Georgia Tech Football Stock Report: Buy, hold, and selling position groups

Georgia Tech’s season is 33% of the way over already which means it’s time for the first of three Georgia Tech football stock reports of the 2019 season.

Based off each position groups performances through the first four games, we’ve decided to either buy, hold, or sell stock in each of the Yellow Jackets position groups. Let’s cut out all the formalities as it’s pretty straight-forward and dive right into our stock report for the Yellow Jackets.

Quarterbacks: Sell

It’s safe to say that the Yellow Jackets quarterback play this season has held the Jackets back significantly on offense. Through four games, the Jackets quarterbacks have completed just 40.0% of their passes for 505-yards and have thrown just two touchdown passes. That being said, they’ve also thrown four interceptions over four games as well.

Lucas Johnson was the Jackets starter through the first three weeks before an injury kept him from starting against Temple coming off the bye. Tobias Oliver and James Graham to the delight of many fans got plenty of playing time against Temple but both quarterbacks were still unable to solve the Jackets scoring problems. Oliver was able to move the ball better with the offense for the most part but his passing abilities surely hold back the offenses full capabilities. On the other hand, Graham was the better passer in the game but was unable to really get the offense moving.

There’s probably no answer at quarterback around the corner for the Yellow Jackets in 2019, the coaching staff and fans must just hope that one of the Jackets three quarterbacks turns a corner in the upcoming weeks.

Running Backs: Hold

The Jackets have a bevy of talent at running back and have been able to show off that talent throughout the season. That being said, through four games, Jordan Mason is getting most of the carries for the Jackets as expected. Mason has 49 carries on the season for 257-yards and four touchdowns. He also has seven receptions for 43-yards. Devin Smith, Jerry Howard, and Jamious Griffin all have eight carries this season for 33, 32, and 21-yards respectively.

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The Jackets running backs have a chance to be among the best in the nation in the future but unfortunately with a low quality offensive line play, there’s just not much there for the Jackets running backs to take advantage of this season. That being said, the Jackets are still averaging 163.5 yards per game on the ground.

Wide Receiver and Tight End: Buy

Obviously, we haven’t been able to see a ton out of the wide receivers and tight ends but we are still buying at wide receiver and tight end for the Jackets. The Jackets receiving core has shown the ability to make plays but with inaccurate quarterback play, they haven’t had the opportunity to show it most of the time. Freshman Ahmarean Brown looks like a future star while Malachi Carter and Jalen Camp have lived up to expectations as well. Redshirt senior and grad transfer Tyler Davis only has three catches but could become a bigger part of the offense in the upcoming weeks.

The production isn’t there right now but when we do see the wide receivers have the opportunity to make plays, we like what we see. We’re going to be buying the wide receivers for a long time to come.

Offensive Line: Sell

The Jackets offensive line is one of the worst in the nation potentially through five weeks. It seems multiple times each week, opposing defenses are able to get jailbreak like rushes on the Jackets quarterbacks. So far through four games, the offensive line has allowed 11 sacks including eight in the Jackets last three games. Their doing better in the run blocking but have left much to be desired as well. We knew it was going to be a tough year on the offensive line and that offensive line coach Brent Key is doing the best he can do but the talent just isn’t there on the offensive line right now.

Defensive Line: Holding…for now.

The defensive line through four games has performed adequately. They’re not racking up sacks or tackles for a loss as you would like to see but they haven’t performed bad either. They simply at this point are what they are. A position group that will make a few big plays here and there but for the most part will be quiet, quiet but steady. You would like to see the opposing yards per carry come down from 5.2 but that number is still inflated from giving up 400+ yards on the ground in week one to Clemson. We’re not going to be buying the defensive line anytime soon but we’re not going to be selling right now either.

Linebacker: Buy

The Jackets secondary is the most talented defensive position group but the linebacking core the Jackets have is up there as well. David Curry and Charlie Thomas this season have been absolutely outstanding and have been game changers on defense. They’ve provided strong efforts week in and week out and have been great leaders for the position group. Combined the two have 6.5 tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, an interception, and a safety. You couldn’t ask for much more. Their depth at the position has played well as well with Quez Jackson and Bruce Jordan-Swilling both off to strong starts.

Secondary: Buy

We wrote about this earlier Monday but through five weeks, the Jackets boast a top five secondary in the country. Geoff Collins has always put together tremendous secondaries and it looks like he’s helping the Jackets secondary realize their potential in 2019.

Buy, buy, buy.

Special Teams: Hold

We haven’t had the chance to see a ton out of the Jackets special teams this year, so we’re going to hold. We like what we see out of punter Pressley Harvin III but when it comes to place kicking, the Jackets have attempted just three field goals all season. Tobias Oliver looks strong in kick returns but the Jackets punt returns have left more to be desired so far this season. We’ll hold our stock for now.

Georgia Tech Football Stock Report: Buy, hold, or sell for each position group

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley | Sep 30, 2019