Kirby Smart knows the 2025 Georgia football team will be a young one. That’s the reality due in part to transfer portal, where fewer and fewer players make it to year three or even year four with a program.

The transfer portal is hardly new at this point in time. Former Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick played a significant role on Georgia’s 2021 National Championship team. He spent one year at Georgia before being taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Kendrick was one of 24 scholarship players on that championship team that had played at least three seasons of college football. Of those 24, only he and quarterback JT Daniels had not spent those three years in Athens.

The 2021 Georgia team was more senior-heavy than the four since. That can in part be chalked up to the extra year of eligibility given following the 2020. In the four seasons, including 2025, since, Georgia has had between 16 and 18 scholarship players with at least three years of college football experience.

But while the number of experienced players has largely stayed flat, the number of those who have spent three full seasons at Georgia has declined every year.

In 2025, Georgia will have just 11 players on its roster who have played three years in the Georgia program. That is half of what it was on the 2021 team.

Georgia signed 30 players in the 2022 recruiting cycle. A third of them made it to their senior year at Georgia, though three were just taken in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Only one current member of the team was on that first national championship team. That would be offensive guard Micah Morris, who is entering his fifth season at Georgia.

“It’s kind of funny because anytime coach Smart looks for older guys, it’s always my name that comes up," Morris told reporters in April. “Like you said, I’m the last one, so it’s only me. But I just try to just give wisdom, maybe that’s the right word, just the wisdom to the younger guys. I’ve seen it all, the two national championships back to back, SEC championships, multiple appearances. Just trying to just give wisdom, just knowledge to them, and knowing that if you trust the process, it’ll work out.”

Georgia does have 10 remaining members from its 2022 signing class. Oscar Delp, Dillon Bell and Daylen Everette are among the most decorated players on the team entering the 2025 season.

While Georgia does bring back some proven veterans in that small group, some will at last have the opportunity to play a much more significant role on the team.

Christen Miller is the only fourth-year player on the front seven. The 2021 team had six such players by comparsion.

He’ll be tasked with playing a hugely important role on this team.

At quarterback, Gunner Stockton will have the chance to be the team’s starting option. Much will be placed on the shoulders of Stockton, who stuck around to get his starting opportunity.

All that time in the system has brought Stockton a lot of admiration from his younger teammates.

“He’s got a tremendous amount of confidence in his ability,” Smart said on the first day of spring practice in March. “He’s got a lot of knowledge of our system. I think that kinda resonates with the other players. They kinda rally around Gunner because they’ve got a lot of respect for him.

Quarterback has been the one position where the Bulldogs have consistently had a veteran presence on the team. At inside and outside linebacker, Georgia has zero seniors on the 2025 roster.

To address the lack of veterans, Smart has leaned on the transfer portal to bring in some older bodies. Of the 10 players Georgia added via the transfer portal this offseason, five have played at least three seasons of college football.

All three of Georgia’s defensive back additions fit the requirement, as does running back Joshua McCray.

“Talented kid from a great high school program,” Smart said at the Regions Tradition golf tournament in Hoover, Alabama in May. “Size, in a world of a lot of third and ones and fourth and ones in College Football with analytics people going for it, you need short yardage backs. We think he gives us the potential to do that.”

The addition of Noah Thomas at the wide receiver position will give Stockton four pass catchers with plenty of experience. He joins Delp, Bell and former Miami transfer Colbie Young.

Even at a program like Georgia, where there are plenty of young blue-chippers eager to make an impact, the value of veterans are immeasurable. The 2021 Georgia team is a prime example of that. Given what Michigan did in 2023 and Ohio State did last season, it’s hard to argue against the value of home-grown veteran players.

That number is in short supply for Georgia in 2025. The 2022 team had 17. A year later, that dropped to 16. Last season’s team, which battled through a difficult slate, had just 12.

Stockton, Miller, Delp and Bell are among the most important players on the team. Not just because of the position they play but even more so due to their time in the Georgia program.

The Bulldogs will operate at a deficit in terms of home-grown senior experience compared to past Georgia teams. Not just to the fabeled 2021 team, but even the 2022 team that was highly doubted for having to replace so many of those seniors. That team had 17 such players, six more than this year’s Georgia team will.

Smart still feels confident in this 2025 team, even if it is a young one. The lack of veteran experience, coupled with a difficult schedule, is going to put an even bigger burden on the few seniors Georgia does have.

“We got a new team, new energy, young,” Smart said in an interview with Paul Finebaum.