Georgia football QB JT Daniels, wide receiver Jermaine Burton enter transfer portal

Quarterback JT Daniels, who won every start he made at Georgia but lost the top job after battling injuries, is looking for a new place to play.

The former Southern Cal transfer has again entered the transfer portal, Max Olson of the Athletic was the first to report on Wednesday afternoon.

Sophomore wide receiver Jermaine Burton also posted on Instagram he’s entered the portal.

Daniels' decision comes the week after Stetson Bennett completed a storybook season by leading Georgia to a national championship win over Alabama.

Bennett soon after announced on Instagram that he's returning in 2022.

Burton was fifth on the Bulldogs in catches this past season with 26 for 497 yards and 5 touchdowns while battling injuries. He had 27 catches for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns as a freshman. His 19.1 yards per catch led the Bulldogs this season.

Burton called going in the portal "one of the hardest decisions that I've ever had to make in my life."

At quarterback, Georgia also has redshirt freshman Brock Vandagriff, a former five-star at Prince Avenue Christian, redshirt sophomore Carson Beck and true freshman Gunner Stockton from Rabun County as scholarship quarterbacks.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Daniels, from Irvine, Calif., completed 72.3 percent of his passes while passing for 722 yards with 7 touchdowns in 3 interceptions this season.

Coach Kirby Smart said the day after the national championship win about Bennett in an interview with ESPN’s Rece Davis: “If he’s going to give us the best chance to win, I’ve said it over and over again, people think it’s a broken record, whoever gives us the best opportunity to win then I want them to be the quarterback. I want the best guy that gives us a chance to win. Stetson did that this year. I don’t know what our team looks like next year. I don’t know how he feels about it.”

Daniels, a former five-star recruit started wins over Clemson, South Carolina and Vanderbilt in September, but battled an oblique injury and then didn’t play for a 42-day stretch after sustaining a lat muscle strain. He debuted at Georgia in the seventh game last season after returning from a torn ACL at USC.

A portion of the fan base wanted Daniels to regain the starting job over Bennett, a former walk-on, but coaches stuck with Bennett. Daniels only game action after Sept. 25 came as a backup in routs of Missouri, Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech.

Since the redshirt junior previously transferred, he would need a waiver to be able to transfer again. The NCAA has indicated it will be more restrictive on waivers but a graduate transfer who enrolls in a degree program not available at a current school is more likely to get one.

As for Bennett, Smart said: “He went through a lot of this year, a lot of questioning, a lot of doubt, that includes us as coaches because we didn’t have him at the start of camp as the starter. He was working as a 3. He brought those things up to us. We’ve talked about it, but I’d like to see Stetson come back and lead this team again. A lot of things have to happen for him to make the decision that he needs to make in these next two or three weeks.”

He soon after Daniels went in portal revealed he was returning.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football QB JT Daniels, WR Jermaine Burton enter transfer portal