How One-Time Transfer Rule Impacts Georgia

The NCAA has approved a one-time transfer rule, allowing players to transfer and gain immediate eligibility. We discuss how it impacts UGA.

Brooks Austin | May 18, 2021

The NCAA has long been flirting with the idea of a one-time transfer rule for its collegiate sports, with the initial seed being planted with the NCAA transfer portal coming about in October, 2018.

Now, student-athletes will get a one-time pass for free eligibility if they choose to depart from their current school and attend another. Granted, this is an NCAA-wide rule that is not cohesive with the current bylaws in each individual conference.

As of now, players transferring within their own conference still need approval on the conference level. However, with the most recent developments such as Georgia adding former Alabama cornerback Brandon Turnage, and Alabama bringing in Tennessee linebacker Henry To'o To'o, it's clear that schools — within the SEC at least — that the conference will also be adapting.

So, what does it mean for a program like Georgia?

Keep Stacking that QB Room

Georgia has recruited at an all-time level across the board since head coach Kirby Smart's arrival in Athens. However, he's done something relatively new on the recruiting trail in terms of loading up the quarterback room with Carson Beck in 2020, Brock Vandagriff in 2021 and Gunner Stockton in 2022. All three are immensely talented, all three staring down the competition to be the starter in the spring of 2022. Until then, it's the JT Daniels show.

As every football fan knows, the quarterback position is unlike any other in the sense that there is no rotation. The starting quarterback will play 100 percent of the meaningful snaps on any given Saturday leaving quarterbacks who are buried on the depth chart with two options; wait it out or get out.

The one-time transfer rule now provides Georgia with the freedom of going after the No. 1 quarterback on their recruiting board every year because, after all, if you don't win the job, you're free to go.

Second-Stringers Will be Picked Off

For a program like Georgia that has recruited at an unprecedented level in terms of the school's history, there will be immensely talented players buried on the depth chart. This means they are going to be looking elsewhere for playing time sooner rather than later nowadays.

We've seen it already this offseason. Safety Major Burns was No. 2 on the depth chart behind Lewis Cine, yet despite being one injury away from being a starter for Georgia, he elected to enter the NCAA transfer portal. It may seem unfamiliar now to see such a talented and promising player enter the portal, but it's soon to become commonplace in this newfound world of college football.

Roster Holes Will Be Filled

This is nothing new for the University of Georgia under Smart. Tight end Eli Wolf was brought on in 2019 when the room was thin following the early departure of Isaac Nauta. In that same year, wide receiver Lawrence Cager was added to the roster. In 2020, Georgia needed a quarterback following the early exit of Jake Fromm, so Smart brought in not one, but two quarterbacks from the transfer portal.

In 2021, the defensive back room was thin — and still remains that way — so, he added All-America safety, Tykee Smith from West Virginia and former Alabama cornerback Brandon Turnage.

The portal will be about filling holes for Georgia, and if they can find a transcendent player, like quarterback JT Daniels while they are at, it's even better.

How One-Time Transfer Rule Impacts Georgia

Brooks Austin | May 18, 2021

Keep Stacking that QB Room

Second-Stringers Will be Picked Off

Roster Holes Will Be Filled

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