ATHENS – Kirby Smart made his thoughts on the transfer portal incredibly clear when asked about it on Saturday.
Given offensive lineman Amarius Mims’ recent reversal, we now see why the Georgia head coach has been so matter-of-fact on the topic. A little over a week after entering his name on the transfer portal, Mims removed his name Monday morning with intentions to remain in Georgia. DawgsHQ was the first to report the news.
Related: Broderick Jones gains prominence on the offensive line of Georgian football after the transfer of Amarius Mims
Georgia’s first-team offensive line on Saturday consisted of Jones at left tackle, Xavier Truss at left guard, Sedrick Van Pran at center, Devin Willock at right guard and McClendon at right tackle. Ericson was kept out of spring scrimmage with an ankle injury. Tate Ratledge is also working back from a foot injury that handicapped him this spring.
As for the backups, Smart commended early enrollment Earnest Greene for the work he did this spring. He played left tackle for the second-team offense, with Micah Morris at left guard, Jared Wilson at center, Dylan Fairchild at right guard, and Austin Blaske at right tackle.
“Earnest has come a long way since he got here and needed to lose 25-30 pounds, he did that before spring and then once he was on the field his level of conditioning meant he could handle the number of reps we gave him,” Smart said. “He’s been doing almost every rep with the twos and threes all spring and I just think he’s going to be a talented player who’s extremely tough and doing things right. We are very happy to have Earnest in the program.”
As Smart also points out, Georgia has had a recent track record of players who didn’t start right away and went on to become draft picks. Tindall is expected to be picked up in the first two days of the upcoming NFL draft, despite never starting a game for the Bulldogs. Travon Walker could be the first overall pick despite only becoming a full-time starter last season.
Mims isn’t the first Bulldog to flirt with the transfer portal just to stay with Georgia. Outside linebacker Robert Beal did the same, leading Georgia in sacks last season.
Players have until May 1st to enter the transfer portal in hopes of qualifying for the fall. Clay Webb also entered the transfer portal during spring training.
As for the projected grant count for Georgia, the addition of Mims brings Georgia back to 90 projected grants. The Bulldogs need to get that number down to 85 because those are roster limits.
But like the transfer portal, Smart probably isn’t too worried about it. These things have a way of working out for Georgia, often to improve the Bulldogs.
“I don’t even look at this next phase as a transfer portal phase, I look at it as a get stronger, get bigger phase,” Smart said. “As if we need to get better. We need to get better physically, so we need to train in May, we need to train in May. We need to put some guys in a good place academically.”