How Much Is Returning For Georgia Tech In 2020?
At this point, everybody knows how young of a team that Georgia Tech had in the 2019 season. The 55 freshman (28 true and 27 redshirt) was the 11th most total freshmen on any FBS roster, and the 8 seniors was the second fewest in FBS with Texas A&M having only 6. Combined with a plethora of injuries suffered on both sides of the ball, and the Yellow Jackets found themselves having to give meaningful game reps to players who would normally remain on the developmental team.
This does give Tech an advantage going forward however. Having such a young team means that not only do many of the underclassmen get opportunities to become better and grow as a football player, but that those same players will also return to Bobby Dodd next fall when toe meets leather in 2020.
How much from this year's team will return? Let's take a look at it from a statistical perspective.
- 100% of the passing yards will be returning. While this stat does include the passing yards from backup quarterbacks Lucas Johnson & Jordan Yates, now wide receiver Tobias Oliver and punter Pressley Harvin III, most importantly this includes James Graham. The redshirt freshman had 1,164 passing yards and threw 12 touchdown passes, tying the GT freshman record set by Shawn Jones in 1989.
- 99.9% of the rushing yards will be returning. The 0.01% of the rushing yards that Tech is losing comes from Nathan Cottrell's 1 rushing yard on the season between his 2 attempts on the season. That leaves Georgia Tech with 1,829 rushing yards from 2019 coming back in 2020, including 899 yards and 7 rushing scores from running back Jordan Mason.
- 87% of the receiving yards will be returning. Tech is losing their 4th leading receiver in tight end Tyler Davis and his 148 yards, as well as Nathan Cottrell's 60 receiving yards. Other than Davis, Georgia Tech is returning every player who had triple digit receiving yards in 2019. This includes freshman Ahmarean Brown, who tied Calvin Johnson's freshman receiving touchdown record (7) and senior Jalen Camp who redshirted in 2019 after suffering a season ending injury after just 4 game in.
- 89% of the offensive line will be returning. This includes Burlsworth Trophy nominee William Lay III and Kenny Cooper & Jahaziel Lee. Both Cooper & Lee suffered season ending injuries in 2019, but Cooper was able to redshirt for 2019 and Lee is eligible for a medical redshirt.
- 91.8% of the total tackles will be returning. The biggest hit to this mark came from safety Christian Campbell, who finished the season as the sixth leading tackler on the team with 44. That being said, Tech will bring back their top 5 tacklers, and 20 of their top 21. Defensive lineman Brentavious Glanton's 15 tackles was good for 22nd on the team.
- 92.6% of the tackles for loss will be returning. Speaking of Campbell and Glanton, the duo combined for 4.5 TFL on the season, while the rest of the team coming back next season racked up 56.5. Tech is returning 7 players that had more TFL than either Campbell or Glanton.
- 94.1% of the sacks will be returning. The Yellow Jackets are only losing 1 sack heading into 2020, coming from Brentavious Glanton.
- 100% of the interceptions and forced fumbles will be returning. 6 players intercepted passes & 9 players forced fumbles, and all of them will be returning to The Flats next year. This includes safety Kaleb Oliver's 2 picks & 2 forced fumbles, and linebacker David Curry's 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception.
Not only will the Yellow Jackets be returning all this talent, but will also be bringing in a top 25 recruiting class and the 5th best class in the ACC (Rivals). Needless to say, Georgia Tech has a seemingly bright future ahead of them.
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