Kirby Smart keeps losing young talent to transfer portal, but Gunner Stockton and Georgia Bulldogs should still succeed

Georgia lost two more young talents in Dominick Kelly and Jamal Meriweather, but the team’s depth is still mostly intact

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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The Georgia Bulldogs have gotten better at utilizing the transfer portal this offseason (and some last year), but Kirby Smart continues losing young talents as the deadline of Jan. 16 to enter the portal nears.

Smart and his staff have added critical talents like Amaris Williams (EDGE, Auburn), Khalil Barnes (DB, Clemson), and Gentry Williams (CB, Oklahoma) on defense. They’ve added a couple critical skill position talents in Isiah Canion (WR, Georgia Tech) and Dante Dowdell (RB, Kentucky) too. Unfortunately, players who could have grown into quality depth pieces are still leaving.

Georgia Bulldogs lose freshman CB Dominick Kelly to transfer portal

Georgia is now up to 15 players who have departed for the transfer portal this cycle. Most of them have been depth talents, but that’s exactly where the Bulldogs are no longer the same. The Bulldogs’ starters are still some of the best in the nation, but their depth has definitely fallen off. Losing younger talents with promise has been a big reason for this.

Dominick Kelly, a freshman cornerback who defended three passes last year on limited action, is a prime example of the kind of player Georgia keeps losing this offseason. He announced that he’s entered the portal this week, and is now the sixth defensive back to leave the program in the last few weeks.

Kelly was likely set for a decent increase in snaps, but wasn’t locked in as a starter, so it seems he’s gone looking for that immediate high-impact role.

Kirby Smart loses another offensive lineman in Jamal Meriweather

Georgia’s two biggest areas of loss this offseason via the portal and the draft have been the defensive backfield and the offensive line. Six defensive backs. Now, Jamal Meriweather — a former highly touted offensive line recruit — makes it three offensive linemen who have left for the portal. A couple have gone off to the NFL Draft.

Meriweather, just like Kelly wasn’t likely set to be a full-time starter just yet, so he decided to depart as well. The good news is that Georgia’s offense line depth is actually surprisingly still fine.

Georgia fans may see all of these transfers out and be discouraged, but overall, Gunner Stockton and the Bulldogs should be fine without most of them. Georgia lost 20 players to the portal last year (although there’s still time to surpass that number) and the team still got back to the College Football Playoff. This year, Georgia is actually projected to lose fewer early NFL Draft picks from their roster as well. So yes, despite the many losses that Georgia would be better off keeping, this year’s transfer portal season may end up even slightly more positive than last cycle’s.

The Bulldogs could still stand to add some tight end help and a wide receiver or two, but overall Kirby Smart and his staff are clearly improving with how they handle this particular portion of talent management, it seems.

We’ll be back with more Georgia Bulldogs coverage here at A to Z Sports soon. Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news.

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