By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

National Signing Day is almost here. We will get a chance to see where each program ranks and get an idea of who will play next season. I’m going to take a look at Georgia Tech’s recruiting class.

Geoff Collins is entering his first season as the head coach in Atlanta. He has inherited a roster full of Paul Johnson recruits.

As you all know CPJ ran the triple option offense, which made it difficult to recruit top prospects. For many of the players he recruited Tech was the only Power 5 school that was interested in them.

The Yellow Jackets are switching to a pro-style offense, so they need athletes that fit that scheme.

One big boost came in the form of a transfer. Wide receiver Marquez Ezzard transferred from Miami. He was a four-star prospect and he signed with the Hurricanes in February 2018. He also had offers from Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, USC and Florida State.

Ezzard is from Stockbridge, GA so he’s coming home. He’s 6’2 and 210 pounds, so he has great size. He only played in three games this past season so that counts as being redshirted. By ACC rules, Ezzard would have to sit out a season at Tech and lose a season of eligibility, as he is transferring within the conference. That would mean he would sit out the 2019 season and have three seasons remaining.

The current 2019 class has 18 commits and all of them are three-star recruits. I’m a huge fan of quarterback Jordan Yates from Alpharetta, GA. He led Milton high school to the 7A state championship as a senior. He’s a very good dual threat QB. He passed for 2,590 yards and ran for 958 yards last season.

They signed another dual threat QB also, Demetrius Knight. He rushed for over 1,000 yards last season.

They have also signed a few receivers like Nazir Burnett, Zach Owens, Ahmarean Brown and Kalani Norris. Brown is from Tampa and as a senior he had 38 catches for 726 and 7 touchdowns. He’s small (5’9, 165 lbs.) but very fast.

Owens is the biggest receiver at 6’3 and 198 pounds. He’s from Marietta, GA and he averaged 105.7 all-purpose yards per game.

Tight end was a position Paul Johnson did not use at all. Collins plans on changing that and he signed Dylan Deveney from Princeton, New Jersey. He has prototypical size standing at 6’6 and 245 pounds.

They also added a pair of running backs; Devin Ellison and Tony Amerson. Ellison is from Jacksonville and he’s the epitome of a student athlete. He set school records with 3,345 rushing yards and 45 rushing TD’s during his high school career. He’s on course to graduate magna cum laude (4.1 GPA).

Defense has been a problem over the last decade. Tech is going to get talent at each level on defense. They signed several defensive backs; Wesley Walker, Jordan Huff, Kenan Johnson and Jeremiah Smith.

Defensive ends Sylvain Yondjouen and D’Quan Douse have also committed. Douse is from Savannah and he was a three-time all-region honoree.

Yondjouen is from Belgium and has only been playing football for 4 years. They signed one defensive tackle, Jamal Camp.

The linebackers consist of Chico Bennett Jr. and Cornelius Evans. Evans attends the school right by my house, Central Gwinnett. He’s 6’4 and 220 pounds so he has the frame of a pro outside linebacker.

I think this is a solid class that can get better once they arrive on campus and get coached up.