UGA lost 31 players due to "graduation." This season will begin to tell the tale of what kind oif coach Smart actually is. Richt had NC caliber talent and recruiting classes for over a decade down there. He was a dry hole, so far Kirby is 0-2 for national titles as well. To Smart's credit he at least led the dawgs into a stadium to play for one, but with Richt's kids.
I apologize in advance for the long-winded response, but felt I have a lot of points to cover in response to your post.
Of the 31 lost players, only 17 were regular contributors. 9 total starters are what's moving on (well, 10 counting the punter, but UGA signed the #1 punter this year too). That's about 1-2 more starters leaving than the average college football attrition.
In fairness, Kirby's "oldest" recruits were sophomores. Really true freshmen, as half of Kirby's first class can be considered Richt's class, as Richt got most of them onboard, and Kirby just kept them onboard when he got there. Although, Kirby did pick up some nice additions in only his first month on the job.
Kirby's first full recruiting class, who saw significant playing time last year, included true freshman QB Fromm, starting right tackle Thomas who's switching over to LT this year (these first two guys are playing arguably the hardest two positions to start as a true freshmen), RB Swift who had 600+ yards rushing with a 7.6 YPC average, among others. And many who already passed upperclassmen on the two deep last year as true freshmen, and will be starting this year.
Also, special teams was littered with freshmen who took one of the biggest problem areas and turned it into a strength.
The difference in Bama's recruiting and Richt's is a lot farther apart than what people think, especially if you're just looking at Bama #1, but UGA is say #6 under Richt (which you would think is not a big difference)... But the difference in star power in those classes is about 3-4 more 5 stars and 5 more 4 stars for Bama per year than the #6-8th ranked class. Big difference I'd say.
I'll take Kirby's "0-2 for national titles" all day over any program in the country not named Bama. And I like UGA's long term outlook over Bama's as well. More fertile recruiting grounds, that's quickly become appealing on a national level, and much younger HC to build long term with.
With that said, UGA may take a step back this year, as they will be relying on young players, who have talent but never had to display leadership as of yet. Time will tell, but I like UGA's chances over the next 3-4 years, and hopefully beyond. I'm not expecting a NC game appearance this year, but an East title and competitive SEC CG isn't out of the realm of possibilities. 2019-20 are the years everyone should truly be fearing UGA.