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re: Returning 35 out of the 48 players in our 2-deep roster
Posted on 2/13/26 at 10:43 am to djsdawg
Posted on 2/13/26 at 10:43 am to djsdawg
quote:
How does this compare to the last 5 seasons?
I can't answer that because the "two deep" is subjective. It depends on who you ask and when the question is asked. I do have data on how many returning upperclassmen we had on roster over that 5 yr period. By returning upperclassmen, I mean how many players on roster are currently in their 3rd or greater year of college ball AND were on roster at UGA the previous season. It's a decent (but obviously not perfect) proxy for returning experience/exposure to UGA program development.
2021 --- 39 returning upperclassmen
2022 --- 36
2023 --- 33
2024 --- 26 (portal is starting to really bite)
2025 --- 25
2026 --- 38 (very good job of roster retention)
All of the above numbers only include offense and defense. I normally separate special teams positions (kicker/punter/long snapper) out of the data because it skews some of the results.
This post was edited on 2/13/26 at 11:28 am
1
Posted on 2/13/26 at 11:26 am to wdhalgren
In terms of "career starts for current team," the total for our 2026 roster heading into the season probably doubles what it was for the 2025 roster.
If we don't win a playoff game this season, I'm officially joining the "Kirby needs to make some serious changes to the program" camp lol.
If we don't win a playoff game this season, I'm officially joining the "Kirby needs to make some serious changes to the program" camp lol.
This post was edited on 2/13/26 at 11:29 am
Posted on 2/13/26 at 11:39 am to Violent Hip Swivel
quote:
In terms of "career starts for current team," our 2026 roster might double the 2025 roster.
I don't have that data either, but it would be interesting. It would also be intereting to have data on snaps played (at position) for every player on roster. You can probably pay to get something resembling that statistic, but I'm not gonna go to that expense for my "hobby" of playing with data.
I have looked at the data enough to know that the transfer portal has royally screwed with people who seriously try to quantify and model things like experience vs talent. It wasn't as big of a deal when assessing freshmen, because they were collectively expected to need a year of learning and maturing before they became significant contributors. These portal players are being hired and paid big money to have a significant effect on outcomes next season.
I'd imagine AI is being applied to that task, but the variables become daunting when you try to quantify the value of what a player did in one season as a starter at Ferris State, and model that for a team running a different scheme against SEC defenses. Trying to do that for a roster with 30 incoming transfers is an order of magnitude harder.
This post was edited on 2/13/26 at 11:57 am
Posted on 2/13/26 at 1:08 pm to Violent Hip Swivel
quote:
If we don't win a playoff game this season, I'm officially joining the "Kirby needs to make some serious changes to the program" camp lol.
As always, it depends on the competition. I'm guessing there are programs out there spending lots of money to retain their best players while booting those they've assessed to have less upside. Then they spend lots more money in the portal picking up players who they've evaluated using complex models. When I see teams like Texas or Ohio State losing 25 or 37 players to the portal (Georgia lost 15), I have to ask: Are they being outbid or purging in order to facilitate a very expensive reload in the portal?
If Kirby doesn't have the budget to effectively operate at that level, then retention and development becomes very important. If he can retain and develop less talented players until they're approximately equal to the value of those expensive (but new to the program) one year rentals, he may keep Georgia in the top echelon of teams. That still doesn't guarantee playoff success in a given year, just means you're in the picture. Unless UGA can recruit a few multi-billionaires, "serious changes" may lead to serious roster turnover, which would be counterproductive.
This post was edited on 2/13/26 at 1:36 pm
Posted on 2/13/26 at 1:19 pm to wdhalgren
quote:
Unless UGA can recruit a few multi-billionaires
Well, guess it's time to go on a "goodwill" tour of the wealthiest oil states and have some meet and greets with the richest Asian industrialists/financial guys (but definitely not the wealthiest drug cartels, and wealthiest Russian gangsters) and find ourselves some investment!
Posted on 2/13/26 at 1:52 pm to FaCubeItches
quote:
Well, guess it's time to go on a "goodwill" tour of the wealthiest oil states and have some meet and greets with the richest Asian industrialists/financial guys (but definitely not the wealthiest drug cartels, and wealthiest Russian gangsters) and find ourselves some investment!
As a sign of how crazy this has gotten, we need a bonafide, preferably experienced, CFO for the Georgia football program.
Posted on 2/13/26 at 3:22 pm to deeprig9
quote:
And a Heisman winning QB.
That was protected by seniors and super seniors.
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