Georgia OL Kelton Smith retires from football after taking medical disqualification

Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Kelton Smith has medically retired from playing football, per DawgsHQ.

A four-star recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, Kelton Smith was the 13th-ranked interior offensive lineman in the cycle and the 187th-ranked player overall. He was also the first player in the 2023 cycle to sign with Georgia.

At this time, the details regarding why Kelton Smith has been forced to medically retire are unavailable. However, DawgsHQ reported that there are multiple issues that he is currently dealing with.

Unfortunately, Kelton Smith’s career at Georgia came to an end before he ever took a snap on the field for the Bulldogs. He redshirted in 2023 after coming to Georgia from Carver High School and being selected to the All-American Bowl. At At 6-foot-4 315 pounds, he was set to provide excellent size for the Bulldogs on the interior of their offensive line.

The Bulldogs currently have 19 offensive linemen listed on their roster. That does include Kelton Smith, so the number of linemen on Georgia’s roster is going to drop.

It’s possible that head coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia staff knew that he was going to have medical issues while recruiting this offseason. The Bulldogs 2024 recruiting class was ranked first in the country, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. That class included six offensive linemen — Daniel Calhoun, Nyier Daniels, Marques Easley, Marcus Harrison, Malachi Toliver, and Michael Uini.

Despite that, Georgia did not take any offensive linemen from the Transfer Portal.

This makes Kelton Smith the second player from the Class of 2023 to have to medically retire at Georgia. Prior to Smith, 2023 tight end signee Pearce Spurlin needed to walk away from the sport due to a heart condition.

Kirby Smart details priority for Georgia football this offseason

Recently, Kirby Smart shared that the priority for this offseason is improving the roster, primarily through development.

“The deal was can we build up the rest of our roster? How do we retain them? How do we sell that you might be a two now but you’re closer to going to the NFL Draft from here as a two than you are at our neighbor school as a one? The development piece is probably what we sell the most. We had a lot to work on,” Smart said.

“We’ve got to play better defensively than we did. We were No. 1 in the country on third down. But we didn’t create enough turnovers, we didn’t stop the run well enough. Then, offensively, we had to do the same thing. We’ve looked at a lot of different ways. The quarterback running the ball? The running quarterback is becoming more prevalent. So we want ways to change it up, to affect him and not let him sit there and be comfortable. We looked at a lot of different things. Had a lot of gap scheme thing defensively. Then, offensively, we’ve added a couple wrinkles that fit what Carson does and fit what our wideouts do because it may not all be Brock Bowers-based. There may be some other guys involved.”