As promised this is my depth chart prediction WAR ROOM and I've thrown in some recruiting intel as well.
A note on the projected depth chart. This is 100% my take based on sources and if someone is injured unless that injury is public like Jackson Long or DJ Moore they will be on my depth chart for now. I'm not going to put stuff up that could give intel for FSU on the injury front before Tech plays them in the opener. If they opened with Bethune-Cookman it would be a very different story. The team was still in camp the last time I was there and they won't start FSU prep until Friday in practice.
QUARTERBACKS
Haynes King
Zach Pyron
Aaron Philo
Brody Rhodes
Graham Knowles
This is pretty easy Haynes King is the starting QB, Zach Pyron is the backup and if they had to play a third QB it would probably be Aaron Philo. King and Pyron are just way ahead of the younger guys and that is just how it is. Philo is very talented and hopes to push his way up, but the reality is both King and Pyron have more experience and are better prepared right now to win games. Both King and Pyron did lots of work with QB trainers in the offseason to prepare for the 2024 season and you can see growth with both on various types of throws. Pyron's arm strength growth the last two years has been very impressive to watch as that was probably the biggest knock on him coming out of HS. King has always had a big arm but his big key this season will be his ability to read his progressions and not force balls into coverage. Predetermining his throws last season off pre-snap looks led to a huge chunk of his interceptions. This is a very deep room and all three of the backup QBs would've been better options than some of the QBs GC3 trotted out aside from healthy Jeff Sims.
RUNNING BACK
Jamal Haynes
this one is interesting I think it is open Trey Cooley or Evan Dickens or Anthony Carrie
Chad Alexander
Daylon Gordon
Trelain Maddox (not cleared yet for full contact coming off his knee injury)
Jamal Haynes is the guy the question is who is #2, that part I'm unclear on. Key was very high on Anthony Carrie and Chad Alexander coming out of the scrimmage. Evan Dickens is very steady and you get solid work there, but what is his ceiling like? Cooley looks great in non-contact, but he struggled with his footwork and staying upright and has had fumbling issues in the past, but he has some home run threat to him. Carrie and Maddox are the future at this spot and when both are healthy and up to speed that will give GT some good size and speed at the RB position behind Haynes, but can Carrie pass pro well enough to play right now? We will find out soon enough. Maddox is a real X-factor here when he gets cleared maybe in October. Having Maddox and Carrie behind Haynes would be special.
RECEIVERS
So there is a lot of crosstraining in this group
X receiver Z Receiver SLOT
Chase Lane Eric Singleton Jr. Malik Rutherford
Leo Blackburn Abdul Janneh Christian Leary or
Abdul Janneh or Christian Leary Bailey Stockton
Avery Boyd Zion Taylor Zion Taylor
Zion Taylor Isiah Canion
Isiah Canion Trey Horne
Really I think the top three are pretty set with Singleton, Rutherford and Lane with Leo Blackburn and Abdul Janneh being the next two guys up and Christian Leary in there as well. What can guys like Bailey Stockton (who would've played last year had he not injured his hand before camp) and Zion Taylor do? That is the bigger question. I think we will see Avery Boyd more at the TE spot. They have some cool walk-ons like Nick Bliss, Chris Elko and Trent Davis who aren't bad either.
Tight Ends/H-back
Tight End (Y) H-back (H/F)
Jackson Hawes Brett Seither
Brett Seither Avery Boyd
Josh Beetham or Ryland Goede or
Ryland Goede Josh Beetham or
Luke Harping Luke Harpring
David Prince David Prince
So Jackson Hawes is really freaking good and a prototype beast at TE, folks should be excited to see him in action. Brett Seither was great in the red zone last year. Avery Boyd is coming off a spring knee injury so it will be interesting to see what his role is like this fall. When he is healthy he can be a dynamic weapon at WR or H-back. Josh Beetham had a great camp. Goede is solid when he is healthy and able to go full speed. He has battled some injury issues during his career elsewhere. The real freaky guy here aside from Hawes is Luke Harpring. He has his dad's athleticism and has tremendous hands. He is still learning the offense and how stuff works, but once he has a full grasp of the offense I think he will be a real asset here and there is a reason why they didn't want him playing defensive end.
| LEFT TACKLE | LEFT GUARD | CENTER | RIGHT GUARD | RIGHT TACKLE |
| Corey Robinson | Joe Fusile | Weston Franklin | Keylan Rutledge | Jordan Williams |
| Jordan Brown or Jameson Riggs | Brandon Best or Jordan Brown | Harrison Moore or Tana Alo-Tupuola | Benjamin Galloway or Ethan Mackenny | Ethan Mackenny or Patrick Screws Jr. |
| Kai Greer | Harrison Moore | Brandon Best | Patrick Screws Jr. | Jordan Floyd |
I expect this will be the bowl lineup with Keylan Rutledge subbed for the departed Connor Scaglione. The real interesting guy in all of the offseason with the ascension of Jordan Brown who was 3rd team playing some guard and tackle in the spring. Things just clicked for him over the summer, he got healthy for the first time since he arrived and GT and he had a huge summer and strong fall camp to the point where he was able to get one reps when Corey Robinson was banged up as Geep Wade spoke about during his media avail. Jameson Riggs is no slouch but Brown has pushed him. The Brown thing is something interesting to watch as the roster size goes up. That is a guy who many times leaves or a team kind of gives up on and with OL and sometimes DL that light can come on later and they didn't process him and gave him more time and it clicked.
They seem to be setting up Mackenny to basically replace Jordan Williams on the right side of the line. Mackenny keeps growing as well which is why he is playing some guard now. I'm not sure where things stand with the backup center thing, but they love Harrison Moore and Tana was great in the spring. Moore is sort of a Swiss Army Knife, I'm fairly certain he has played 4 of the 5 OL spots since arriving in January, maybe he hasn't taken reps at LT, but everywhere else he has had a go.
This should be one of the better OL's GT has had in a long time on paper
