Georgia Tech Recruiting: ESPN Analyst Gives Take On Yellow Jackets 2025 Recruiting Class

Georgia Tech signed one of the best receruiting classes in the country

Prince Avenue's Christian Garrett (55) sacks Athens Academy's Hampton Johnson (7) during a GHSA high school football game in Bogart, Ga., on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

With five-star offensive tackle Josh Petty making it official Thursday night, the Yellow Jackets 2025 class is now in and it is one of the highest-ranked classes in program history. They brought in high-level talent like Petty, four-star DB Tae Harris, four-star DT Christian Garrett, four-star running back JP Powell, and four-star DB Dalen Penson. This class has a chance to be a foundation of winning for Brent Key and Georgia Tech.

This class has been given rave reviews, including from ESPN analyst Craig Haubert:

ESPN 300 commits: 5
Top offensive prospect: OT Josh Petty
Top defensive prospect: S Tae Harris

Ranking entering Wednesday: 18

The Yellow Jackets are wisely taking advantage of the deep pool of prospects in talent-rich Georgia. Versatile defensive back Dalen Penson is an excellent pickup. He contributed at wide receiver, quarterback and secondary in high school. He's also a good track-and-field athlete. Projecting to defense, Penson plays aggressively with good quickness and ball skills. Tae Harris is another key and versatile addition to their secondary. He could play corner or safety and posted some of the top numbers on this offseason's camp circuit, including a blazing laser-timed 4.38 40. Andre Fuller and Christian Garrett are strong in-state defensive line additions. Fuller is simply a good football player with active hands and has the tools to be a tough, productive player up front. Garrett, a one-time Georgia commit, has more ideal measurables as well as good explosiveness and active hands, and is a big in-state get.

Coach Brent Key has an offensive line background and landed some of the top OLs in the class. Josh Petty was a big recruiting win and is the highest-ranked commit for the Yellow Jackets in the ESPN 300 era. A top-10 OT prospect, he is a two-sport athlete who also wrestles and possesses good body quickness and bend."

0 of the 23 signees 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:

Georgia Tech Football: Yellow Jackets Offensive Lineman Jordan Brown Enters Transfer Portal

Report: Georgia Tech Head Coach Brent Key Gets New Contract Extension

Georgia Tech Recruiting: Yellow Jackets Officially Announce 2025 Recruiting Class