Colbie Young Named Georgia Football's 'X-Factor'

The additions via the transfer portal were much needed for the Georgia Bulldogs at wide receiver entering the 2025 season. Yet, their biggest impact player at the position could be one who returns from a season ago.

That being the former Miami transfer, Colbie Young. In a recent article naming the “X factors” for every top-25 team in college football, Young was named as Georgia’s “X factor.”

“Georgia hopes it upgraded its receiver corps by adding Zachariah Branch (USC) and Noah Thomas (Texas A&M), and heralded freshman C.J. Wiley,” Mark Schlabach writes. “The return of Young, a senior, might end up being equally important. … He’s an outside threat that excels at making contested catches.”

Following the preseason dismissal of Rara Thomas, it was Young who was thrust into the starting job at X-receiver. And at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he certainly brings the height to man the role.

It was his height and ability to go up and get the ball that he flashed in his Georgia debut versus Clemson. His second reception in the red and black was a seven-yard touchdown pass.

He’d catch just one more touchdown in his next four appearances before his indefinite suspension. Young missed the rest of Georgia’s season due to an alleged domestic violence incident. He finished his first season at Georgia with just 149 yards and two scores on 11 receptions.

Now, even after the addition of Texas A&M transfer, Thomas, who also projects at the X position. Young looks to be a major contributor in Georgia’s passing game. He showed a glimpse of what that could look like in the annual G-Day game as he reeled in a contested 17-yard touchdown pass.

But Georgia isn’t looking for flashes. They need consistency after a season where the team led the nation in dropped passes.