Entering the first full week of May, Georgia Tech’s 2021 recruiting class sits with four commitments and has a ton of spots to fill over the next several months including the quarterback position, where the Jackets have several top targets.
The Yellow Jackets will almost certainly take a quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class even after taking two quarterbacks last recruiting cycle in Jeff Sims and Tucker Gleason. That being said, as we enter May, it still is unclear who the Jackets quarterback of the class will end up being.
Let’s take a look at some of the uncommitted prospects the Jackets have offered at the quarterback position.
Pro Style Quarterbacks:
With many of the countries top quarterbacks already committed including 21 of the top 30 overall, the Jackets list of options is slowly shrinking. Currently, the Jackets have five scholarship offers out to pro-style quarterbacks in the class. Those offers belong to;
- Aaron McLaughlin (Alpharetta, Georgia)
- Chayden Peery (Chatsworth, California)
- Jalen Kitna (Burleson, Texas)
- Noah Bodden (Middle Village, New York)
- Brady Olsen (Attleboro, Massachusetts)
Out of the six pro-style quarterbacks above, only about half of them seem like realistic options for the Jackets in the 2021 class.
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McLaughlin, the former Auburn Tigers commitment, seems to have the most interest in Louisville, Miami, and North Carolina State at this time according to 247Sports.com. The Jackets offered him but there never seemed to be a ton of real interest from his part.
Chayden Peery, I personally believe is a quarterback the Yellow Jackets could land if they made a push for him. The Yellow Jackets and Peery recently did a virtual visit so there is definitely interest there on both sides. According to 247Sports, other schools Peery is high on include Boise State, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Vanderbilt. Therefore, based off that, moving to the east coast wouldn’t be that big of an issue for the California three-star.
Kitna, the former son of longtime NFL quarterback Jon Kitna was originally committed to Boston College but backed off that pledge in January. Since then, Florida offered the younger Kitna and since that offer, it appears Florida has jumped out in the lead for the Texas native. If the Yellow Jackets want in on Kitna, they’ll most likely have to make their move sooner than later.
Bodden is a case where I feel the Yellow Jackets could very well land him but if so, it would come when a few other options on the board would be written off. He wouldn’t be a take right now in my opinion. He does have an impressive offer list but there are definitely a few quarterbacks on the board above him, he’ll be a name to watch though.
The offer out to Brady Olson is an interesting offer, the Yellow Jackets currently stand as his own Power 5 offer with his only other FBS offers coming from Colorado State and UMass. It would be hard to believe that Olson would be a take anytime soon but with that being said, there’s something the Jackets clearly see in Olson considering they offered him when no other Power 5 programs have.
Dual-Threat Quarterbacks:
The Yellow Jackets offers to dual-threat quarterbacks is much more limited with just three uncommitted prospects holding offers.
- Kaidon Salter (Cedar Hill, Texas)
- Walter Simmons III (Orange Park, Florida)
- TJ Lewis (Brunswick, Georgia)
Salter, the top dual-threat quarterback left that the Jackets have offered is committing next weekend and currently it appears that the Tennessee Volunteers will be earning that commitment. That effectively eliminates Salter from this list.
Simmons III is possibly the most likely case for the Jackets quarterback in 2021 as there has been mutual interest between Simmons and the school for quite some time now. Simmons hasn’t narrowed down his list of schools at all but one would have to think that when he does, the Yellow Jackets will be among those on the list.
Lewis fits the list with the Bodden and Olson’s of the Jackets quarterback board. Mostly being recruited by Group of 5 programs right now, Lewis is probably not a take for the Yellow Jackets until a few other quarterbacks are off the board.
Overall, the Yellow Jackets still have some quality options in the 2021 class at quarterback. While most of the top-notch quarterbacks in the class are already committed, the Jackets are in a good position to land a quality quarterback in the class. The need obviously isn’t as high as it would be most years as the Jackets took two quarterbacks last cycle that they were very high on.