Kirby Smart looks genius once again for letting former backup QB transfer to rival

I wish him nothing but the best, but I think we have seen enough out of Brock Vandagriff now four years in college. The former Georgia Bulldogs backup and local product transferred to Kentucky right after the SEC Championship Game loss to Alabama last December. Vandagriff may have been in contention to be the Dawgs' Week 1 starter had Carson Beck decided to turn pro, but he did return.

As Beck looks like a serious contender for the Heisman Trophy and the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, Vandagriff got benched midway through Kentucky's blowout home loss to South Carolina. I did not realize that former Rutgers starter Gavin Wimsatt played for the Wildcats until Saturday. Vandagriff may have committed to play for Liam Coen, but he looked listless in Bush Hamdan's Kentucky attack.

The good news for Georgia is Smart and his staff seemed to have evaluated the quarterback room quite well behind Beck. Gunner Stockton is far from a finished product, but he has shown an ability to march the team down field and score points every so often. Vandagriff was unbelievably good at overthrowing his receivers in college with precisely no touch. Even Jaden Rashada looks way better.

If what we saw last weekend is a sign of what is to come, Stockton will take a knee to win big at UK.

Kirby Smart looks smart for letting former 5-star QB walk to Kentucky

I get that Vandagriff wanted the opportunity to start games, but he may be the latest quarterback to have been highly overvalued coming out of high school. Vandagriff can really spin it, but he played for his father just outside of Athens at the lowest level of competition in Georgia high school football. At some point, we will have to take level of comp much more seriously with high school evaluations.

Even though Kentucky would love nothing more than to play spoiler to Georgia, the Wildcats have not beaten the Dawgs since I was a sophomore in college. 2009 was a long time ago. Joe Cox was Georgia's quarterback. Now he is on Lane Kiffin's offensive staff at Ole Miss. While Hamdan is a good offensive mind, I wonder if the Wildcats will do a better job offensively with Wimsatt running point.

Ultimately, this is what can happen when you live and die by the transfer portal. While you don't need to avoid it all together like Dabo Swinney continues to do at Clemson for some reason, the transfer portal does not always have the cure for what ails you. Mark Stoops has raised the floor at Kentucky, but keep in mind that he is a defensive-minded head coach. He needs to nail his coordinator hires.

Georgia might play with its food a bit vs. Kentucky, but they will have a massive talent advantage.