SI All-American Watch List: 9 Georgia Tech Commits and 6 Key GT Targets

Top 10 position rankings start this week; preseason SI99 out in August

Four-star safety Kaleb Edwards and four-star wide receiver James BlackStrain headline a group of sixteen Georgia Tech verbal commits, along with six of the Yellow Jackets' key targets in the 2021 recruiting cycle. 

The 6'0, 195-pound Edwards out of Dacula (Ga.) was a big recruiting win for Geoff Collins and co. Edwards has experience at both offense and defense, but is expected to play safety at Tech. His speed, length, coverage skills, and ball-hawking ability will make him an ideal fit in the Jackets' secondary. 

BlackStrain was the first four-star commitment for Georgia Tech's 2021 class. Despite missing his high school junior season due to an ACL injury, the wideout already shows developed route-running skills, as well as the capability to separate from defenders and accelerate away from tacklers.

Listed below is the full breakdown of the Jackets' verbals and prime targets on the SI All-American watch list. 

Verbal Commits:

Offense:

WR James BlackStrain | 6'2, 180 | Melbourne (Fla.) Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy 

WR Malik Rutherford | Hialeah (Fla.) Champagnat Catholic - Hialeah

QB Chayden Peery | 6'3, 215 | Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon

OT Jakiah Leftwich | 6'6, 302 | Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake

OLB Gavin Barthiel | 6'2, 205 | Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson

OG Eli Richey | 6'5, 291 | Greensboro (Ala.) Southern Academy 

Defense:

S Kaleb Edwards | 6'0, 195 | Dacula (Ga.)

WDE Joshua Robinson | 6'4, 235 | Douglasville (Ga.) Douglas County

SDE Grey Carroll | 6'3, 250 | Alcoa (Tenn.)

Top Targets

Offense:

OG Weston Franklin | 6'4, 308 | Jesup (Ga.) Wayne County

WR Jaden Alexis | 5'11, 175 | Pompano Beach (Fla). Monarch

Defense:

WDE Christian Burkhalter | 6'5, 230 | Spanish Fort (Ala.)

CB Kamari Lassiter | 6'0, 185 | Tuscaloosa (Ala.) American Christian

S Sirad Bryant | 6'1, 184 | Cordele (Ga.) Crisp County

ATH Cam Jeffery | 6'0, 195 | Tuscaloosa (Ala.) American Christian

More than 1,000 student-athletes, representing every state in the country, are SI All-American candidates. Video highlights, scouting analyses and a breakdown of each player’s college verbal commitment and/or top college contenders can be found on their bio pages, broken down by state, at SIAllAmerican.com.

Over the coming weeks, SI will unveil its preseason top 10 for each of 14 position groups (kicking off with quarterbacks this week). SI will unveil its initial top 99 ranking, the SI99, on August 24.

The evaluation process will continue throughout the season “until the list of 1,000 contenders coalesces around just 25 young men who can say proudly they are the best of the best -- they are Sports Illustrated All-Americans,” said SI Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia, Jr.

The candidates will be narrowed to 250 in October and 99 in November, and will culminate with 25 first-team Sports Illustrated All-Americans saluted at SI’s annual Sportsperson of the Year banquet in New York in December.