Georgia Tech Football: Recruiting Expert Names the Yellow Jackets Most Valuable Recruit For the 2025 Class

Georgia Tech had one of the best recruiting classes in program history and signed several potential impact players

Nov 21, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key celebrates after a victory over the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech finished with one of it's best recruiting classes in program history and it was good enough for the 2nd best class in the ACC, behind only Miami. This was a tremendous step forward for the program and shows the trajectory that Brent Key has the Yellow Jackets on in the ACC.

Who could be some impact players for the Yellow Jackets out of this recruiting class? ESPN's Eli Lederman thinks it could be one of the best athletes in the entire 2025 class:

Dalen Penson, DB

Ranking: Four-star, No. 186 in 2025 ESPN 300

Background: The Yellow Jackets held off late flip efforts from USC to sign Penson as the fifth-ranked member of coach Brent Key's latest class on Dec. 4.

"The 5-11, 170-pound prospect from Peachtree City, Georgia, is a skilled athlete who put up impressive production at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back in high school. He'll play in the secondary at Georgia Tech, and the speed Penson previously used to make defenders miss will make him a versatile defensive back capable of playing multiple positions at the college level. Alongside four-star Clemson safety flip Tae Harris, Penson leads a deep group of defensive backs joining the Yellow Jackets in ESPN's 17th-ranked recruiting class."

Penson was ranked as the No. 77 prospect in the country according to the 247Sports Composite and the No. 2 Athlete in the country, and the No. 11 player in the state of Georgia.

10 of the 23 signees for Georgia Tech's class are offensive and defensive linemen (five OL, five DL) and 16 of the 23 are from the state of Georgia.

The five ESPN 300 prospects include Georgia Tech’s two highest-ranked signees – No. 22 Josh Petty (Roswell, Ga./Fellowship Christian Academy) and No. 48 Tae Harris (Cedartown, Ga./Cedartown H.S.) – since the prestigious ESPN 300 rankings began in 2006. Petty, who received a five-star rating from 247Sports, is the Yellow Jackets’ first five-star recruit since College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson signed with Tech in 2004.

The class is ranked as high as No. 17 nationally (ESPN) and is the consensus No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It is Tech’s highest-ranked class since its 2007 crop of newcomers – which included future all-Americans and NFL standouts Morgan Burnett, Jonathan Dwyer and Derrick Morgan – was ranked as high as No. 15 nationally (247Sports).

Twelve of the 23 signees will enroll at Georgia Tech in January and participate in all football-related activities throughout the spring semester, including spring practice. The remainder of the class will arrive at Tech in the summer, ahead of the 2025 season.

One of the biggest reasons this was such a successful class was the fact that Georgia Tech did a great job in the state of Georgia. According to 247Sports, there were 51 blue-chip prospects (four or five star players) in the state of Georgia alone and Geoergia Tech landed six of them. Yesterday in his signing day press conference, Key talked about the importance of recruiting in the state of Georgia:

"Yeah, I think the exposure we've been able to receive this year in a lot of ways is big, but it really goes back to the relationships with the high schools. Just because you're signing off from a to the relationships with the high schools. Just because you're signing off from a high school doesn't necessarily mean that it's gonna be reflective years down the road. I mean, the coaching staff and the staff have done an outstanding job of cultivating and building those relationships. I think it's something that really needed to be done here, you know, we're in one of not the greatest state of high school talent in the entire country. And you know, to jump over 20 guys to go get one makes no sense. So we've been, you know, working really hard to make sure we get in the schools, to get in all the high schools, build relationships. I got to give you know a huge credit to Tim McFarlin and the job that he's done as well in the director of high school relations and building these relationships, maintaining these relationships, being able to keep us informed, keep myself informed of different things and to take place in the events, the clinics, the camps that are running the summer, all those go into it."

Additional Links:

Brent Key On Difficulties Navigating The Transfer Portal: "It's Challenging, But This Is What College Football Is"

Georgia Tech Football: Everything From Brent Key's Tuesday Press Conference

Former Georgia Tech Edge Rusher Romello Height Receives Early Prediction To Land At Top Big 12 School