ATHENS — Georgia’s transfer portal class has skewed more towards the defensive side of the ball during the 2026 offseason.

The Bulldogs added Auburn defensive end Amaris Williams up front before making three additions in the secondary in Clemson safety Khalil Barnes, USC cornerback Braylon Conley and ECU safety Ja’Marley Riddle.

Given Georgia gets such little usage out of the transfer portal — no team in the College Football Playoff had a lower percentage of starts from transfers than the Bulldogs — it’s key the Bulldogs hit on the transfers they do take.

Especially when you factor in how Georgia got next to nothing from the defensive transfers it brought in last season.

Georgia brought in five defensive transfers last offseason: safeties Zion Branch, Jaden Harris and Adrian Maddox, outside linebacker Elo Modozie and defensive lineman Joshua Horton.

None emerged as regular contributors for the Bulldogs this past season. Harris, Maddox and Modozie have already transferred out, looking to start anew somewhere else.

Branch played admirably when thrust into duty due to targeting ejections in games against Florida and Ole Miss. But even with Kyron Jones going down before the first Ole Miss game, Branch never became a key cog in the Georgia defense.

Horton was perhaps the least lauded addition this past offseason but he emerged as the most consistent player for the Bulldogs. He was the only defensive transfer to play in all 14 games for Georgia this past season.

Modozie exits the program as perhaps the most disappointing transfer. Georgia had a significant need at outside linebacker after Damon Wilson entered the transfer portal late in the winter window.

Modozie had 6.5 sacks last season at Army, but that production did not follow him to Georgia. He had just 7 tackles this past season for the Bulldogs as he failed to register even one sack.

Georgia had just 20.0 sacks this past season, the fewest ever for a Kirby Smart-coached team at Georgia. The Bulldogs ranked 107th in the country in the stat. Not all of that falls on Modozie, as Georgia’s pass rush issues run deeper than that. The Bulldogs haven’t been among the nation’s leaders in sacks since Dan Lanning was the defensive coordinator.

The hope for the Bulldogs is that the addition of Williams makes Georgia’s 2026 defense all the more disruptive. While he’s more like Gabe Harris in terms of build than Modozie, Williams had 6.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks last season.

He also doesn’t have some of the same concerns Modozie did, given Williams spent the past two seasons at Auburn.

Georgia can pair Williams with Harris and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye at the defensive end position to give Georgia some real firepower at the position. Only Jonah-Ajonye was available against Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff. The absence of Harris was very much felt in that game.

As for the defensive back additions, Conley isn’t expected to start at the cornerback position. Much like Horton was viewed last season, he’s a depth piece. Georgia brings back cornerbacks Ellis Robinson and Demello Jones as likely starters.

Conley has three years of eligibility remaining and knows defensive backs coach Donte Williams from his time at USC. Conley will compete with Dominick Kelly and Jontae Gilbert as Georgia’s third cornerback.

At safety and star, Georgia will need more out of Barnes and Riddle than it got from last year’s trio.

For one, the Bulldogs have had five defensive backs transfer out of the program. The most notable loss was Joenel Aguero. He started 12 games for the Bulldogs last year before being sidelined with a wrist injury. He’ll play for Ole Miss next season.

With Jacorey Thomas moving on to the NFL, Georgia has two open spots at safety and star alongside rising junior KJ Bodlen.

Barnes seems like a strong fit to slide in at the star position, where he’ll likely split time with Rasean Dinkins. After Aguero went down with his injury, Dinkins stepped in as a starter. At this point, he’s better in pass coverage than he is as a run defender. That’s not all that surprising when you consider he didn’t get the full offseason benefits of the Georgia strength and conditioning program heading into 2025.

As for safety, that spot is more of a mystery. Jones started the first six games of the season before suffering a foot injury that never healed properly. Georgia thought it could get him back during the regular season, yet that proved not to be the case.

Branch returns with more experience in the Georgia system this year.

Todd Robinson and Jaylan Morgan both redshirted this past season. Georgia signed four safeties in the 2026 recruiting cycle in Jordan Smith, Tyriq Green, Zech Fort and Blake Stewart. Smith was a top-100 prospect in the 2026 recruiting cycle, while Green was a two-way star for state champion Buford. Bolden and Dinkins both showed that Georgia isn’t afraid to throw an inexperienced player in the deep end.

Getting immediate and meaningful snaps from Riddle would be huge for Georgia, highlighting exactly what the transfer portal is best used for at Georgia. The safety position is in a state of transition and Riddle fills a pressing need while having multiple years of eligibility remaining.

Georgia’s best transfer additions came on the offensive side of the ball last season. Expecting every transfer to perform as Zachariah Branch did is unrealistic. There’s a reason Branch was so special.

But perhaps if Georgia had gotten more from Modozie, Maddox or Harris, the Bulldogs would currently find themselves preparing for a spot in the national championship game.

Instead of looking ahead to next season and trying to figure out how Williams, Conley, Barnes and Riddle impact the 2026 Georgia defense.