Spring practice across the country is complete. The transfer portal has closed. And per ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, the Georgia Bulldogs are still on top.
In ESPN’s post-spring power rankings, Georgia came in at No. 1. The same spot the Bulldogs have ended the last two seasons.
The play of the Georgia wide receivers in particular caught Schlabach’s eye this spring.
“The Bulldogs might have their deepest receiver rotation in years to help All-America tight end Brock Bowers,” Schlabach said. “Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett, Dillon Bell and Arian Smith had big performances in the spring. The offensive line should be very good. Even with another round of starters leaving for the NFL, Georgia’s defense, led by edge rusher Mykel Williams, linebackers Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Smael Mondon and safety Malaki Starks, is still overflowing with talent.”
Related: Georgia wide receivers look to cap off strong spring with G-Day performance
Quarterback Carson Beck had a strong performance in Georgia’s spring game, which should help ease any concerns about replacing Heisman finalist Stetson Bennett. The Bulldogs were down a number of key players this spring due to injury, but none of them are expected to miss time during the regular season.
Behind Georgia sits Michigan at No. 2, Florida State at No. 3, USC at No. 4 and Ohio State at No. 5. The Trojans moved up from No. 7, leap-frogging Alabama, due in part to some more transfer portal additions. One of those players to be added to Lincoln Riley’s roster was defensive tackle Bear Alexander.
He entered the transfer portal just before Georgia’s spring game. While the loss of Alexander is no doubt a blow to the defensive line, Kirby Smart is still very confident in what he has in that group.
“Really excited about the group, the depth in that unit,” Smart said after G-Day. “We don’t have any dominant player in that unit but we’ve got really good depth. We’ll do some things with the backers around them to create havoc.”
The Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships, becoming the first program of the College Football Playoff era to do so. A three-peat would make Georgia the first team since Minnesota in the 1930′s to do so. Clearly, it will be a daunting task for Georgia to win it all once again. The Bulldogs had 10 players taken in the 2023 NFL Draft and saw 15 players depart via the transfer portal.
One thing that may work in Georgia’s favor would be a manageable schedule. The only teams ranked in the top-25 of ESPN’s rankings that Georgia is set to see in the regular season are No. 11 Tennessee, No. 22 Ole Miss and No 24 Kentucky. Georgia gets two of those foes at home, with the Nov. 18 trip to Tennessee being seen as the most difficult game on paper.
Related: ESPN explains why Georgia can very much three-peat, even after several key departures
Should Georgia win the SEC East, it could draw either No. 6 Alabama or No. 7 LSU from the SEC West in the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs defeated LSU 50-30 in last season’s SEC championship game.
But before Georgia starts thinking of getting back to Atlanta, the Bulldogs have plenty of other things to take care of this offseason. Fall camp will begin in August, with Georgia’s first game of the 2023 season set for Sept. 2 against UT-Martin.
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- Drew Miller: Nation’s top punting prospect shares a strong take on his Georgia football offer
- How the transfer portal hurt, and helped, various Georgia football position groups
- 12-team college playoff dates announced, flashback to Kirby Smart’s support for expanded field
- Sean McVay makes it clear Stetson Bennett was a priority for the Los Angeles Rams in the 2023 NFL Draft
- Georgia football winners and losers from the 2023 NFL Draft
