Greg McElroy identifies Georgia's biggest needs in transfer portal

Given the wealth of elite high school talent that annually comes through Athens, Georgia has traditionally been fairly selective when it comes time to dip into the NCAA Transfer Portal. But as ESPN analyst Greg McElroy acknowledges, that doesn’t mean there aren’t holes the Bulldogs could try to fill through the portal.

Last Spring, Georgia landed just two transfers — quarterback Jaden Rashada (Arizona State) and cornerback Collin Gill (Oregon) — both of whom are no longer on the roster. Gill committed to transfer to Charlotte in mid-January and Rashada recently committed to Sacramento State last Friday.

But as the college football world transitions from Spring practice to Summer workouts, the former Alabama quarterback identified several positions Georgia head coach Kirby Smart could be looking to shore up ahead of the 2025 college football season. That includes a bit of a surprise: defensive end.

“There’s no denying that there are some positions of need for Georgia. And it’s surprising. When you think about Georgia, you think about dynamic weapons off the edge defensively,” McElroy said during a recent episode of the Always College Football Podcast. “Think about how many years in a row Georgia’s been super elite at defensive end. Think about how many nightmares opposing quarterbacks have had over the last few years, just thinking about, dreaming about, preparing for that Georgia pass rush. Well, ironically, that might be the position they need the most.

“Because if you look at what they have at the edge position, they have some quality, they have some youth … but they are a little bit thin. And you look at some of the guys they’ve lost too, you lose some to the portal, you lose some to the NFL Draft,” McElroy continued. “I think it will be really beneficial for them to, maybe, if they can – and I don’t think Georgia needs to add just for the sake of adding – I think Georgia needs to add if a guy can help them, go and get them. And let’s be real, the likelihood of an edge rusher hoping into the portal that’s going to be better than what Georgia has is pretty small.”

The Bulldogs clearly agreed with McElroy, with two pash rushers among the four players Georgia landed during the Spring portal window — including 6-foot-4, 275-pound Miami DL transfer Joshua Horton and 6-foot-3, 245-pound Army edge/linebacker Elo Modozie. The Bulldogs also locked up running back Josh McCray out of Illinois and interior offensive lineman Waltclaire Flynn Jr. out of UCF. And, although the Spring window has closed for football players to enter, there’s still potential for the Bulldogs to find a hidden gem or two.

And if McElroy was in Smart’s shoes, he’d still be on the lookout for some needed depth in both the secondary and along the interior defensive line.

“If they do present themselves, Georgia needs to go and get them for sure,” McElroy said. “I don’t think it’d be a bad decision to maybe add a little more at corner as well if they wanted to go and get some depth at that spot. And if you want to go to the interior defensive line, I think Georgia can always benefit from adding more pieces to their front seven defensively. But Georgia could be a player in this portal window for the first time, it seems like, in quite awhile.”