ATHENS — Georgia football looks to “win” the NCAA portal game this offseason after mixed results last year.

The On3 “Transfer Portal Rankings indicate the teams showing the most improvement from the standout of talent coming in versus going out.

At the time of publication, Louisville is No. 1 followed by Colorado, Ole Miss, Florida State and South Carolina.

The Bulldogs are 66th of 70 teams based on the formula despite taking in a program-record six transfers after the first portal window.

Alabama, which just lost Nick Saban as head coach and has lost key players, ranks 70th at the time of this publication.

It’s a somewhat flawed metric, as most all of the 21 players who left UGA via the transfer portal were projected backups or coming off injuries, with players more capable or on par ready to step into their shoes in 2024.

Georgia added two Top 50 players and lost three Top 50 players according to an ESPN paysite player portal rankings.

Incoming Florida transfer Trevor Etienne ranked 12th overall and Vanderbilt transfer London Humphreys was 47th, while outgoing linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson (Kentucky) was 32nd, cornerback A.J. Harris (Penn State) 36th and Marvin Jones Jr. (Florida State) 48th.

The Bulldogs were in on the No. 1 player in the portal, Caleb Downs, but he recently chose Ohio State.

What the rankings don’t reflect, and the reason UGA fans aren’t in a panic, is the superior or preferred returning talent Georgia has at the positions where they lost transfers.

Further, the raw numbers UGA lost, 21 players, opened up scholarships for the Bulldogs to land the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the nation.

Still, portal rankings are worth paying attention to and scrutinizing.

Georgia lost two key players in the past offseason that could have made the difference in winning another national championships.

Two-time CFP championship linebacker Trezman Marshall provided valuable power and depth to the linebacking corps for UGA before transferring to Alabama.

Marshall was second on the Tide in sacks this season and came up big in the SEC title game with a third-down stop and pivotal fumble recovery.

Georgia was forced to rely on freshmen linebackers after Jamon Dumas-Johnson suffered a season-ending injury against Missouri, and the Tide exploited that youth for its first TD in the SEC title game.

Then there was the loss of big-game receiver Adoniai Mitchell, who went to Texas and helped the Longhorns beat Alabama with two TD catches en route to winning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors.

Mitchell was sorely missed at the “X’ position at UGA, with incoming Mississippi State transfer Rara Thomas getting off to a slow start the 11 games he played before suffering a season-ending injury.

Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett was a solid addition as a slot receiver and was second on the team with 54 catches for 613 yards.

But Lovett’s offensive production in 14 games at UGA didn’t match what he did in 12 for Missouri, where he had 56 catches for 846 yards the season before.

Georgia went back to the portal this offseason at receiver to get Humphreys, 6-5 Miami target Colbie Young and former USC wideout Michael Jackson lll.

Meanwhile, while five UGA receivers (all 3-stars) left via the portal, none with more than 13 catches.

Kirby Smart has said many times over he’d prefer to build his team from within.

But the rules are what they are, and the ninth-year Georgia head coach recognizes the need to be aggressive in the portal when it comes to filling need positions.

The Bulldogs are expected to add another quarterback to the roster in the spring transfer window, and at the moment still lack a proven, consistent perimeter threat and a dominating edge rusher.