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Georgia Tech Football Breakout Player Candidate: LB Bruce Jordan-Swilling

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 10: The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets' mascot Buzz poses for a portrait on the sidelines prior to the start of the Yellow Jackets' football game against the Miami Hurricanes at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 10: The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets' mascot Buzz poses for a portrait on the sidelines prior to the start of the Yellow Jackets' football game against the Miami Hurricanes at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images) /
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Next up in our Georgia Tech football breakout player candidate is a junior linebacker who came to The Flats with high expectations and may finally be able to meet those expectations in 2019.

When Bruce Jordan-Swilling committed to the Georgia Tech football program and subsequently signed later in the recruiting cycle, there were high expectations for the Brother Martin (New Orleans, LA) standout. After all, he was a pretty high four-star recruit across the industry and was being recruited by some of the nation’s elite programs in the process. That’s not even mentioning the pressure that is associated with having the name last name of Swilling while playing on The Flats.

As a freshman, Jordan-Swilling saw a great deal of playing time, appearing in 11 games and within those 11 games was pretty formidable. He ended up recording 34 tackles on the season including . two tackles for a loss, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He had a rather promising game as well against Virginia that season recording 11 tackles, as well as an interception, returned for a touchdown. That freshman season was promising one for the Louisiana native considering before enrolling at Tech, he never played linebacker, only playing running back in high school.

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Entering last season expectations were considerably and rightfully so high around Jordan-Swilling. However, he would be behind Brant Mitchell on the depth chart which would limit his playing time in 2018 especially after missing the first two games of the season with an injury. In the 11 games he would end up playing last season, he wouldn’t see the success that he found as a freshman, he had just 20 tackles on the season.

In 2019, Jordan-Swilling will have a greater chance of impact with Brant Mitchell now gone after exhausting his eligibility. While there will be competition with David Curry among other linebackers, he should have a better opportunity to make a bigger impact in 2019. While we wouldn’t consider his freshman season a non-impactful season, it probably wouldn’t count as a breakout season exactly either. That being said 2019 very well could be the year that Bruce Jordan-Swilling breaks out and becomes the star linebacker that all teach fans wanted him to be.

One major thing Bruce Jordan-Swilling will have going for him is that he is now entering his third year as a collegiate linebacker which is a ton of experience both on the field for games and practices. That difference of two years of experience can go a long way in his development and progression as a player, that can not be understated. Additionally, he’ll be playing in a defense with a coaching staff that is much more creative in how they use their players, giving themselves all potential advantages while giving their players the best chances to be successful. Those are two more major reasons why the former four-star recruit could be in for a major season for the Jackets in 2019.

Jordan-Swilling will get his first chance at a breakout season on August 29th when the Yellow Jackets travel to Clemson to take on the defending national champions, the Clemson Tigers.