Three Georgia Tech Players To Watch On Saturday vs Louisville

Georgia Tech returns to the Flats on Saturday, looking to end a three-game skid when they face Louisville. There have been struggles on both sides of the ball for the Yellow Jackets. Today, we look at three players who can help the Yellow Jackets potentially pull off an upset on Saturday.

1. Kevin Roche Jr

It’s been quite a couple of weeks for Kevin Roche Jr who was an emerging star early on in the season. His production has dropped quite a bit, but its not necessarily his fault. Roche Jr. has been used more as a checkdown in the flat, and as a guy you get the ball to as a last option. Before, he was being used more over the middle and in the red zone as the go-to guy. Roche could be one of the guys to help the Yellow Jackets get out of the rut they are in offensively. It will depend on how he is used, but he is a guy who is a walking mismatch for defenders.

He needs to be targeted more in the middle of the field against linebackers and safeties. That is where he does his damage. With some of the red zone struggles the Yellow Jackets have faced this season, that is an area where he needs to be utilized. He is another playmaker who needs to be sought after more with the ball thrown his way to help this offense get back on track.

2. Darnell Collins

Collins recorded his first career catch against Pittsburgh and saw an uptick in his snaps on the field. He recorded a 59.7 overall Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade on 24 snaps. He is a true freshman, but you can see the potential is there.

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With his big frame at 6 '3 and 190 pounds, he is a guy that the Yellow Jackets can get more reps for and see what he can do. Sitting at 2-6, there is no better time for the Yellow Jackets to develop young talent, especially at wide receiver, and let players get more game reps. Collins, even in a limited number of snaps, looks like he can be a player who can get in the rotation. Head Coach Brent Key talked about the emphasis on retaining and developing players and said that the value is at an all-time high for the Yellow Jackets.

“The value created in guys that have been at Georgia Tech to in my mind is higher than ever. Those guys that have been here, not necessarily came all in as freshmen, right? There's a lot that you know, we've shown previously and historically that had come in and had three years in the program and really I mean, there's not a lot of people out there probably couldn't tell you that Haynes King didn't start here right, so you know you look at that part of the track record of it. I think that's really important really important um the development of high school guys.

I mean, how many guys you see midpoint through midpoint or end of year two or kind of that midpoint of year three um, lines of scrimmage. Oh my goodness, this guy's starting to become a good player, where you know if they don't hit as a freshman, so many people are so quick to you know they move on and replace them," said Key.

3. Jonas Duclona

Duclona has been a pleasant surprise for the Yellow Jackets the past few weeks, and you can make the argument he has been the best player on either side of the ball with his play. The way he is defending in coverage, tackling, and making impact plays have been spectacular. In his last game vs Pittsburgh, he recorded a season-high 10 tackles, two passes defensed, one forced fumble, and a tackle for loss. Duclona has been playing some of his best ball at a critical time in the season.

With Nickel Kelvin Hill being ruled out for Saturday, that means Duclona will be the starter for the Yellow Jackets. This gives him another chance to continue his strong stretch to the season. Georgia Tech forced a season-high three turnovers, and Duclona played a big role in helping force those turnovers. With an explosive offense coming to town, he could be key in helping force more turnovers and getting the ball back to the offense.

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