Exclusive: Georgia football: Bulldogs’ sneakiest 2024 transfer portal move

If you’re as talented as Georgia’s football players and have naturally had recruiting success and top-three classes over the last four years, you don’t have to rely heavily on the transfer portal to build your team roster.

However, when director Kirby Smart uses the portal, there are usually some notable additions. The Bulldogs football team missed out on three tournaments and a trip to another national championship in 2023, but Smart is committed to getting Georgia back into contention in 2024, even through a new playoff format.

Having the No. 1 recruiting class in 2024 would be a huge help, but the portal also had important players who could make an impact and potentially help Georgia play in its home state in the national title game in Atlanta next year.

At Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia football signed seven new players to its 2024 portal class, ranking it 13th, but lost a whopping 20 players. What’s really impressive about these seven is that five of them, including three from the SEC, have four-star ratings from Power Five programs.

But one of the most visible and hidden transfers was not made by the SEC at all. He is from the ACC, Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Colby Young.

Wide receiver Colbie Young transfers to Georgia football

As good as Georgia football has been, there has only been one 1,000-yard receiver in program history, according to Dawgs Daily.

In 2002, Terrence Edwards recorded 1,004 yards. Not even AJ Green or Brock Bowers have accomplished this feat. Speaking of Bowers as a tight end, he was the Bulldogs’ leading receiver in 2023 with 56 receptions, 714 yards and six touchdowns despite missing five games with an ankle injury. If Bowers wasn’t injured, he would have surpassed his 2022 season totals of 63 receptions, 942 yards, and 7 touchdowns.

The next closest receiver is Dominic Lovett with 51 receptions for 575 yards and three touchdowns. With Bowers heading to the NFL, someone will have to take the field, so Colby Young’s departure is very important.