The Georgia Bulldogs were the last team on the outside looking in on the College Football Playoff field. Though the field is expanding to 12 teams next season, they surely will want to avoid that same fate again in the future. The best way to avoid such fate is to bolster their roster. Kirby Smart and his Georgia football program already have a robust recruiting class and have hit the transfer portal hard by bringing in marquee names like former Florida running back Trevor Etienne.

But with the latest flurry of college football coaching movement, another wave of players are hitting the portal again, which could give the Bulldogs another crack at landing blue-chip players. The Bulldogs’ roster is loaded, so it’s no guarantee some of these available players would even crack Georgia’s starting lineup. But, a few players available can, and they are the type of players Georgia should be going after.

Caleb Downs, Safety
If there’s anybody the Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart should be going after, it would be Alabama freshman safety Caleb Downs. Downs did a bit of everything for Alabama last season, as a true freshman no less. Downs had more solo tackles (70) than anybody on Alabama had total tackles (Deonte Lawson was second on the team in total tackles with 67).

Downs also forced and recovered a fumble during the season and managed to pick off two passes. That was second on the Tide in 2023 behind only Terrion Arnold, who had five picks on the year. He even returned a punt for a touchdown during the 2023 season.

Downs is a legitimate difference-maker and could thrive under Kirby Smart’s defense and tutelage. Smart’s defenses have always been among the top of the country since arriving in Georgia, and he has gotten a ton of players drafted highly in the NFL from all levels of his defenses. Downs can get the best coaching out there now that Nick Saban, the coach who recruited him to Alabama, is no longer in Tuscaloosa.

For the icing on the cake: Downs’ hometown of Hoschton, Georgia is less than an hour away from Athens, Georgia, where the Bulldogs play. Everyone loves playing close to home and Downs would probably be no exception. The fit here is too perfect. Kirby Smart needs to find a way to get Downs into his Georgia program after striking out on recruiting him out of high school. He has another chance now. Delivering on this chance would be monumental for his program.

Kadyn Proctor, Offensive Lineman
Kadyn Proctor is another former Alabama player who has submitted his name in the portal after Nick Saban’s retirement. Proctor was the 10th overall recruiting prospect in the 2023 class, one spot ahead of Downs. He started every game as a true freshman for the Tide and was named to the All-SEC freshman team. He will very much be a hot commodity now that he is in the portal.

Georgia football should be one of those teams in line to get another shot at Proctor. They lost one of their offensive lineman (Broderick Jones) to the first round of the NFL Draft last season and will lose another one of their offensive linemen to the NFL Draft this season in Amarius Mims, who also looks on track to be a first round pick. Proctor would help fill the void left behind by Mims. Proctor is from Des Moines, Iowa, so the Hawkeyes, who Proctor originally committed to out of high school, may be the favorites to land him. Kirby Smart has to find a way to skew him towards Athens instead.