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Georgia Tech Football: Final dead period begins as signing day approaches

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 28: A general view of Bobby Dodd Stadium during the game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Georgia Bulldogs on November 28, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 28: A general view of Bobby Dodd Stadium during the game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Georgia Bulldogs on November 28, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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The final dead period of the 2019 recruiting cycle has begun as National Signing Day is only three days away.

Midnight, this morning, officially marked the final dead period of the 2019 recruiting cycle on Monday morning. The dead period, meaning that college coaches can only contact recruits via the phone will be in place through Thursday.

For recruits, the dead period will allow them to take a step back from their busy last few weeks and make their respective college decisions.

For the Yellow Jackets, they wait to hear the decisions from two potential future Yellow Jackets. Those two recruits are Rome (GA) running back Jamious Griffin and Birmingham (AL) defensive lineman Michael Lockhart.

Griffin was expected to make an official visit to Florida State this past weekend but according to this report by 247Sports’s Florida State site Noles 247, Griffin canceled that OV. Obviously, that’s a great sign for the Yellow Jackets as it would appear to leave the Jackets alongside Auburn and Louisville as the most likely options for Griffin. Currently, 247Sports’s crystal balls point to Griffin being a Jacket with 11-of-12 crystal ball predictions in favor of the Jackets.

We personally expect that sentiment to stick and Griffin to sign with Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

The other recruit that will be making his final decision before signing on Wednesday as noted above is Michael Lockhart. Lockhart, was down to a final three of Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Mississippi State last Friday. For most of January, Lockhart was believed to be a lean-to Mississippi State but that changed late in January in favor of the Yellow Jackets which also can be seen in his crystal balls. The former UAB commitment visited all three finalists in January with the Bulldogs getting the final visit. We feel good about the Yellow Jackets here but won’t rule out Mississippi State 100%.

At this point, it doesn’t look like the Yellow Jackets will have any surprises up their sleeves on National Signing Day which isn’t a bad thing. Geoff Collins and his coaching staff were able to put together a solid final month recruiting wise, closing out the 2019 recruiting class while making a deep effort on the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes.

The coaching staff since the early signing period earned a pair of commitments in WR Nazir Burnett and OLB Cornelius Evans. They did, however, lose the commitments of offensive linemen Joshua Black and Larry Dowdy. Dowdy cited a lack of communication from the new coaching staff while Black didn’t give a reason for his decommitment. Either way, neither are too big of a loss for the Jackets on paper outside losing some depth on the offensive line. Add in the transfer of Parker Braun, the decommitments do look worse but shouldn’t be an issue in the long run.

Next. Georgia Tech Football: WR Marquez Ezzard to transfer to The Flats. dark

Overall, if all goes to plan as the experts predict, the Yellow Jackets will add four players officially to the program on Wednesday in Burnett, Evans, Griffin, and Lockhart. The four signees will officially give the Jackets a recruiting class of 20 prospects. To our calculations, it will also put them at 88 scholarships. The Jackets will need to shed at least three scholarships prior to the beginning of fall camp in August.

You can follow along with us here at Yellow Jacked Up on National Signing Day as the Jackets finish up the 2019 recruiting cycle and look to move onto the 2020 and 2021 recruiting cycles.