Kirby Smart did not leave this transfer portal window claiming perfection, and he is not pretending otherwise. Georgia added help where it mattered offensively, pulling WR Isaiah Canion from Georgia Tech and RB Dante Dowdell from Kentucky. The louder message, though, is coming from the defensive side and it is being delivered early, deliberately, and far from Athens up the East Coast.

“2028 4-star EDGE adds Georgia offer,” Chad Simmons reported on X on January 13. 

Jackson Vaughn, a 2028 4-star EDGE from Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey, added Georgia to an already crowded offer list after the Bulldogs made their move. At 6’3 and 220 pounds, he is already producing against top-tier competition. 

Forty-three scholarship offers have followed Jackson Vaughn, including Penn State, Ohio State, LSU, Miami, and Texas A&M. His resume explains why. He finished the 2024 season with 16 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and a forced fumble while playing varsity football for a Bergen Catholic program that won its fourth straight state championship. In the title game, he recorded multiple sacks, announcing himself on a stage that regularly sends players to Power Five rosters. 

Accolades followed fast. He was an FBU Freshman All-American, High School on SI Freshman All-Freshman, NJ.com All-Non-Public First Team Defense, and High School on SI’s Newcomer of the Year. These developments didn’t escape Kirby Smart’s attention. Jackson Vaughn, however, does not speak like someone content with early praise. 

“I had a lot of success last season, but there’s still work to do,” he said.

His goals include breaking Bergen Catholic’s sack record and becoming the No. 1 edge rusher in the 2028 class. Georgia is not betting on what Jackson Vaughn has done. It is betting on what he has already decided he will chase next.

The second New Jersey offer reinforces that this was not a one-off evaluation. Chaz Gray, a 2027 EDGE from St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, received his Georgia offer after a fall that reshaped how recruiters view him. At 6’2.5, 250 pounds, he has the length to stay outside and the power to slide inside. Seventeen offers now sit on his board, including Notre Dame, Miami, Michigan State, and Washington. Georgia’s timing matters here, joining the conversation as Gray’s trajectory begins bending upward.

Chaz Gray has described his recruitment as relationship-driven, noting the schools that have “shown the most love” early in the process. Rankings place him as the No. 9 recruit in New Jersey and the No. 38 EDGE nationally for 2027, per the 247Sports Composite. Those numbers may undersell the disruption he creates against the run and as a pass rusher. Georgia is clearly comfortable trusting its own evaluations over consensus lists.

There is a reason Kirby Smart continues to scout high school defenders aggressively even as the portal reshapes rosters. His 2023 philosophy still sticks today. 

“I don’t know because I’m not in the portal industry as much,” he said. “I mean, we’re gonna always look and try to take a great player, but I’m not gonna live and die by it. I want to develop players and bring them in from freshmen all the way up.” 

Georgia will use the portal, but it will not outsource its defensive future to it. That philosophy explains why offers like Jackson Vaughn’s and Chaz Gray’s arrive so early. But Kirby Smart is still doing an excellent job in balancing the present via the transfer portal. 

Kirby Smart balances Georgia’s 2026 back end

Kirby Smart’s long-term approach did not stop Georgia from addressing immediate needs. Prior to Tuesday, the Bulldogs had already reinforced the defensive trenches and added three defensive backs. Now, they have added another proven piece to the secondary, and this one comes with SEC-level seasoning.

Oklahoma DB Gentry Williams is committing to Georgia, per On3, giving the Bulldogs a veteran cornerback with one season of eligibility remaining. A former 4-star and the No. 1 player in Oklahoma in the 2022 class, he brings experience even if his 2025 season was cut short. A shoulder injury limited him to six games, ending with season-ending surgery after a reinjury before Oklahoma’s Week 12 matchup against Alabama.

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In those six games, the 5’11, 187-pound DB recorded 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, and two pass breakups. His transfer followed participation in Oklahoma’s Senior Day, signaling closure. Georgia, meanwhile, needed answers after losing multiple DBs. Gentry Williams joins Khalil Barnes, Braylon Conley, and Ja’Marley Riddle as portal additions, effectively restocking a unit that lost Joenel Aguero, Adrian Maddox, Jaden Harris, and Daniel Harris.

Put together, the picture is clear. Kirby Smart is not choosing between the portal and high school recruiting. He is sequencing both. Georgia is patching today’s roster while quietly laying claim to tomorrow’s defense.