ATHENS — Georgia is never going to win the transfer portal. Unlike just about every other significant rankings measure, you won’t find the Bulldogs near the top when it comes to transfer portal rankings.

On3 rates Georgia as having the No. 52 overall class. 247Sports is slightly higher on Georgia, rankings Georgia’s haul as the No. 30 overall class.

But Georgia still accomplished largely what it wanted to in the transfer portal. It made a few key additions, bringing Georgia Tech wide receiver Isiah Canion and Auburn defensive end Amaris Williams.

Georgia brought in only eight transfers, the fewest in the SEC. But in terms of the average transfer player the Bulldogs brought in, Georgia had the No. 6-ranked transfer class. The Bulldogs focused on quality over quantity.

Most importantly, it largely kept its roster together. Georgia saw only 15 players from last year’s roster enter the transfer portal. Two of those 15 were Pearce Spurlin and KJ Smith, players who had been medically disqualified and had to transfer in order to return to the field. Another was Nyier Daniels, who was dismissed from the team in November following a driving arrest.

The biggest transfer portal departure was Dominick Kelly. But even he likely wasn’t going to start for Georgia in 2026. He’ll now take his three years of eligibility with him to Ohio State.

To offset the loss of Kelly, Georgia brought in Gentry Williams of Oklahoma and Braylon Conley of USC. The latter has three years of eligibility remaining, put him on a clock similar to that of Kelly.

Williams has just one year of eligibility remaining, but he brings more proven production to the Georgia cornerback position. The biggest question with Williams is health. But his addition isn’t a massive gamble, what with Georgia bringing back Ellis Robinson and Demello Jones.

Georgia clearly saw the secondary as its biggest position of need. It responded by bringing in four players. The Bulldogs did see five members of last year’s secondary depart the program, but two of them were prior transfer additions who failed to make an impact at Georgia.

From a statistical production standpoint, Joenel Aguero is the biggest transfer portal loss. But Georgia added Khalil Barnes and Ja’Marley Riddle from the transfer portal to help push the promising Rasean Dinkins. Aguero ended up at Ole Miss, a team Georgia will see next season. That is perhaps the only regret when it comes to losing Aguero.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate the transfer portal comes in the inside linebacker room. The Bulldogs saw CJ Allen enter the NFL draft. But Raylen Wilson returned to Georgia. The Bulldogs also held on to Chris Cole, Justin Williams and Zayden Walker.

Each member of that trio is good enough to start just about anywhere. That they all elected to remain at Georgia gives the Bulldogs the best linebacker room in the country for next season. That’s something that won’t be reflected in the transfer portal rankings.

Of Georgia’s transfer portal departures, only six came on the offensive side of the ball. In addition to the aforementioned and Spurlin, Smith, and Daniels, offensive linemen Bo Hughley and Jamal Meriweather moved on. Running back Roderick Robinson is headed to UAB for the next step of his college journey.

The losses of Hughley and Meriweather do make Georgia a little thin at the tackle spots. Add in the loss of Monroe Freeling to the NFL and a case could be made that Georgia should’ve added a proven offensive tackle via the portal. But doing so would’ve been expensive and could’ve alienated players such as Juan Gaston and Ekene Ogboko.

At running back, wide receiver and tight end, Georgia held on to its key young players. Talyn Taylor, Elyiss Williams and Nate Frazier all would’ve been coveted players in the transfer portal.

Instead, they’ll be back in Athens next season.

Georgia did make additions at wide receiver and running back, bringing in Canion and Dante Dowdell. The Canion addition is needed, given what Georgia loses from a production standpoint.

That Canion was the only wide receiver Georgia brought in is a sign the Bulldogs are betting on their young talent. This was the first transfer portal cycle the Bulldogs didn’t bring in multiple wide receivers since 2022. Georgia expects Taylor, Landon Roldan, Sacovie White-Helton and CJ Wiley all to be big pieces of next year’s team.

Georgia did have a transfer portal transaction at the quarterback position, but it was an additive measure. The Bulldogs brought in Oregon’s Bryson Beaver. He counts as a transfer because he enrolled at Oregon but he is a 2026 signee.

The addition of Beaver helps make up for the loss of 2026 recruit Jared Curtis. Even if Beaver doesn’t have the same high-end upside of Curtis, he gives Georgia a key body in the quarterback room.

One that didn’t lose any players from its 2025 roster. Gunner Stockton, Ryan Puglisi, Ryan Montgomery, Hezekiah Millender and Colter Ginn will all be back next season. Given how some quarterback rooms have been impacted by the transfer portal, Georgia should be thrilled it has certainty and stability at the position for 2026.

For Georgia and the transfer portal, the most important number isn’t the number of transfers added but rather how few the Bulldogs lost. Among SEC teams, only Texas A&M had fewer players exit the program. Contemporaries such as Ohio State, Alabama, Texas and Oregon all lost at least 20-players to the transfer portal.

With the transfer portal closed — as much as it can be — Georgia won’t find itself on any winners’ list. But more importantly, Georgia won’t be classified as a transfer portal loser either.

Georgia lost just one player from its 2025 signing class, Kelly. The 2024 and 2025 signing classes, the backbone of next year’s team, have 51 of their 57 signees still on the Georgia roster. Those two recruiting classes were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country for their respective cycles.

Consider that half of the 2023 signing class didn’t even make it to the start of their third year in Athens.

By keeping those signing classes intact, Georgia will be a slightly older team next season. It won’t be a team of 22 and 23-year-olds like Miami and Indiana were this season but Georgia won’t be nearly as green as it was in 2025.

That will matter come the end of the season. One that the Bulldogs hope goes much longer than this past year.