The NFL Draft commences tonight and for the fifth straight year, Georgia Tech will not have a player taken on day one and likely no one taken on that day two either. The last early-round draft pick was Adam Gostis (2016) in the second round and the last first-round picks came in 2010 with a pair of legends Demaryius Thomas (RIP BayBay) and Derrick Morgan.
There have only been nine first-round picks in school history:
1945 4th- Eddie Prokop (Boston Yanks)
1955 7th- Larry Morris (LA Rams)
1963 10th- Rufus Guthrie (LA Rams)
1979 15th- Eddie Lee Ivery (Green Bay Packers)
1979 26th- Kent Hill (LA Rams)
1992 12th- Marco Coleman (Miami Dolphins)
1998 12th- Keith Brooking (Atlanta Falcons)
2007 2nd- Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech)
2010 16th- Derrick Morgan (Tennessee Titans)
2010 22nd- Demaryius Thomas (Denver Broncos)
As a reference here is a look at the whole of the ACC listed by the most players drafted
Miami- 373 players (67 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2021 Rousseau 30th
Pittsburgh- 313 players (27 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2014 Aaron Donald 13th
Florida State- 288 players (45 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2019
Clemson- 274 players (36 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2021 #1 Trevor Lawrence
North Carolina- 253 players (26 1st rounders) 2018 CB Mike Hughes 30th
Georgia Tech- 237 players (9 1st rounders) last 1st rounders 2010 noted above.
Syracuse- 221 players (21 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2013 OL Justin Pugh 19th
Boston College- 221 players (20 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2012
NC State- 182 players (18 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2019 OL- Bradbury 18th
Virginia- 174 players (16 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2009 OL Eugene Monroe 8th
Duke- 168 players (10 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2018 Daniel Jones 6th
VaTech- 164 (14 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2021 two players 22/23
Wake Forest- 144 players (5 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2015 CB Kevin Johnson 16th
Louisville- 135 players (16 1st rounders) last 1st rounder 2018 Lamar Jackson 32nd
So GT is in the middle of the pack in overall draft choices despite the lean final Paul Johnson teams and rough start for Geoff Collins with one pick each of his seasons at the end of the draft. The Jackets also have the second-longest drought of 1st round picks behind Virginia and that will take some magic from one of the transfers to change since Jahmyr Gibbs left for Alabama in the 2023 draft.
So what does all of this mean? Georgia Tech is the only ACC program that has not produced a full-time starting NFL QB and the four QB who have played in the modern era have one combined start and 53 pass attempts in the NFL. That is something that would be a game-changer to see changed.
The majority of the NFL players produced by Georgia Tech have been linemen or linebackers and clearly those were areas most impacted by both the previous system and the transition so it makes sense no one has been drafted from that group recently either.
Geoff Collins preached the backbone of his program being player development and entering year four with the majority of the starters his recruits now either via HS or the portal, this is where the rubber meets the road and you need to start seeing things change and not just have us covering the final day of the draft but covering at least day two. The talent is in place to start producing more than late-round picks, it is time for the Jackets' football program to deliver.
