Kirby Smart sounds off on Georgia's lack of depth

One of the things that Georgia football has always been able to rely on is their depth. Their surplus of depth in recent years is arguably the biggest reason Georgia got to to the top of the college football world and has stayed there.

Depth is obviously extremely important because you never know what's going to happen with players on your team. Injuries happen all the time and players get tired and need a rest during the game, so having players on the second and third unit who are just as good as the starters (if not better) is crucial for a team to seriously contend for a national championship.

That amount of depth is something Georgia has had for a long time now, but according to Kirby Smart that is something this year's team does not have.

"We don't have enough depth at any position," Smart said via 247sports.com. "I don't know one coach that'll tell you, 'I got the greatest depth in the world. We're great there.' Like, I don't feel good about our depth. I don't feel great about our depth at snapper. I don't feel great about our depth at holder. I don't feel great about our depth at field goal protection. I don't feel good about our depth at wide receiver or anything because I don't ever think you have enough to practice the way you need to practice."

What happened to Georgia's depth?

There really isn't anything that Georgia has done wrong specifically that has hurt their depth, it has more to do with the times of college football.

Sure Georgia sends a lot of players to the NFL each season, so that obviously hurts their depth. But the biggest factor impacting this is the transfer portal. It is so easy for players nowadays to decide to switch schools the second something doesn't go there way. That is seen all the time when a freshman gets to college, doesn't end up playing as much as they think they should, and then decides to leave for a better opportunity elsewhere.

There's no telling how often that has happened at Georgia, but it is happening all across the country so it's very likely it has happened in Athens as well.

To combat this, Smart and his staff are going to have to work extra hard to build that depth up each season with the guys in the locker room. The sooner they get players who are deep in the depth chart up to speed, the better Georgia will be in the long run.

And that isn't the case just for future seasons, but for this year as well if any of Georgia's star players get sidelined with an injury.