Georgia Tech WR Eric Rivers Earns Second Team All-American & Preseason Blentikoff Award Watch List Recognition

Rivers earning national praise and recognition ahead of the 2025 season.

FIU Transfer Eric Rivers could be an instant impact player for the Yellow Jackets | / FIU Athletics

Georgia Tech WR Eric Rivers has earned multiple preseason honors ahead of the 2025 season.

One of his first honors, was being selected to the second-team All-American by Sporting News. The other was the Blenikoff Award, which is given to the best receiver in college football.

Rivers certainly has a lot of potential in this offense for the Yellow Jackets this season with his ability to be a go-to option. His YAC (Yards after catch) makes him a problem, especially with the various motions and things the Yellow Jackets do on offense to get their receivers the ball. Rivers is known for his speed and playmaking, a void the Yellow Jackets are trying to fill after Eric Singleton Jr departed for Auburn in the winter.

Last season, he finished with 62 receptions for 1,162 yards and 12 touchdowns for Florida International University. He had one of his best games against New Mexico State. Rivers finished with 11 receptions for 295 yards and three touchdowns. In three of his final four games, he finished with over 100 yards receiving and at least a touchdown reception. He also broke the FIU program record for receiving yards and touchdowns in a single season in program history. Those numbers earned him first-team All-Conference USA, and he was also named the first Associated Press All-American in FIU history.

He finished with an impressive PFF (Pro Football Focus) grade of 83.2 on 614 snaps, which ranked highest on the team. His career year put him as a prized candidate and a must have when Rivers entered his name in the transfer portal. With Georgia Tech landing the former star receiver from FIU, the Yellow Jackets hope he can bring some of that dynamism to the program. Georgia Tech had an impressive offense last season that could pound the rock or punish you through the air. With the addition of Rivers to a strong wide receiver room, the sky is the limit for what Georgia Tech can achieve.

Georgia Tech's offensive players have been getting named to multiple watchlists this preseason, including Jamal Haynes being named to the Doak Walker Award.

Nov 29, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Jamal Haynes (11) scores a touchdown past Georgia Bulldogs defensive back Dan Jackson (17) during the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Doak Walker Award is presented annually to college football’s most outstanding running back.

A redshirt senior, Haynes enters the 2025 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-Atlantic Coast Conference 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.