a pair of touchdowns. But a domestic violence charge kept him off the field for the remainder of the 2024 season.

Humphreys, Yurosek, and McLeod all contributed in rotational roles and are primed for more action in 2025.

Gardner took over the starting long-snapping duties and handled them effectively for all 13 games in 2024.

Rashada, Pope, Jackson, and Gill did not contribute and entered the transfer portal again. Pope has since transferred to UNLV.

Georgia has also brought in another group of transfers since the end of the 2024 season:

– WR Zachariah Branch

– WR Noah Thomas

– ATH Micah Bell

– DB Adrian Maddox

– DB Zion Branch

– DB Jaden Harris

So what can we learn from all this?

In the classes of 2021 and 2022, 24 of 49 signees (excluding CJ Washington’s medical retirement) transferred from Athens. Six were major contributors on their side of the ball, and five more were key special teams players.

That leaves 25 players from that group who played their entire collegiate career in Athens.

The retention rate from the Class of 2023 has increased slightly over the past two years. Ten of the 24 players (excluding Kelton Smith and Pearce Spurlin’s medical retirements) have left, with Damon Wilson and Anthony Evans as the two major contributors.

Still, as Kirby Smart has mentioned throughout the past year, the transfer portal has eaten into Georgia’s depth.

But when it comes to landing players from the portal, Kirby Smart has hit more than he has missed. He’s also signed bigger classes each of the last three years.

Since the summer of 2021, Georgia has added 18 players from the portal. Of those, 10 have been either starters or major contributors during their Georgia careers. Others who left after one year—Rashada, Pope, Jackson, and Gill—still provided depth to position groups that needed it in 2024.

The Bulldogs have added six more transfers since the end of the 2024 season.

That’s the way rosters are managed in college football in this day and age. Things are no different in Athens. But Smart has shown the ability to add both quality starters and useful depth pieces through the portal to mitigate roster turnover as much as possible.