Kirby Smart raised some eyebrows discussing the state of his roster this week.

“I feel like we have less depth than we’ve ever had,” he claimed. “And that’s kind of a common theme talking to other coaches I talk to. I call it the deterioration of football.”

Hearing Smart fret about depth sends many fans one of two ways. You have those who laugh it off – there goes Kirby again channeling his inner Dooley and fighting complacency. Then there’s the twinge of panic. Depth? What happened to all of those signing classes? Why don’t we have any players? Are they all busts?

It makes a little more sense when Smart explains what he means by “depth.” Of course Georgia doesn’t lack for talented athletes with high ceilings. He’s also not poor-mouthing his roster. Smart elaborated, “Every year we’ve been here, I feel like we’ve had more players capable of going in and playing winning football, and every year that (number) goes down. So, we have to keep working to increase that number….We have less guys that know and execute our system.”

In that light “depth” is the set of players Smart considers able to execute Georgia’s system to his standard (“winning football.”) In Smart’s view, that set is in danger of shrinking year over year even as the talent level remains high. That’s an important and real distinction. We saw a gifted athlete like C.J. Allen do amazing things as a true freshman, but we also saw him forced into learning on the job at times. The concern is that injuries and other factors might force a coach’s hand as the pool of players ready to perform to Georgia’s standard decreases, and that could lead to a less effective unit on the field. In other words, deterioration.

Smart suggests a few root causes. There’s the transfer portal, sure, and players transferring into a new system will always have a learning curve. But Georgia has had the luxury of being selective in its use of the portal, and those transfers aren’t often viewed as developmental projects. Another issue Smart raises is players arriving at the next level less prepared than their predecessors because “their practice regimen and practice schedule is tougher” now in high school. Certainly someone who has been at the forefront of the recruiting game for 20 years and himself grew up around the high school coaching environment would have finely-tuned insight into the development and readiness of high school prospects.

The upcoming roster limit expansion from 85 to 105 doesn’t necessarily help things. A larger pool of players at the same state of development doesn’t change the roster’s quality or give Smart the depth he’s looking for. Meanwhile the portal and NIL make it more difficult concentrate “winning football” players on a handful of rosters. That’s good for the competitiveness of the sport, but of course it makes Smart’s job more difficult. Not only is there increased competition to recruit the fewer game-ready players, there’s also a greater risk of players transferring out after putting in the work to build depth.

The “good” news, as Smart points out, is that everyone is facing this challenge – some more than others. “It’s not as much quality depth that I’m used to, but we probably have more than a lot of people.” Advantage is always relative, and Georgia’s roster is still in good relative shape even as the nature of player development evolves throughout the sport.