Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs made some serious waves on Tuesday afternoon when they acquired the two biggest available talents in the transfer portal. Former LSU tight end Arik Gilbert and former Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick both arrived in Athens, and it cannot be understated how significant this is for the Georgia football program.
The Bulldogs were already falling within the top five of most college football rankings, so they are clearly already talented. But they still had needs. Kirby Smart worked some magic and somehow managed to address them with these two announcements that came within an hour of one another. In fact, they did far more than just address those needs. Kirby Smart went out and added two potential All-SEC contenders.
The College Football Gametime Podcast broke it down:
This secondary was in need of reinforcements following the departures of Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell, D.J. Daniel, and Tyrique Stevenson. With the top three candidates to take over those duties combining for zero starts, Kendrick joins this unit and immediately becomes its most veteran presence.
Kendrick started in 23 games for Clemson over the last three years and made appearances in 16 others. Originally recruited to be a wide receiver, he made the transition to cornerback in 2019 and was named second-team All-ACC that year – a mark that he improved upon in 2020 with a first-team All-ACC selection.
He joins the program on the same afternoon that former AP third-team All-American defensive back Tykee Smith arrived on campus via transfer from West Virginia. Brandon Turnage, who joins the program as a former top prospect from the Crimson Tide, will soon join those two to be depth essentially anywhere in the secondary.
This unit was perhaps the biggest weakness for the unit looking towards the 2021 season at the beginning of the offseason. Seemingly overnight, Kirby Smart has somehow morphed it into a solid unit with veteran pieces.
The news didn’t stop there as Arik Gilbert made his intentions public just moments after Kendrick’s news broke. Smart and UGA originally missed out on the former fifth overall prospect when he opted to commit to LSU during the last recruitment cycle in 2020.
The 6-5, 245 pound Gilbert made an immediate impact for the Tigers last fall with 35 catches for 368 yards and two touchdowns in eight games. He was extremely active for the Tigers on third down bringing in 11 catches – a number that surpasses the Falcons’ first overall pick, Kyle Pitts – for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Gilbert’s addition is especially important following the George Pickens ACL injury earlier this spring. He transferred to the program with the classification of “athlete”, but he will be making the transition to fill that void at wide receiver. That part of his announcement should instill fear within the hearts of defensive backs across the SEC. With his aforementioned size and athleticism, he will be an absolute nightmare to defend no matter where he lines up on the field. When paired with tight end Darnell Washington, another physical nightmare for defenses coming in at 6-7, 251 pounds, this group will be next to impossible to defend in the red zone. Both will require heavy attention as “just throw it up” options, which will inevitably open up opportunities for the plethora of other playmakers on this offense.
Rest assured that Kirby Smart, Todd Monken, and J.T. Daniels are thrilled with this new addition to an offense already littered with weapons.
Kirby Smart and this football program have been on the edge of the College Football Playoff since they nearly won it all in 2018. With these two additions, Kirby may have all he needs to swing the balance and make a push to finally get over this program over the top.
The pieces are there, but can the Dawgs put them all together?
