Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs stacked with young high upside breakout candidates ahead of the 2025 college football season
Georgia is finally feeling the brunt of the Transfer Portal and NIL era as the Bulldogs lost 14 transfers, adding just six this past recruiting cycle. The good news? Kirby Smart and his staff have been arguably the best recruiting apparatus in the nation on the high school side of things.Yes, Georgia is going to […]
Georgia is finally feeling the brunt of the Transfer Portal and NIL era as the Bulldogs lost 14 transfers, adding just six this past recruiting cycle. The good news? Kirby Smart and his staff have been arguably the best recruiting apparatus in the nation on the high school side of things.
Yes, Georgia is going to have to lean on quite a few young and inexperienced players this season, but that just means there should be some exciting breakout stars with pedigree ready to blow away Bulldogs fans. Who are those top breakout stars set to explode in 2025? Let's dive in.
Zachariah Branch, Wide Receiver
Perhaps the lone incoming Transfer Portal player to get excited about for Georgia fans, Zachariah Branch is just different. Branch was the the number one wide receiver recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, but he proved to be far more than a receiver as a true freshman.
Branch returned both kick return and punt return touchdowns too, as he racked up nearly 1200 all-purpose yards as a true freshman. He just has a different gear than anyone else on the field on any given play and it's quite clear he's a special talent.
The exact reason he transferred from USC is still unclear. However, one obvious reason he might have chosen to transfer was the complete misuse of his talents. The Trojans annoyingly only targeted him almost exclusively on short to intermediate routes, refusing to develop him into a more complete player.
Georgia will need him to be Gunner Stockton's best friend on underneath routes, as he can add plenty of yards after the catch, but the Bulldogs will also likely let him thrive in all aspects of the position. Smart won't just pigeon-hole him into a gadget player. He's much more than that. And Branch will need to be much more as the team just lost Arian Smith and Dominic Lovett to the 2025 NFL Draft.
Gabe Harris, Edge Defender
Georgia lost nearly their entire defensive front to the 2025 NFL Draft between Mykel Williams, Nazir Stackhouse, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Warren Brinson, and more. Then they lost their best returning edge defender Damon Wilson to the Transfer Portal. But it turns out Georgia still has a few unbelievable talents waiting in the wings like Gabe Harris.
Harris has played less than 300 snaps in total throughout his first two seasons in Athens, but that's not because of a lack of talent. He just had some older more experienced players ahead of him. Harris flashed some incredible ability last year as he tallied three sacks in his limited action, including this impressive strip sack that led to a fumble recovery touchdown in the post below.
At 6'4", 260 pounds Gabe Harris is the perfect prototype edge defender to immediately replace Mykel Williams this year. Harris has already posted decent pass rush pressure rate stats in smaller samples. If he takes a decent leap forward in his development this offseason he could become a superstar for Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs defense.
Raylen Wilson, Linebacker
Now that both Jalon Walker and Smael Mondon are both gone, Raylen Wilson is going to have to step up in a huge way at linebacker. He and C.J. Allen will now run the show at the second level of Georgia's defense, and Wilson might be just as important as Jalon Walker was last season.
Wilson, a former five star stud recruit, has done a great job early in his career dominating his assignment on any play, regardless of what he's asked to do. Even if it means he's not the one making a flashy play. If he needs to destroy an offensive tackle on a pass rush stunt combination, blanket cover a running back, or just lay somebody out on special teams Wilson is all over it.
Wilson projects to be the do-it-all pass rush, drop-into-coverage, edge-set, and run stuffing monster that Georgia always has on their roster this year. He's shown plenty of potential. Now it's time for him to challenge for the Butkus Award (best linebacker in the nation) just like Jalon Walker did last fall.
Honorable Mentions
Gunner Stockton is obviously going to need to break out for the Georgia Bulldogs this year, but he already did somewhat down the stretch in the SEC Championship game and the playoff. He just has to get more comfortable with his read progressions and quick decision-making.
KJ Bolden already played a big role last season as a true freshman but was still really just the team's third safety. Now he should be the leader of the defense, breaking out as the direct replacement for Malaki Starks. No pressure.
Then the other edge defender opposite Gabe Harris to watch should be redshirt freshman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. He's a physical freak who can move much better than a 6'4", 275-pound 19-year-old should. He played less than 50 snaps last year, but he could be a near every down pass rush monster in 2025.
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And if you want to see why Kirby Smart brought in Zachariah Branch to take the Georgia Bulldogs offense to the next level just watch his USC highlights from last year in the video below!
