2024 NFL Draft Profile: Georgia Tech Safety Jaylon King

Jackson Caudell | Apr 25, 2024

Sep 23, 2023; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive back Jaylon / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

While Georgia Tech might not have any prospects that are going to go in the first few rounds of the NFL Draft that starts this Thursday, they have some guys that could be intriguing pickups on the third day and be able to make teams. Over the past few years, guys like Jordan Mason, Juanyeh Thomas, and Tyler Davis have gone from later-round pick/undrafted to making impacts on their teams. Could the Yellow Jackets have that kind of player in this year's draft?

The Yellow Jackets best chance for a player to be drafted might be safety Jaylon King, who is coming off of a really good senior season, where he end up being second-team All-ACC.

King intercepted four passes and recovered two fumbles for the Yellow Jackets in 2023. His four interceptions are tied for third in the ACC and 20th nationally, while his two fumble recoveries are good a tie for second in the conference and 17th in the nation. His six total takeaways are tied for tops in the ACC while his 12 passes defended rank third in the league. He also ranked third on the team at Georgia Tech with 65 tackles and has blocked a kick.

After coming back from an injury that cut his 2022 season short, King had the best season of his career as a Yellow Jacket. He played 722 snaps according to PFF (by far the most in his career) and finished with a 70.8 grade on defense, the 5th best on the entire defense. He had a career-best 74.7 grade in coverage, showing the strides that he had made in that area. I think it is safe to say that King might be just scratching the surface of what he is able to do.

He turned in a solid performance at Georgia Tech's pro day as well. He did 20 reps on the bench press, had a vertical jump of 37.48 inches and a long jump of 10-9.

King was one of the best leaders for the Yellow Jackets last year and showed a lot of skills that can translate over to the NFL. I think it is a possibility that he goes at some point on day three of the draft and could fight to make a teams roster.

More on King's career, via Georgia Tech Athletics:

2023 (Redshirt Senior):Third-team all-America (College Football Network) – Georgia Tech’s first all-American since 2021 (Jahmyr Gibbs) and first all-America defensive back since Morgan Burnett in 2008 … Second-team all-ACC (league and Associate Press) … Voted as a permanent team captain by his teammates … Came back from a severe leg injury that cost him the final seven games of the 2022 season to amass 65 tackles (third on the team), four interceptions, eight pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a blocked kick … Four interceptions are tied for third in the ACC and 20th nationally … Two fumble recoveries are tied for second in the conference and 17th nationally … Six total takeaways are tied for tops in the ACC … 12 passes defended rank third in the ACC … Started all 12 games at free safety … Despite battling an early-season injury, King opened the campaign with a career-high-tying eight tackles against Louisville (Sept. 1) … Stuffed the stat sheet with five tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery in a 30-16 win at Wake Forest (Sept. 23), en route to being named ACC co-Defensive Back of the Week … Played a huge role in Tech’s 23-20 win at No. 17 Miami (Fla.) (Oct. 7), matching his career-high with eight tackles, recorded his only tackle for loss of the season and returning an interception 66 yards to set up a crucial fourth quarter field goal … Had seven tackles in 46-42 win over No. 17 North Carolina (Oct. 28) … Turned in another incredible all-around statistical performance in Tech’s 45-17 win at Virginia (Nov. 4) with seven tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery and four pass breakups … Is the only NCAA Division I FBS player this season with as many as four pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery in the same game … Five passes defended are also the second-most nationally in a single-game this season (behind only Pitt’s M.J. Devonshire’s six vs. Louisville) … Recorded his fourth interception of the season at Clemson (Nov. 11) … Had six tackles in bowl-clinching win over Syracuse (Nov. 18) … Broke up a pass against No. 1 Georgia (Nov. 25).

2022 (Redshirt Junior): Started first five games of the season at free safety before sustaining a season-ending injury at Pitt (Oct. 1) … Racked up 32 tackles in just five games, which wound up ranking 11th on the squad despite him playing less than half the season … Also recorded an interception (Sept. 17 vs. Ole Miss), a pass breakup (Sept. 24 at UCF) and a forced fumble (at Pitt) … Tallied a career-high eight tackles at UCF and had six tackles apiece in his remaining four games – vs. Clemson (Sept. 5), vs. Western Carolina (Sept. 10), vs. Ole Miss and at Pitt.

2021 (Redshirt Sophomore): Saw action in 11 games as a contributor in the secondary and on special teams … Made three starts at safety vs. North Carolina (Sept. 25), at Virginia (Oct. 23) and vs. Virginia Tech (Oct. 30) … Recorded 32 tackles, which ranked ninth on the team overall and ranks third among players returning in 2022 … Added two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery … Returned fumble 40 yards for a touchdown at Miami (Nov. 6) … Had three games with six or more tackles — six vs. Kennesaw State (Sept. 11) and seven apiece at Duke (Oct. 9) and at UVA … Notched TFL at No. 6 Clemson (Sept. 18) and Duke.

2020 (Redshirt Sophomore – “Covid Year” – year ofeligibility retained): Saw action in nine games as a reserve defensive back and on special teams … Finished with 11 tackles, including one for loss … Had multiple tackles in four games — a season-high three (including his lone TFL) vs. Louisville (Oct. 9) and two apiece against Syracuse (Sept. 26), Boston College (Oct. 24) and Duke (Nov. 28).

2019 (Redshirt Freshman): Appeared in all 12 games as a reserve defensive back … Finished the season with 14 tackles (11 solo) … Recorded 1.0 tackle-for-loss for 1 yard and one pass breakup … Started the season with one tackle at then-No. 1 Clemson (Aug. 29) … Turned in three tackles (one solo) against North Carolina (Oct. 5) … Tallied two solo tackles vs. Pitt on Nov. 2 … Turned in the best all-around performance of the season against then-No. 4 Georgia (Nov. 30), when he recorded a season-best six solo tackles, including his lone tackle for loss (1.0) for a 1-yard loss and his lone pass breakup.

2018 (True Freshman): Redshirted after seeing action in three games – Sept. 1 vs. Alcorn State, Sept. 8 at USF and Sept. 29 vs. Bowling Green … Registered two tackles, both against Bowling Green … Was one of 13 true freshmen to see game action for the Yellow Jackets.

High School: Rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports/Scout and Rivals … Ranked as the No. 5 overall player in his class in the state of Tennessee and the No. 22 cornerback in the nation by Rivals … Ranked No. 8 on The Tennessean’s 2017 Dandy Dozen … Two-time first-team all-region honoree … Two-time team MVP … Helped lead Ensworth to 15 wins and back-to-back playoff appearances over his final two seasons … Coached by Ricky Bowers.