The 2025 college football season for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is fast approaching, as we have hit 90 days for the Yellow Jackets until they kickoff the season on Aug. 29 against the Colorado Buffaloes. So we look back at one of the greatest players to wear the No. 90 jersey for the Yellow Jackets: defensive lineman TJ Barnes.
Barnes was a defensive lineman that came to the Yellow Jackets in the 2008 recruiting cycle as a four-star recruit.
Barnes redshirted his first season with the Yellow Jackets, and in his first two seasons of action, only started two games, but appeared in every game as a rotational player.
Things changed his junior season, as he started every game for the Yellow Jackets in his last two seasons with the Yellow Jackets.
During his time on The Flats, Barnes compiled 75 total tackles and 2.5 career sacks. As a freshman, Barnes was named to the All-ACC Freshman team. Barnes and fellow teammate Rod Sweeting are tied for the most games seeing action in Yellow Jackets history, with both sitting at 54.
Barnes would not be drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, but signed contracts with multiple NFL teams over the years, including the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers.
Barnes remains a crucial part of Yellow Jackets history, and his contributions in his five years with the Yellow Jackets are something that I feel have earned him a spot on our list.