Georgia Tech OL Keylan Rutledge Named To The AP All-American Second Team

Nov 21, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets helmet is seen on the sideline in the first half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The AP-All American teams were released today and on the second team offensive line was none other than Georgia Tech guard Keylan Rutledge. Rutledge was on the second team alongside Missouri's Cayden Green while Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane and Texas A&M's Ar'maj Reed-Adams were on the first team at guard.

Rutledge has been named to multiple award watchlists this offseason as well as being named to the first team All-ACC team.

Rutledge earned first-team all-America honors from Sports Info Solutions in 2024, his first season at Georgia Tech after transferring from Middle Tennessee. He started all 13 games at right guard in ’24, despite being unable to participate in football activities for the entire preseason after sustaining a serious foot injury in a car accident in December 2023.

Rutledge earned the all-America recognition on the strength of ranking in the top 10 offensive linemen nationally in SIS’s Total Points metric, including a top-five national ranking in run-blocking Total Points. In pass protection, he had only two “blown blocks” in nearly 400 regular-season attempts, according to SIS. He also helped anchor a Georgia Tech offensive front that ranked third nationally in fewest sacks allowed (nine in 13 games) and paved the way for the Yellow Jackets to rank second in the ACC in rushing offense (187.0 ypg).

Earlier this summer, he was named second-team preseason all-America by Phil Steele College Football Preview. Rutledge is one of only 15 guards on the Outland Trophy watch list, which was released on Tuesday. Sixteen offensive tackles, 10 defensive tackles, and nine centers make up the rest of the list.

Georgia Tech has several players on awards watchlists

Dec 27, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) looks to throw against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second half of the 2024 Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Rutledge is not the only Yellow Jacket getting some love in the preseason. Haynes King, Jamal Haynes, Kyle Efford, and Jordan van den Berg are all being looked at as some of the most talented at their positions.

Haynes enters the ’25 campaign as the first Georgia Tech running back to rush for at least 900 yards in back-to-back seasons since Jonathan Dwyer in 2008 and 2009. As a junior in 2024, he amassed 1,110 total yards from scrimmage (944 rushing, 166 receiving) and 12 touchdowns (nine rushing, three receiving), en route to earning all-ACC recognition for the second-straight year.

As a sophomore in 2023, Haynes moved from wide receiver to running back during fall camp and went on to become Georgia Tech’s first 1,000-yard rusher in six years. His 1,257 all-purpose yards in ’23 (1,053 rushing, 151 receiving and 47 on kickoff returns) included 128 in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl versus UCF. He was named MVP of the Yellow Jackets’ 30-17 Gasparilla Bowl victory.

Efford has led Georgia Tech in tackles each of the last two seasons, including with 64 in just 10 games as a sophomore last season. Despite missing three games due to a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery, Efford also led the Yellow Jackets in sacks (3.0) and was tied for third on the squad with 5.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2024.

He turned up the biggest in some of Tech’s biggest games of the year, amassing 10 tackles in the Jackets’ season-opening win over No. 10 Florida State and six stops, including a sack of eventual No. 1 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward, in Tech’s victory over No. 4-ranked and previously unbeaten Miami (Fla.) in November. Despite being limited by injury in the second half of the season, Efford was a third-team all-ACC honoree.

In addition to being an all-ACC selection, he was a member of the all-ACC academic team in 2024 in recognition of his performance on the field and in the classroom.

Efford also led the team in tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2023 with 81, despite only being in the starting lineup for the second half of the season. He was the first Georgia Tech freshman to tie for the team lead in tackles since Darryl Smith in 1999, and the first freshman to lead the Yellow Jackets in stops outright since 1991.