ATHENS — Georgia football saw a lot of talent walk out the door after the Bulldogs’ 2024 SEC championship season.
Did Kirby Smart bring enough in to replace it?
It’s a fair question to ask when once considers Georgia had 13 players selected in the NFL draft and another 16 leave via the transfer portal.
RELATED: Ranking the Georgia transfer additions
Among those who transferred out were projected first-round NFL draft talent Carson Beck, at quarterback, and former five-star recruit and rising edge talent Damon Wilson.
UGA didn’t land a QB transfer for the 2025 season to replace Beck or compete for the starting job, though it tried.
The Bulldogs were unsuccessful in their pursuit of former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza -- among others -- in the winter portal, but they did beef up their pass game by landing transfer receivers Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas.
The pass game should also benefit from the addition of Illinois transfer Josh McCray, a bruising 6-foot-1, 235-pounder who can get the tough yards Nate Frazier sometimes danced around and Rod Robinson was too injured to be in the games for last season.
As for the loss of Wilson, Georgia has returning talent on the edge, and it reached into the portal this spring to add Army standout Elo Modozie.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound solider had 6.5 sacks last season and should bring an element of toughness and discipline that Smart respects.
Still, it’s fair for analysts to suggest there are more questions about Georgia football entering a season than has been the recent norm with Smart at the helm.
“Who are you depending on right now that you’re saying is an All-American at Georgia?” Former UGA great David Pollack said on a recent podcast.
“I could have named five a year ago.This is the first time for me going into a season, where I’m like, who are George’s dudes? Like, Who are the guys, defensively, offensively?”
The Bulldogs’ newcomer class, recently ranked No. 14 in the nation by ESPN, does include potential impact freshmen in defensive lineman Elijah Griffin and receivers C.J Wiley and Talyn Taylor.
And then there are returning players on the defensive line like Christian Miller and Jordan Hall, along with a strong linebacker room featuring veterans CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson, along with rising talents Chris Cole and Justin Williams.
The secondary also appears firm enough to suggest the Georgia defense could show marked improvement from last season.
Here’s a look at how ESPN ranked the “2025 newcomer classes”
1. Oregon
2. LSU
3. Auburn
4. Texas
5. Texas Tech
6. Ole Miss
7. Ohio State
8. Miami, Fla.
9. Michigan
10. Missouri
11. South Carolina
12. Colorado
13. Florida State
14. Georgia
15. Alabama
16. Texas A&M
17. Nebraska
18. Indiana
19. Oklahoma
20. Maryland
21. Kentucky
22. Notre Dame
23. Florida
24. USC
25. North Carolina
