Georgia has Space on Roster; Ideas to Use it

With 20 players leaving via either the NFL Draft or transferrin, along with additional space created by the NCAA, Georgia has room on its roster.

Counting scholarship numbers on any NCAA Division 1 football roster has always been an inexact science. Sure, there's the hard cap of 85 scholarships for football, but how coaches manage that limit is an in-house decision. 

The simplest way? Just count the outgoing players on the roster from the previous year. 

Transfers

• QB D'Wan Mathis
• DB Prather Hudson
• OLB Jermaine Johnson
• WR Matt Landers
• WR Trey Blount
• OL Netori Johnson
• DB Tyrique Stevenson

Total: 7

Off to the NFL/Eligibility Expired

• OG Ben Cleveland
• CB DJ Daniel
• LB Monty Rice
• TE Tre' McKitty
• DB Mark Webb
• DE Malik Herring
• S Richard LeCounte
• OL Trey Hill
• OLB Azeez Ojulari
• CB Tyson Campbell
• CB Eric Stokes
• LB Nate McBride
• OLB Walter Grant
• OL Daniel Gothard

Total: 14

That's a total of 21 available spots. Georgia signed 20 players for the 2021 recruiting class. This makes sense because Georgia left room for safety Terrion Arnold. Of course, this isn't a normal year. 

The NCAA provided an additional year of eligibility, so the seniors that elect to return don't count against the scholarship cap of 85. However, there's a caveat that the additional scholarship space doesn't officially open up until the fall semester begins. 

What does this mean for Georgia? 

Seniors coming back: 

• OL Justin Shaeffer
• DL Devonte Wyatt
• WR Demetris Robertson
• DL Julian Rochester

That's four scholarships that were accounted for during 2020 that are returning in 2021, but not until August. 

Georgia has at least two free scholarships available now and that was evident when a letter of intent was extended to Terrion Arnold before the traditional signing window last week. Come August, they will have an additional four, so what do they do with them or do they even use them? 

Transfer Portal

We believe Georgia will likely continue to be patient. It appears that in this day and age where players can enter the portal at any time, the team likes the young talent they have at positions of need like defensive back. However, space is there if they feel the right impact player becomes available. 

Getting Creative

In a recent interview with 680 The Fan, head coach Kirby Smart said he's going to have to start "getting creative" with the way he manages his roster, becoming more innovative. So, here's my theory:

Smart values great young players coming out of high school more than he does a transfer player. Additionally, he's just watched 16 of 20 signees enroll a semester early, but that's almost standard these days. 

Getting creative is convincing young players to reclassify and come to your school a year early. The way I see it, Georgia has space on its roster to add a top-ranked recruit — or recruits — and have them work to graduate an extra semester early. After all, most are already graduating in December of their senior year to be on campus by January. 

It's not a foreign concept. Smart wouldn't be reinventing the wheel. After all, Dan Mullen did it at Florida with defensive back Kamar Wilcoxon this past season and Mack Brown did it with cornerback Tony Grimes at North Carolina. With the Bulldogs, quarterback JT Daniels reclassified.  

Reinventing the wheel would be having multiple reclass enrollees. Perhaps Smart continues to call his shot in terms of "getting creative." 

Or, perhaps, he doesn't use them at all in order to avoid a scholarship log jam in terms of the future room available on the roster. 

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