Georgia Tech Football: Three Stars From The Yellow Jackets Spring Game

Georgia Tech saw some new players emerge and make an impact during Saturday's Spring game, as well as veteran players who continued to show why they make up the culture of the Yellow Jackets. Let’s take a look at some of the stars from the Georgia Tech spring game that caught our eye.

1. DB Kelvin Hill/Clayton Powell Lee- Kelvin Hill was flying around to the ball on defense and was constantly coming up and making tackles. He is an excellent tackler in open space and probably the best one-on-one tackler on the team. Hill has had a strong spring for the Yellow Jackets and continued to garner praise from head coach Brent Key, who said today in a press conference that he has been playing at a high level since he made it on campus. Today, in the spring game he led the Yellow Jackets Hill lead the entire team with six tackles in the game. Georgia Tech’s leading tackler from a year ago, Kyle Efford, didn’t play in the game but to have a defensive back that is willing to stick his head in there and come down and play around the box gives the Yellow Jackets some versatility moving forward. If Efford can’t make the play, you have guys like Hill, Powell-Lee, Omar Daniels, and others who can make an impact.

QB Aaron Philo also had high praise for Kelvin Hill for his performance this spring: "I think Kelvin Hill is going to be a really good player for us", said Philo.

Powell-Lee also had a productive outing and made a highlight reel interception. Powell-Lee was driving on the football and lost his balance and was sliding, but still came up with the unreal interception for the Yellow Jackets. Powell-Lee is a veteran leader and a key defensive piece for the Yellow Jackets. Compared to last year, it looks like he has gotten even more comfortable and is playing the game in easy mode. His presence was felt throughout the game, even in limited reps. Powell-Lee finished with three tackles, a pass breakup, and an interception.

2. WR Bailey Stockton- He was 1 of 2 receivers to finish with over 100 yards in the spring game. Stockton has continued to elevate his game and is getting more and more comfortable in the offense. Stockton was seemingly always open, whether it was over the middle of the field or streaking down the sideline. Nobody talks about it enough, but he is a great route runner. He knows how to break off routes well and find the sweet spot in the defense. That was on display on Saturday afternoon as he finished with six catches for 107 yards. He had an average of 17.8 yards per catch, and his longest catch was from 30 yards. An area where he has taken a jump is his yards after catch. Stockton was getting receptions and running away from defenders for big gains. He came up gingerly on a non-contact injury and had to sub out late in the game. Hopefully it was only for precaution because he was having a great day up until that point.

3. Omar Daniels- The stats don’t tell the full story of his performance on Saturday. Daniels was playing almost in mid-season form with how alert he was on the field and the intensity he was playing with in the game. You can tell that the new defensive coordinator is making a difference on the backend of the defense, with how many players were flying around to the ball and making plays. Daniels was making big hits, jarring the ball loose, and catching interceptions. On his interception, he read the quarterback’s eyes (Aaron Philo), and rotated over to where he was throwing it to and made a great play on the ball, picking it off. He also added a PBU in the afternoon and made another nice play, separating the ball from the receiver (legally) with a nice hit that jarred the ball loose. If Daniels is going to be playing with that physicality in the fall, it will make the Yellow Jackets' defense that much better

Additional Links

Everything From RB Jamal Haynes and DL Jordan van den Berg After Georgia Tech's Spring Game

Georgia Tech Football: Everything From Omar Daniels and Zion Taylor After The White and Gold Spring Game

Georgia Tech Football: Everything From Quarterbacks Haynes King and Aaron Philo After The White and Gold Game