Two different outlets put out their top 100 transfer portal player rankings this past week.

CBS Sports and ESPN both gave credit to Georgia for some of the additions the Bulldogs made. Isian Canion and Amaris Williams appeared on both lists, while ESPN had Clemson safety Khalil Barnes ranked as the No. 36 overall player.

“Barnes is a productive ballhawk from the back end. He displays good middle-of-the-field vision and range and diagnoses quickly,” ESPN’s Steve Muench said of the Clemson transfer. “He’s a solid tackler who takes good angles to the ball and is reliable in the open field. He shows enough athleticism to provide coverage in space, and enough strength to drop into the core to play the run. A scheme-versatile prospect.”

But perhaps more important than who Georgia added is who Georgia did not lose.

Of the 12 active players who departed the Georgia program this offseason, none ranked among the top 100 in either ranking.

A year ago, Georgia saw outside linebacker Damon Wilson depart at the 11th hour. So too did quarterback Carson Beck. Georgia would’ve undoubtedly loved to have Wilson a part of its pass rush, with the Bulldogs finishing with just 20.0 sacks last season. In two games against Ole Miss, Georgia failed to sack quarterback Trinidad Chambliss once.

While Georgia and Beck mutually agreed to move on from one another, Miami no doubt benefited from adding the veteran quarterback. He played a key part in guiding the Hurricanes to the national championship game, making a deeper run in the College Football Playoff.

Georgia did a better job this year in terms of retaining talent. Not just in terms of top players lost, but the overall numbers as well.

Georgia had 16 players depart the program last year. If you remove Pearce Spurlin and KJ Smith, who had to transfer after previously medically retiring from Georgia, the Bulldogs had just 12 members of the 2025 team leave via the transfer portal.

No team in the SEC had fewer players leave their respective program. Texas A&M saw 14 players depart while Vanderbilt lost 15 to the transfer portal. Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Alabama all had 20-plus players depart their respective programs after making the College Football Playoff last season.

In terms of on-field contributions, Joenel Aguero is the biggest transfer portal departure. He was a multi-year starter for the Bulldogs. He will now play for Ole Miss, who Georgia faces next season.

As for the player Georgia likely wanted to keep the most, that would be cornerback Dominick Kelly. He had three years of eligibility remaining and is the only member of the 2025 recruiting class to transfer thus far.

That he ended up at Ohio State of all places speaks to how the Buckeyes view his long-term potential. Offensive lineman Jamal Meriweather ended up at Miami, with three of Georgia’s 12 transfers landing at 2025 College Football Playoff participants.

The departure of Kelly does help put Georgia’s retention success into proper perspective. He is the lone member of Georgia’s 28-man signing class in 2025 to depart after just one season. That class ranked No. 2 for that recruiting cycle, thanks to five-star prospects like Elijah Griffin, Zayden Walker and Talyn Taylor.

Georgia’s 2024 signing class ranked No. 1 in the country for the cycle per the 247Sports Composite rankings. When combined with Georgia’s 2025 class, the 2026 roster will have 51 of its 57 signees. By comparison, the 2023 recruiting class had 11 of its 26 signees transfer before the 2025 season.

Keeping those recruiting classes together helps ensure that Georgia won’t be as young as it was in 2025, something that plagued the Bulldogs in the early parts of the season. While the Bulldogs won’t have rosters as old as Indiana and Miami did in 2025, Georgia likely won’t have to experience some of the same growing pains it did this past season.

The lack of impact transfers lost helps show that Kirby Smart is doing a better job when it comes to recruiting players who are willing to stick it out at Georgia. It doesn’t do the Bulldogs any good to put real resources into recruiting talented players, only to lose them just two years later.

The highest-rated member of Georgia’s 2024 signing class to transfer thus far is cornerback Ondre Evans, who rated as the No. 85 overall player in the class. He’s the only one of Georgia’s 10 top-100 signees in that class to depart. Evans tore his ACL last spring and would’ve found himself behind fellow 2024 signees Ellis Robinson and Demello Jones on Georgia’s depth chart.

Georgia still has all eight of its top-100 signees from the 2025 class. From the 2023 class, seven of the 12 top-100 signees have now transferred.

Georgia doesn’t aim to use the transfer portal in the same way as LSU or even Texas does. The Bulldogs signed fewer top-100 transfers than either program. LSU and Lane Kiffin signed the No. 3, 4 and 6 players per ESPN’s list.

But those programs also lost a handful of impactful players. Former LSU offensive tackle Carrius Curne is now playing for Ole Miss, while Texas wide receiver Parker Livingstone will play for rival Oklahoma.

The transfer portal is a key part of roster construction. That much is obvious in this day and age.

The Bulldogs used it this cycle to get better, specifically in the secondary and at wide receiver. But more importantly, Smart made sure Georgia’s program wasn’t negatively impacted as it had been in the past.