Georgia football championship expectations don’t change after transfer portal additions

By Connor Riley

June 02, 2021 at 10:30 am EDT

The Dawgs are in the College Football Playoff Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Roquan Smith (3), head coach Kirby Smart, and Georgia teammates celebrate after defeating the Auburn Tigers 28-7 during the SEC Football Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, December 2, 2017, in Atlanta. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com (Curtis Compton-AJC)

By Connor Riley

June 02, 2021 at 10:30 am EDT

Georgia could’ve very easily stayed pat with its roster. The Bulldogs have a stable of young options at wide receiver, tight end and defensive back who Georgia needs to get on the field.

With JT Daniels and a significant chunk of the offense, the Bulldogs were already going to start the 2021 season as one of the top teams in the country. As the roster was constituted on May 31, Georgia was going to be a trendy dark-horse pick to make the College Football Playoff and possibly win the national title.

But after pulling former LSU Tiger Arik Gilbert and former Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick out of the transfer portal, there will be nothing trendy about Georgia entering the fall. The Bulldogs aren’t a dark horse anymore.

Georgia is a front-runner, a favorite. That’s exactly why head coach Kirby Smart went out and brought in Gilbert and Kendrick.