Georgia Tech Football: Ranking the Secondaries in the ACC Coastal

Where does Georgia Tech's secondary rank in the ACC Coastal?

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Jul 15, 2022 8:00 AM EDT

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To wrap up our look at the divisional rankings of the positional groups in the ACC Coastal, we are going to be focusing on the defensive backs. This was an interesting ranking because none of the secondaries in the ACC Coastal last season were all that good and not a lot of them improved.

Some of the worst defenses in the conference and the country resided in the ACC Coastal last season. There are a lot of new faces on teams like Georgia Tech, Duke, and Virginia.

Georgia Tech had problems with miscommunication and busted coverages last season, even with veteran guys like Tariq Carpenter and Juanyeh Thomas. As a result, Tech had the 121st-ranked passing defense in the country and gave up a horrible 10 yards per dropback. The Yellow Jackets coaching staff brought in five defensive back transfers to compete and add depth, but most lack real game experience.

So where does the Yellow Jacket's secondary rank amongst the ACC Coastal teams? Let's rank them.

ACC Coastal Secondary Rankings

7. Georgia Tech

The Georgia Tech defense as a whole has a lot of questions to answer, but the secondary is probably the most worrisome aspect of the defense.

Zamari Walton is back at corner and could have a breakouts season. Other guys that will compete for starting roles include Kaleb Edwards, Derrik Allen, and Jaylon King.

The Yellow Jackets took five transfer defensive backs including KJ Wallace and Khari Gee from Notre Dame and Eric Reed and Ahmari Harvey from Auburn. Kenny Bennett from Maryland will be a special teams ace, as well as challenging for playing time.

6. Duke

Nearly every aspect of the Duke Football team was bad last year, but their secondary was among the nation's worst. The Blue Devils are light on experience in that part of the defense heading into the season, so it is likely to not be a very good unit again.

Expect Joshua Pickett and Brandon Johnson to be the starters at cornerback and for the Blue Devils to run more three-safety looks.

5. Virginia

Virginia had the 87-ranked passing defense last season and that was actually the best part of their defense. Three members from the Cavaliers secondary are back and hoping to improve significantly in 2022.

The star of the group is likely Anthony Johnson, the senior cornerback. There are other seniors in this secondary, including Darrius Bratton, Coen King, and Antonio Clary.

4. North Carolina

North Carolina had a pretty porous passing defense in 2021, ranking 84th in that category. They have a potential first-round talent in cornerback Tony Grimes, but the rest of the secondary leaves much to be desired.

Storm Duck, Cam'Ron Kelly, and Ja'Qurious Conley are experienced starters but are going to have to step up their play in a big way.

3. Pitt

The Panthers are going to lose safety Damarri Mathis to the NFL, but they return the right pieces to really improve their passing defense, which was not very good last season.

Brandon Hill and Erick Hallett II are a pretty solid safety duo, and AJ Woods is a senior starter at cornerback. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi seems to get the most out of his defenses and he will need to with this secondary.

2. Miami

Miami has a chance to have one of the best secondaries in the ACC. Cornerback depth is a bit of a concern for the Hurricanes, but this is a solid group.

The safety duo could be outstanding. Former five-star James Williams and Avantae Williams are talented players and so is sophomore Kamren Kinchens. Tyrique Stevenson and DJ Ivey are the likely starters at cornerback.

1. Virginia Tech

For first-year head coach Brent Pry, having a secondary this talented is something to build on heading into his tenure with the Hokies.

All of the starters are back for Virginia Tech in the secondary. Dorian Strong and Armani Chatman at corner and Chamarri Connor and Nasir Peoples will man the safety position. Virginia Tech's secondary is going to be a big strength for them heading into the season.