Lindy's College Football Preview Sees Jamal Haynes As a Top Ten Running Back In The Country

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

Summertime is the time for college football preview magazines and one of the most prominent in the country is Lindy's Sports. It is a must-read for every college football fan in the offseason, from the team previews to positional rankings, it is full of information for the upcoming season.

Georgia Tech begins its highly-anticipated 2025 season less than three months from today and one of the reasons that the season is highly anticipated is because of the return of the backfield duo of quarterback Haynes King and running back Jamal Haynes. Most college football fans are aware of how impactful King is at the quarterback position, but it feels like Jamal Haynes still flies under the radar when it comes to being mentioned among the top running backs in the country.

Lindy's ranks the top-25 running backs each offseason and coming in at No. 10 was Haynes. He was the only Yellow Jacket skill player ranked in the positional rankings. Here was the Lindy's top 10 running backs:

1. Jeremiyah Love- Notre Dame

2. Nicholas Singleton- Penn State

3. Makhi Hughes- Oregon

4. Kaytron Allen- Penn State

5. Isaac Brown- Louisville

6. Jaydn Ott- Oklahoma

7. Justice Haynes- Michigan

8. Jonah Coleman- Washington

9. Ahmad Hardy- Missouri

10. Jamal Haynes- Georgia Tech

PFF also had Haynes among the ten best RB prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft:

10 Running Back Prospects to Know in the 2026 NFL Draft👀 pic.twitter.com/JbVTAEnzCd

— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 5, 2025

Haynes has a chance to have a special season and will be the unquestioned leader in what could end up being a deep Georgia Tech backfield.

Haynes has led the Yellow Jackets in rushing each of the last two seasons and he finished last season with 944 yards, despite being injured for some of the season. He has the talent to be one of if not the best running back in the ACC when healthy and Haynes can score from anywhere on the field. He is the No. 1 back heading into the season.

Nov 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Jamal Haynes (11) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Miami Hurricanes in the first quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Earlier in the spring, Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner was discussing the depth of the position and how much he loved what they had in the room, even behind Haynes:

"Well I think this is the deepest we've been, since we've been here in the running back room. Extremely, probably the most fired up. Obviously, Norv's done a great job of going out recruiting. Again, recruiting the right kind of guys, getting those guys in here. I think he's one of the best teachers of the running back position in the country, if not the best. And we're lucky to have him, but back to the room. Malachi's shown a lot of promise the last two days. Tralain, he's a guy we think that can be a completely different dimension than what we've had. We just got to get him over the hump mentally. And the other guy is Daylon Gordon, right? No one wants to ever talk about him. But every time he carries the ball for us in practice, he gains yards. So he's a guy that we're excited about. JP Powell is a freshman, still learning the offense. He's showing signs all off season to be extremely explosive. And again, I think we're really deep there. Anthony Carrie played a little bit for us last year. So we're excited about the whole room. And there's a lot of competition going on in there. And I think it's going to be really good for Jamal. Allow him to do some other stuff this spring. Get those guys some reps using Jamal in a different way. Because Jamal is extremely versatile. So we're always trying to find the most of players we can to get on the field and if it's more two -back this year it's more two -back."

Haynes is one of the top backs in the country and the leader of one of the deepest running back rooms in the ACC.