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Georgia Tech Football Countdown to Kickoff: No.4 QB James Graham

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 1: Ramblin' Wreck of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets enters the field prior to their game against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 1: Ramblin' Wreck of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets enters the field prior to their game against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
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Georgia Tech football is literally just days away and it’s officially game week for the Jackets season opener and with four days left, we highlight redshirt freshman quarterback James Graham.

Potentially one of top-5 most athletic players on Georgia Tech’s 2019 roster, quarterback James Graham is looking to make an impact in his second season on The Flats. The Fitzgerald native came to Tech as a quarterback after originally being committed to Virginia Tech to play wide receiver, but the chance to play quarterback was one he could not pass up.

Last fall, Graham had an interesting journey. Graham enrolled at Tech as a quarterback. After an injury to Adonicas Sanders in fall camp, the Jackets moved Graham to wide receiver to maintain depth at the position. However, just a few days later a leg injury to Lucas Johnson that knocked him out for the entire season, forced the Jackets to move Graham back to the quarterback.

At the end of the season, Graham was ruled ineligible to play for the Jackets in their Quicklane Bowl game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers due to academic issues. Those academic issues did paint a grey cloud about Graham for the majority of the offseason before he was cleared academically two weeks ago and is now eligible for the 2019 season.

In all, Graham played three games for the Yellow Jackets last season, picking up 27 rushing yards on five carries while also completing his only passing attempt for 22-yards. Thanks to appearing in just three games, Graham was able to maintain his redshirt eligibility and is now a redshirt freshman entering the 2019 season.

Graham is a high ceiling quarterback thanks to his athleticism but still has to improve as a passer which will be important in the Jackets new-look offense. He’ll most likely in 2019 be a backup for the Yellow Jackets sliding into the second or third-string role. That being said, thanks to his athleticism, he is a player that the Jackets may look to get involved in a variety of ways but we’ll have to wait and see.

The Yellow Jackets will kickoff their season this Thursday on August 29 against the defending national champions, the Clemson Tigers. The Jackets have opened game weeks as massive underdogs with Clemson as a 36-point favorite over Geoff Collins’ first Tech team.