Tag: Georgia Bulldogs

Star Florida State WR declares for draft, missing Orange Bowl

Star Florida State receiver declares for the 2024 NFL draft, opts out of the Orange Bowl against UGA

Star Florida State wide receiver Johnny Wilson has opted out of the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 against the Georgia Bulldogs. Wilson is declaring for the 2024 NFL draft.

Wilson announced his intentions via ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The 6-foot-7 wide receiver would have presented a challenge to the Georgia secondary.

Johnny Wilson is likely not the last player to opt out of the Orange Bowl. Key Florida State pass rusher Patrick Payton entered the transfer portal and will likely not play in the Orange Bowl. Payton has six sacks and 41 tackles this season.

Georgia has already seen a bunch of players enter the transfer portal after losing in the SEC championship to Alabama.

Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun

Johnny Wilson is Florida State’s second-leading receiver this season behind Keon Coleman, who also has an NFL draft decision to make. Wilson has 41 receptions for 617 receiving yards and two touchdowns this season.

 

Georgia DB, former 5-star recruit enters transfer portal

UGA football defensive back is the eighth Bulldog to enter the transfer portal

Georgia football cornerback Nyland Green has entered the NCAA transfer portal. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back is the eighth Bulldog to enter the transfer portal since it opened on Dec. 4.

Nyland Green, a redshirt sophomore, played in all 13 of Georgia’s games this season. Green recorded seven tackles and a pass deflection in 2023. His decision to enter the transfer portal should not come as a big surprise. Green lost the battle to start opposite cornerback Kamari Lassiter in 2023.

Instead, Georgia elected to start sophomore Daylen Everette. Defensive back Julian Humphrey also saw significant playing time at outside cornerback before he suffered an injury and missed the last few games of the year.

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Nyland Green announced his decision to enter the transfer portal via social media:

Former Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown is now the head coach at Syracuse, so Georgia is also looking for a new defensive backs coach.

Former UGA quarterback Brock Vandagriff reveals transfer destination

Didn’t have that one on the transfer portal bingo card.

While the Georgia Bulldogs are preparing for the upcoming early signing period and the Orange Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles, backup quarterback Brock Vandagriff is preparing for life after Athens.

On Wednesday, Brock Vandagriff announced that he will play the 2024 season with the Kentucky Wildcats. Big Blue played this past season with another transfer quarterback, Devin Leary. It didn’t go as planned but perhaps Vandagriff can give this team the boost they will need in the new-look SEC that welcomes both Oklahoma and Texas next season.

Vandagriff has spent the last three seasons in Athens as a backup to Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck. In that time he has appeared in 13 games with just 21 career passes. Most of his production came this season where he threw his first two touchdowns.

With Vandagriff leaving, the Bulldogs still have starter Carson Beck as well as backup quarterback Gunner Stockton. Not to mention they will sign the No. 1 quarterback of the 2024 cycle, Dylan Raiola. Should Beck remain with Georgia in 2024, we could see Vandagriff face off with Beck when the Bulldogs come to Lexington next season.

Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff announces SEC transfer destination

Georgia football quarterback Brock Vandagriff announces SEC transfer destination and is scheduled to face UGA in 2024

Georgia Bulldogs second-string quarterback Brock Vandagriff did not take long to find a new college football home. Vandagriff is transferring to the Kentucky Wildcats, who is on Georgia’s 2024 college football schedule, for the 2024 season.

247Sports has the junior quarterback ranked as the No. 6 quarterback in the transfer portal. Kentucky has had some previous success developing a transfer quarterback in Will Levis, who currently starts for the Tennessee Titans.

Vandagriff is a former five-star recruit with excellent mobility. He played in eight games for Georgia in 2023. The talented quarterback completed 12 of 18 passes for 165 passing yards and two touchdowns this season.

How did social media react after Vandagriff announced his intentions to transfer to Kentucky?

 

UGA kicker enters transfer portal, plans to play in Orange Bowl

Georgia football’s kickoff specialist has entered the transfer portal, but plans to play against Florida State in the Orange Bowl

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jared Zirkel is entering the transfer portal. Zirkel is the seventh Georgia player to enter the portal. Zirkel still plans to play in the Orange Bowl against Florida State.

The junior kicker handled kickoff duties for the Bulldogs in 2023. Zirkel did not attempt a field goal this season. He lost the starting role behind true freshman Peyton Woodring, so it is hard to blame Zirkel for wanting to transfer. He’s good enough to be a starting kicker at a Power Five school.

Zirkel had 62 touchbacks on 95 kickoffs in 2023. He kicked three kickoffs out of bounds. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound kicker made his only career field goal in 2022, when he hit a 21-yard attempt.

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Jared Zirkel will be a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining. He announced his intentions to transfer from Georgia football via social media:

Zirkel notes that he is hoping to move closer to home in Texas. We wish him the best of luck at his new home.

2 Georgia Bulldogs in the NFL nominated for prestigious award

Former Georgia Bulldogs Roquan Smith and Jonathan Ledbetter have been nominated for the 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Former Georgia Bulldog linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter have both been nominated for the 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Roquan Smith is the Baltimore Ravens’ nominee for the award. Jonathan Ledbetter is the Arizona Cardinals’ nominee.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted what makes the award so special and coveted.

The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is the league’s most prestigious honor given annually to the player who best represents the greatness and compassion of Walter Payton on and off the field. These 32 outstanding men are making a valuable difference in their communities every day and we are proud to celebrate their special gifts and humanitarianism.

It is great to see the impact that both Roquan Smith and Jonathan Ledbetter are having in their respective communities. Roquan Smith, who grew up in Macon County, Georgia, is helping educate families, frequently attends youth football camps, honors first responders, and more.

Jonathan Ledbetter has hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the community, various youth football camps, has his own organization (Led A Better Way), and more.

It is good to see former Georgia Bulldogs giving back to their communities.

Georgia football 2024 transfer portal tracker: players leaving the Bulldogs

Six Georgia Bulldogs entered the NCAA transfer portal on the first day when it opened

Six Georgia Bulldogs entered the NCAA transfer portal when it opened on Dec. 4, 2023. Across the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), over 500 players entered the transfer portal on the first day.

Georgia will see a lot of roster turnover over the next several months before the start of 2024 college football season. The Bulldogs have the No. 1 incoming recruiting class.

Georgia players are primarily entering the transfer portal in search of more playing time, but some are looking for better name, image and likeness deals. The Bulldogs are targeting top players in the transfer portal as well.

Many Georgia players in the transfer portal are back-to-back national champions. Most of them faced fierce competition for playing time and would have a larger role at another school.

What Georgia Bulldogs have entered the transfer portal so far? Note: these players could still elect to return to Georgia, but statistically most don’t return.

SEC announces all-conference teams for the 2023 football season

Stars like LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Alabama’s Dallas Turner, and Georgia’s Brock Bowers all received an All-SEC First Team nomination.

The SEC released its all-conference teams for the 2023 football season on Tuesday, with many predictable names at the top of the conference’s list. Heisman Trophy frontrunner Jayden Daniels led the way as the first-team quarterback, with stars like Malik Nabers and Brock Bowers joining him on the top team.

Here’s how the all-conference teams broke down for the most competitive conference in football:

All-SEC First Team

QB: Jayden Daniels (LSU)

RB: Cody Schrader (Missouri), Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss)

WR: Malik Nabers (LSU), Luther Burden III (Missouri)

TE: Brock Bowers (Georgia)

OL: JC Latham (Alabama), Javon Foster (Missouri), Will Campbell (LSU), Tate Ratledge (Georgia)

C: Sedrick Van Pran (Georgia)

All-Purpose: Ainias Smith (Texas A&M)

DL: Darius Robinson (Missouri), James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee), Justin Eboigbe (Alabama), Landon Jackson (Arkansas)

LB: Edgerrin Cooper (Texas A&M), Dallas Turner (Alabama), Nathaniel Watson (Mississippi State)

DB: Kool-Aid McKinstry (Alabama), Malaki Starks (Georgia), Kris Abrams-Draine (Missouri), Caleb Downs (Alabama), Terrion Arnold (Alabama)

Kicker: Will Reichard (Alabama)

Punter: Matthew Hayball (Vanderbilt)

Return Specialist: Ainias Smith (Texas A&M)

Kickoff Specialist: Cam Little (Arkansas)

LS: Hunter Rogers (South Carolina), Kneeland Hibbett (Alabama)

 

All-SEC Second Team

QB: Carson Beck (Georgia)

RB: Ray Davis (Kentucky), Jarquez Hunter (Auburn)

WR: Brian Thomas (LSU), Xavier Legette (South Carolina)

TE: Caden Prieskorn (Ole Miss), Trey Knox (South Carolina), Rivaldo Fairweather (Auburn)

OL: Tyler Booker (Alabama), Xavier Truss (Georgia), Emery Jones (LSU), Layden Robinson (Texas A&M)

C: Eli Cox (Kentucky)

All-Purpose: Barion Brown (Kentucky)

DL: Mykel Williams (Georgia), Nazier Stackhouse (Georgia), Princely Umanmielen (Florida), Shemar Turner (Texas A&M)

LB: Shemar Turner (Texas A&M), Harold Perkins (LSU), Smael Mondon (Georgia), Ty’Ron Hopper (Missouri)

DB: Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky), Jaylin Simpson (Auburn), Tykee Smith (Georgia), Kamari Lassiter (Georgia)

Kicker: Harrison Mevis (Missouri)

Punter: James Burnip (Alabama), Max Fletcher (Arkansas)

Return Specialist: Barion Brown (Kentucky)

Kickoff Specialist: Will Reichard (Alabama)

LS: Wesley Schelling (Vanderbilt)

Top WR in transfer portal projected to commit to Georgia

The nation’s top wide receiver in the transfer portal is projected to commit to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The nation’s top wide receiver in the transfer portal, per 247Sports, is projected to commit to the Georgia Bulldogs. Vanderbilt wide receiver London Humphreys has an impressive combination of size and speed.

Humphreys finished his freshman season with 22 receptions for 439 yards and four touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 186-pound wide receiver was Vanderbilt’s second-leading receiver for the Commodores in 2023.

Humphreys, who is ranked as a four-star recruit as a transfer, is currently the nation’s No. 5 transfer and the No. 1 wide receiver. Georgia football added two transfer receivers via the transfer portal last offseason and appears to be looking to add another this transfer cycle.

Reaction: Georgia DL Jonathan Jefferson enters transfer portal

Media, some of Jonathan Jefferson’s Georgia teammates react after he enters the NCAA transfer portal

The Georgia Bulldogs will be looking for help along the defensive line. Georgia defensive end Jonathan Jefferson has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Georgia could lose Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson to the 2024 NFL draft, so Georgia may look to the transfer portal or junior college to add an experienced option along the defensive front.

Jonathan Jefferson signed with Georgia as a four-star recruit in the class of 2021. Jefferson played high school football for Douglas County High School in Douglasville, Georgia.

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound defensive lineman played in seven games in 2023. Jefferson recorded one tackle against Kentucky this season, but did not see a ton of snaps on a regular basis.

How did the media and some of Jefferson’s Georgia teammates react after the redshirt sophomore entered the transfer portal?