Georgia Tech Football: Complete Preview And Positional Breakdown For Tomorrow's White and Gold Spring Game

There is only one more day until Georgia Tech finishes up their spring with the annual White and Gold Spring Game. The Yellow Jackets are hoping for a big 2025 season and tomorrow will be the first chance for the fans to see this team for the first time. While it can be difficult to gauge what to take away from Spring games, there are going to be certain players and certain positions to watch for on Saturday.

Let's go position by position to preview what to look at for tomorrow's game.

Quarterback

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key believes that the Yellow Jackets have the best quarterback room in the country, and they will take the field tomorrow. Haynes King and Aaron Philo are going to take the field tomorrow, but it is actually the other quarterback that I am interested to see. Redshirt freshman Graham Knowles did not get to play last season, but has stuck around at Georgia Tech and has been getting a lot of praise from Key and quarterback coach Chris Weinke for how he has progressed this spring:

"And the one guy that has made some huge improvements is Graham Knowles" Weinke said, "A kid that you look at a year ago who was only a one year starter in high school. And what he's done this spring compared to last is night and day, so out of him too, so very fortunate to be in that room. We got the right guys excited about the future of that room."

"I mean, you know, Graham's got as much upside as anybody." Key said, "So we've got a really good room there. Uh, fully expect these guys to compete every single day from now until the last snap of the last game of the season."

Knowles did not play in a game last year, but he is ready for his opportunity when it does arrive, and one of them will be on Saturday.

Running Back

Like quarterback, we know who the leader of this group is. Jamal Haynes is back for another season, but I don't think he will get a lot of work tomorrow. The most intriguing thing to me will be if there are any standouts from the rest of the group. Trelain Maddox, Malachi Hosley, Chad Alexander, JP Powell and Daylon Gordon make up the rest of the running back group and the Yellow Jackets have not found a clear-cut No. 2 back yet. However, tomorrow is an opportunity for someone to take a step towards securing that role and that guy might be Maddox, who has played well in the spring scrimmages so far:

"Then we had some third down situations, short yard situations. Short yardage is something we've really spent a lot of time on. Really since the season ended philosophically, schematically, personnel -wise. So it was good to see some of those live reps out there today and some of the things we've done. You know, Trelain Maddox had a big done. He had two 50 -plus yard runs. That's a big man moving now. And I think he had three touchdowns. So all in all, offensively, we were able to get the ball distributed to who we wanted to get it get attributed to that was see guys go and a lot of the runs we had you know they're you know some get some quick hitters inside that popped or you know some might go around the edge."

Maddox could be a crucial part of Georgia Tech's running game and he will have an opportunity to show why on Saturday.

Wide Receiver

Georgia Tech lost several players at receiver, including Eric Singleton, Chase Lane, and Abdul Janneh this offseason and are going to have a lot of new faces. Eric Rivers was a big get from the transfer portal, but he has been injured during the spring. Isiah Canion, Zion Taylor, Malik Rutherford, Dean Patterson, Bailey Stockton, and Chris Elko have been getting a lot of love from coaches this spring, but how will the rotation look?

Earlier this week, GT wide receiver coach Trent McKnight said he felt good about the depth of this group:

" I feel good about the depth right now. I think right now we've got a good two -deep that'll compete, and we'll be able to get some rotations in there. Part of that is some guys that have been here developing some of the plans that we've had for them, and then part of it will be from newcomers that we've brought in. Obviously you miss those guys from last year and they did a lot here in the energy that they brought in especially like when I got here a year ago they knew the offense so I think that's been the part this spring of these guys learning the offense but they've been hungry and feel pretty good about the two deep right now and where we're at."

Tight End

Tight end is another position where Georgia Tech is losing some veteran players, including future NFL draft pick Jackson Hawes. Brett Seither is still working back from injury, but Cal transfer J.T. Byrne and Luke Harpring are the top two players to watch on Saturday. Harpring is a fantastic athlete and Byrne is embracing the role that Hawes left behind when it comes to blocking. How much will we learn about this position on Saturday?

Offensive Line

This will certainly be a position of intrigue for Georgia Tech this weekend. The Yellow Jackets do return Keylan Rutledge, Joe Fusile, and Ethan Mackenny up front, but are replacing Weston Franklin and Jordan Williams. Who has the leg up in the competition to be the starting center and right tackle? It seems like going into Saturday, Harrison Moore and Jameson Riggs are the guys to watch, but the competition won't end Saturday. This will also be the first time that former five-star recruit Josh Petty will take the field as a Yellow Jacket. How will the depth potentially shake out up front? All of these things are going to be interesting to watch, as will the pass protection. Because it is a spring game, new defensive coordinator Blake Gideon will not be sending his best blitzes or pressure looks, but Key has talked about the struggle the O-Line has had in pass protection in both scrimmages, making it something to watch.

Defensive Line

This is a new-look group for Georgia Tech. Gone are players like Zeek Biggers, Sylvain Yondjouen, Romello Height, Makius Scott, and others, and there is an influx of transfers and freshmen looking to take their place. At defensive end, Mercer transfer Brayden Manley, UTSA transfer Ronald Tripplette, and young guys Amontrae Bradford, Andre Fuller, and Jordan Boyd have the potential to be a nice group coming off the edge. On the interior, Jordan van den Berg is the best player on the defense, but how do things look around him? UCF transfer Matthew Alexander and four-star freshman Christian Garrett are guys to watch and Key has talked about the impact Alexander has made so far:

"See, It's kind of funny because I stand back behind the offense. And I didn't see a lot of them today because he was doing his job. But I saw the back of the lines jerseys coming at me. So he was doing something good. Now, he's been a real, real pleasant surprise for us. We knew he was a good player. Now he's gotten in shape and kind of learned in the way we do things. He's got good got good feet, he can move and do the things we do on defense, play the block, play within the scheme of defense. I've been very pleased."

This position is a big question mark going into the season and will be one to watch Saturday.

Linebacker

This is a group with fewer questions than others. Kyle Efford, E.J. Lightsey, Tah'j Butler, Jackson Hamilton, Melvin Jordan, and Cayman Spaulding are a good group of experienced players and all six guys will be rotating in. Linebackers coach Darius Eubanks loves the depth that this group has right now heading into the spring game:

"We got really good depth. Right now there are no ones and twos. I mix and match and I throw guys out there. I want everybody feeling comfortable playing with everybody else. Well Also, now you're developing everybody, not just the guys that you may say is your ones. You know, if we got five guys I think we can go out there and win with, let's use all five guys. That way you have fresher bodies. That way you out there flying around, swimming to the ball, tackling, executing at a high level, which that is linebacker play, communicating at a high level. But yeah, I think we have really good depth, depth in our room. I'm talking about five, maybe even six guys that I feel comfortable with. But you know, right now in spring ball, so with a new scheme, so we're just chopping away. Chopping away and carry water every day."

Secondary

Georgia Tech lost Warren Burrell and LaMiles Brooks, but still has plenty of experience, as well as some young talent in this group. Clayton Powell-Lee, Ahmari Harvey, Omar Daniels, Rodney Shelley, and Zachary Tobe are back this season and will be joined by a transfer/recruiting group headlined by four-star safety Tae Harris. Harris is not the only guy to watch, though. Eastern Michigan transfer Daiquan White and UAB transfer Kelvin Hill will try to find their spots in the rotation as well. Daniels made the move to free safety late in the season and it was huge for him and the defense. Defensive backs coach Cory Peoples praised Daniels earlier this spring and is excited to continue growing at what he thinks is his natural position:

"I totally agree with you. He went back, guys play with great instincts, great awareness. So I think when we move him back, you saw him blossom a little bit more than playing nickel. He was recruited early on at K-State as a corner. So he has versatility, he can play corner, he can play nickel, he can play safety. So I think that's his true home back there playing safety. There was a big jump when we moved them back there last year."

Special Teams

Aidan Birr is back at kicker and UNLV transfer Marshall Nichols is taking over at punter. Nichols has been one of the better punters in the country and will be looking to improve the position. Keep an eye on if the coaching staff tries different special teams scenarios to work on certain aspects of that part of the team tomorrow.

Additional Links

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