What Georgia football will be looking to add in the transfer portal

While the transfer portal does not open until Jan. 2, college football rosters have begun to take shape for the 2026 season.

Georgia is not immune to that, as the Bulldogs have had two players announce they would be entering the transfer portal. Cornerback Daniel Harris did so before the SEC championship, while tight end Pearce Spurlin did so Tuesday.

Harris was not with the team during Georgia’s 28-7 win over Alabama on Saturday in the SEC championship game. Any player who announces plans to enter the transfer portal before the conclusion of Georgia’s season won’t be with the team.

“I’m worried about the guys that are here with us,” Smart said before the SEC championship game.

One change between this year and last is that the transfer portal now opens later. Smart had to deal with players entering the transfer portal in the run-up to the team’s first College Football Playoff game. Georgia will face the winner of Ole Miss-Tulane before the transfer portal opens.

There also will be only one transfer portal window as opposed to the two last year. The portal will close Jan. 16, except for those who are playing in the national championship game. Those two teams will get a five-day extension from when the season concludes.

Georgia brought in 10 players via the transfer portal last offseason, with six arriving in the winter window and the final four coming over in the spring window.

Georgia prefers to lean on high school recruiting as its main source of talent, so don’t expect Georgia to import a large number of transfers. The Bulldogs signed 27 players as a part of the 2026 recruiting class, which currently ranks No. 5 in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

“Nowadays more of these kids have to be ready to play,” Smart said before Georgia’s win over Alabama. “I look at our practice yesterday, our practice the day before, and the number of true freshmen that are in the two-deep (depth chart) is probably higher than it’s ever been in my 10 years here. And I got a feeling that’s here to stay. So that’s saying that those guys we signed yesterday would be factors in our depth chart next year, and they’ve got to be ready to play faster because you just don’t have as many people.”

But there are some immediate areas of need that Georgia will look to the transfer portal to fill.

Chief among them is at safety. Georgia will bring back KJ Bolden as he enters his junior season, but senior JaCorey Thomas will exhaust his eligibility. Kyron Jones played in only five games this season because of a foot injury he suffered.

The Bulldogs brought in three safeties via the transfer portal last offseason in Zion Branch, Jaden Harris and Adrian Maddox. Branch emerged as a rotational player following Jones’ injury, while Harris has been a special-teams player for Georgia. Maddox ended up redshirting.

One player to watch could be former Clemson safety Khalil Barnes. He will have one season of eligibility left and was a multiyear starter for the Tigers. What’s more, Barnes played at North Oconee High School near Athens. The Bulldogs have signed wide receiver Landon Roldan and outside linebacker Khamari Brooks in recent classes.

In three seasons at Clemson, Barnes notched 139 tackles, 7 interceptions and 6.5 tackles for loss.

Wide receiver also expects to be a position of need, though not as much in recent seasons. Georgia has brought in two transfer wide receivers in each of the past three offseasons, with Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas being the additions for this season’s team. Branch leads Georgia in receptions with 73 and receiving yards with 744 and five touchdowns.

Thomas, Colbie Young and Dillon Bell are set to exhaust their collegiate eligibility at the conclusion of this season, while Branch seems poised to be a high draft pick in the 2026 NFL draft. Georgia very much likes its young wide receivers, but look for Georgia to go after at least one proven pass-catcher in the transfer portal.

“Getting Talyn (Taylor) back was huge,” Smart said. “CJ (Wiley) is growing up. Landon Roldan is going to be a good player. Thomas Blackshear (is) going to be a player. Tyler Williams. We have this core group of young receivers I’m excited about.”

Georgia will never turn down offensive and defensive linemen that it believes can help it win. But those body types, especially the ones who can play for Georgia, rarely come cheaply when they enter the transfer portal.

With Georgia not signing a quarterback in the 2026 recruiting cycle, that becomes a position worth watching. However, Gunner Stockton has another season of eligibility remaining, and it’s highly unlikely a newcomer would unseat him as a starting quarterback.

For much of the 2025 season, outside linebacker seemed like a position of concern and one Georgia might target in the transfer portal. But the recent play of Gabe Harris and Quintavius Johnson, who both have remaining eligibility, decreases the likelihood Georgia places a premium on that position.

As for players leaving the program, Georgia likely will see plenty of players cycle out. Georgia has had 15-plus players exit the program via the transfer portal in each of the previous two cycles. The key for Georgia will be retaining the players it wants to keep, especially those in either their first or second seasons with the program.