Breaking News: Georgia Lose Defensive Star To The Transfer Portal

The former 5-star cornerback is leaving the Bulldogs

Losing 5-star transfers to the portal isn’t an uncommon occurrence in today’s college football world. Georgia is no more bullet-proof than the rest.

Bulldogs redshirt sophomore cornerback Nyland Green is only the latest. Green announced his plans to enter his name into the transfer portal in hopes of finding a new home for his last two seasons of eligibility.

Green’s name was mentioned as a potential candidate for the starting cornerback spot opposite of Kamari Lassiter. He battled Daylen Everette, Julian Humphrey and AJ Harris throughout fall camp. Ultimately, Everette won that job, and Humphrey found opportunities to split time with him throughout the year prior to his injury. Green never cracked the rotation in meaningful minutes.

“All those guys are competing. Daylen, Julio, Nyland, all rolling and playing primarily with the ones. AJ has gotten some reps with the ones. All four of those guys are going to battle it out,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said in the middle of fall camp. “If nobody is a clear cut guy, then we’ll play multiple guys until we figure it out. We’re waiting for someone to step up and take it but that hasn’t happened.”

Despite not cracking the starting DB rotation, Green was a constant contributor for Georgia on special teams. That action saw him participate in 23 games over the last two seasons. Green played in all 13 games during the 2023 season, recording seven tackles.

Not all of that work came on special teams. Green earned late-game snaps against UAB and Vanderbilt, games that he had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Green finished his three-year Georgia career with 12 total tackles and two pass breakups.

Green entered Georgia as its standard blue-chip recruit. He ranked as the No. 2 cornerback and No. 19 overall prospect in the 2021 recruiting class. Only Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry ranked higher than him among cornerbacks, per the 247Sports rankings.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound cornerback out of Covington, Ga., was the No. 3-ranked player in the state of Georgia that cycle.

Green has two years of eligibility remaining after redshirting in the 2021 season only playing in three contests.

No Concern For Georgia

I wouldn’t be very concerned if I were Kirby Smart and the Georgia staff. In this college football landscape, players are going to leave for more playing time or different NIL opportunities. Georgia has one of the best recruiting engines in all of college football and should easily replenish talent. The Bulldogs are also more likely to lose players as they have so many good ones that there isn’t enough playing time to go around. While it always hurts to see a player, especially a former five-star recruit, walk out the door, it shouldn’t concern fans too much.