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Georgia Tech football has seven players exhausting their eligibility this year plus another group of guys who have an extra covid year to play with but have not announced their intentions yet. Seven other players have entered the transfer portal on scholarship as well since the portal opened back up this month.
That puts GT at 71 scholarship players. You have two transfers in thus far Jackson Long and Chase Lane so that is 73.
Of the guys with an extra year only Dontae Smith has said yes.
Here are the other players who are in that limbo space.
Offense:
Luke Benson- TE
Peje' Harris - TE
Dylan Leonard- TE
Mike Maye - OG
Dylan McDuffie- RB
Defense
T.K. Chimedza - DT
Jaylon King - S
Myles Sims - CB
Zamari Walton - CB
Sylvain Yondjouen - DE
Out of that group I would assume that maybe two offensive players and up to four defensive players return.
During the Miami game from this group, Chimedza, Harris, King, Sims, Walton and Yondjouen all participated in SR Day though that does not mean anything binding. Ace Eley came back last year and did the 2021 SR Day for example.
If my hunch is correct that would put GT at around 69 scholarships including the two incoming transfers.
You have one other player, Cade Kootsouradis who walked really early who may not return as well. That would be 68. There will be additional attrition, there always is so the goal is going to be more 22-25 spots for the class until August.
GT has 13 commits and I only expect 11 of them to sign in December with Zion Taylor possibly punting to Feb and Anthony Little having some academic stuff to clean up.
So that leaves what I would comfortably say is another 11-15 spots to fill
Here is my take on how I think it fills out
QB- they need two ideally, one transfer and one younger QB. How that plays out is anyone's guess right now. You have to two Zachs and Brody Rhodes and Aiden Semo who played mostly other skill spots on the scout team. They need four scholarship QBs ideally.
RB- They need one more HS signee and maybe a transfer as well as the numbers are way down in this room compared to the end of the 2021 season. Right now you have Dontae Smith and Jamie Felix who flashed and then two guys who were not dressed at the end of the season Dylan McDuffie the Buffalo transfer and Antonio Martin. You need something else there.
WR- They added a nice piece in Chase Lane from TAMU via the portal and so far they've kept Leo Blackburn in the fold, but they need more help especially on the outside. Lane can play both inside and outside, Malik Rutherford is very good and Jamal Haynes and DJ Moore can also both play in the slot, so outside receiver help via the portal would be big. They have Bryce Dopson and Taylor if he signs in the fold as well. I still expect them to add one more HS WR as well. This room could really use a vertical threat who is 6'+.
TE- They need a lot of help at this spot hence the addition of Jackson Long who filled a spot that should've been filled in the last cycle. Dylan Leonard has not announced his decision yet on what his future plans are and Luke Benson still has another year as does Peje Harris, but I could see it just being one or two of those guys back. They have Billy Ward who is close to being ready. Ben Postma may benefit for a new regime or not, he needs to step up now. I would expect they will go after someone at TE that can contribute immediately and someone with solid/quality game experience.
OL- They have five HS commits and are trying to add a sixth if it is the right guy. I think they will examine the portal for OL options, but I think anyone they add will be more likely to be someone who has played before rather than a situation like adding Corey Robinson this past offseason or Nick Pendley two years ago.
DE- If they keep Sylvain in the fold they are in decent shape, but this is another spot where an upgrade via the portal would be helpful. I expect they will sign one or two HS DEs and try to find another Keion White situation if possible and not an Antonneous Clayton situation.
DT- This is the spot they are actually in pretty good shape at right now. I expect them to explore more HS targets as you've seen with the offer of Caleb Bryant and Rodney Lora recently as well as a few other new targets.
LB- This is where they could really change the fortunes of the defense. They need a replacement for Charlie Thomas and someone who can run sideline to sideline to replace him. He is why the defense really worked at times and why it struggled when he struggled. I think they can figure out the middle linebacker spot with Tatum or bringing in a guy like Sergio Allen from Clemson or someone else. The trick will be finding a way to replace what Thomas did. Sirad Bryant and Kaleb Edwards might be in-house candidates though, but that is tough to ask. The Jackets have two LB commits lined up already but neither fill that void either.
S/NB- This position is solid especially if they can get Jaylon King back because it gives them a lot of flexibility with how they play Clayton Powell-Lee and LaMiles Brooks and all three can be on the field together and you have another year with KJ Wallace who played very solidly in a tough position at nickel as well. They need HS help here more than older players. They still have a huge raw piece in Jaylin Marshall so this is not a major need area yet. Rodney Shelley Jr. could be an interesting piece in the future as well.
CBs- This all really rides on what Zamari Walton and Myles Sims decide to do. Both played pretty well and really leveled up this past year. You have Kenyatta Watson who is a solid cover corner and Kenan Johnson who is more of a utility guy and then the two ex-Auburn CBs Eric Reed and Ahmari Harvey to mix in. The staff appear to want some size at the CB spot via HS and I could see them going after a portal guy if both CBs leave or one leaves. This one will be interesting to watch.
SPTs- I am not sure they do much here signing anyone, they will likely bring in a PWO to compete with David Shanahan at punter for sure and you add Aidan Birr in the spring hopefully to compete with Gavin Stewart basically replacing Jude Kelley. I do think they will try to add another PWO long snapper as well because the unit really struggled at times once Cade Long got hurt the second time and missed the rest of the season. I'm unsure of where he stands academically.
