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Georgia Tech 2020 Preliminary Preview: Quarterback

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 30: James Graham #4 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets looks to pass prior to the start of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 30: James Graham #4 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets looks to pass prior to the start of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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With 91 days left till the start of the 2020 Georgia Tech football season begins, we begin our preliminary previews of Georgia Tech’s roster starting with the signal callers.

The Starter: Redshirt sophomore James Graham is Georgia Tech’s incumbent starter and until proven otherwise, he’ll most likely be the Yellow Jackets starting quarterback come September 3rd against the Clemson Tigers. Graham played in 11 of the Yellow Jackets games last season, only not appearing in their loss to The Citadel. Following that loss, Graham became the starting quarterback for the Yellow Jackets with his first start coming against the Temple Owls.

Overall, Graham wasn’t great last year, completing 45.1% of his passes for 1,164-yards and 12 touchdowns. He also threw seven interceptions in the process including two against Virginia Tech and two against North Carolina. If Graham is the starter this year, he’ll need to take a big step forward, if the Jackets hope to do same.

Backup: Redshirt freshman Jordan Yates appears to be the probable backup in 2020 for the Yellow Jackets with the departure of Lucas Johnson and Tobias Oliver moving positions. The rising star of the 2019 recruiting class played sparingly last year for the Jackets, completing 4-of-12 passing attempts for 38-yards. Yates will be Graham’s primary competitor when it comes to the starting quarterback battle.

The Freshman: The Yellow Jackets brought in two freshman as part of the 2020 recruiting class in four-star quarterback Jeff Sims and three-star quarterback Tucker Gleason. Both Sims and Gleason will have the opportunity to battle for playing time this upcoming season and depending on the performance of Graham and Yates, it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see at least one of the two freshman play this fall.

Walk-Ons: The Yellow Jackets have two walk-on quarterbacks on their roster for 2019 in redshirt sophomore Ryan Lantz and redshirt junior Liam Byrne.

The quarterback position certainly isn’t the deepest part of the Jackets roster but thanks to solid recruiting at the position over the last few cycles, there is plenty of potential at the signal caller position for the Yellow Jackets entering 2020.