Former Yellow Jackets Haynes King, Dean Patterson, and Keylan Rutledge Are Impressing Early In Their NFL Careers

The talk of the NFL after last night's Hall of Fame Game in Canton, OH, was former Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King. In his first NFL action for the Carolina Panthers, King threw for 180 yards on 21-34 passing attempts with three total touchdowns, including the game-winner as time expired. King took over for Kenny Pickett, who started the game for the Panthers, and got to lead the Panthers for six drives, where he would lead them to five scoring possessions.

HAYNES KING WINS IT FOR THE PANTHERS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/HESbUZGhBN
— NFL (@NFL) August 7, 2026

He is not the only former Yellow Jacket that is making waves early on in their pro career.

While the Panthers-Cardinals game has been the only NFL preseason game to date, training camps are going on around the league right now, including Tampa Bay, where former Georgia Tech wide receiver Dean Patterson has been impressive early on in Buccaneers camp:

Dean Patterson just caught a touchdown in the back of the endzone. Three straight solid practices from the rookie Yellow Jacket. https://t.co/lNz9Bf4mwB
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) August 7, 2026

Patterson got a lot of praise from Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles after practice today:

Bowles has been very pleased with how Patterson has taken advantage of more reps with the WR room being limited at the moment. https://t.co/ZuVqgOxMVt pic.twitter.com/82zPTTKNqt
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) August 7, 2026

Former Georgia Tech OL Keylan Rutledge became the first Yellow Jacket selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2010, and he is wasting no time making an impact for the Texans, a team with Super Bowl aspirations this season:

Demeco Ryans spoke glowingly about IOL Keylan Rutledge yesterday after practice:

“Keylan is a swarm player man I love it. Like I said love to an O-Lineman pushing guys downfield still fighting to make sure he finishes. I love his mindset.”

We also noticed Azeez Al-Shaair… pic.twitter.com/F2979wjcxM
— Jacob (@JacobBarzilla) August 2, 2026

Roster Chances

The question for both King and Patterson is if they can make the roster.

I think that King has definitely shown that he can play at the NFL level, which some were skeptical of coming into this year's NFL draft, despite King blowing up at the NFL combine with exceptional training numbers.

He is going to have to keep stacking those performances together though. Having one good preseason game, even one as good as this one was, does not guarantee you anything, but if there is one player that will understand that and continue to put his head down and work, it is King.

Patterson is more interesting. Tampa Bay lost the franchises all-time greatest receiver Mike Evans in the offseason, but they still have a good collection of receivers on their roster. Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, and Chris Godwin are locks to make the roster for the Bucs, while rookie draft pick Ted Hurst III and others might be a roadblock that would be tough to overcome for Patterson.

But don't count him out. He could show out in the Buccaneers preseason games and make it tough on the coaching staff to cut him.

Rutledge is not only going to make the roster for the Texans, but is likely going to start.

Georgia Tech is going to miss these players in 2026 and they are showing why as they get their first chance to make an impact at the next level.

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