National media weighs in on Jermaine Burton transfer from Georgia to Alabama: ‘Interesting’

Burton led Georgia wide receivers in yards last season, finishing the 2021 campaign with 26 receptions for 497 yards and five touchdowns. injuries limited Burton during the season, with an ankle injury bothering him to start the year and a groin injury keeping him out of the game against Auburn.

Burton will be immediately eligible for the Crimson Tide, filling a big hole. Alabama was going to have to replace Jameson Williams and John Metchie as both are off to the NFL.

The addition of Burton should certainly help Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young.

Burton is the eighth Georgia player to enter the transfer portal this offseason. Of those eight, four of them will be playing for SEC schools next season, as Justin Robinson is headed to Mississippi State, Jalen Kimber is going to Florida and Latavious Brini will suit up for Arkansas.

The now Alabama wide receiver signed with Georgia as a member of the 2020 recruiting class. He made plays as a freshman, with his best game coming against Mississippi State when he caught eight passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart has been a vocal opponent of the transfer portal in the past and the Burton departure is another example as to why. The Bulldogs have been able to use the transfer portal to their advantage, as they brought in Derion Kendrick, Tykee Smith and Arik Gilbert last offseason. You can bet Georgia will be active in the portal going forward, specifically when it comes to the wide receiver position.

“I think a lot of what you look at when you recruit now is what is the history of the student-athlete, and you’re trying to put a likelihood of when things get tough, because they will get tough, they will get tough in college athletics,” Smart said prior to the national championship game. “Your time demands, practice demands, competitive demands will get tough. How will they respond? We try to spend a lot of time looking at that because some of the portal is out of our control in terms of the decisions that players make.

“We try to be fair and honest with our players, and if they’re not ready to play then we communicate that to them.”

Georgia and Alabama do not play each during the 2022 regular season but the two will be favorites to advance to the SEC championship game. The two teams played twice this past season, as Alabama won the first time 41-24 and Georgia won 33-18 earlier this month.

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