Who Were The Standouts From Georgia Tech's White And Gold Spring Game?

There were more than a few standouts for the Yellow Jackets in today's game

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Apr 15, 2023 4:37 PM EDT

In this story:

After a month of practicing and preparing, Georgia Tech was able to put on a show in front of 10,000 fans at Bobby Dodd Stadium today.

This game was a first chance for the fans to see how the team is looking heading into the 2023 season, the first under head coach Brent Key.

The offense was the most noticeable part of the team in this game, but Key did explain afterward that the defense was not mixing anything up with blitzes and they only played two coverages all game. Because of the defense playing really vanilla schemes today, it was hard to pick a standout from that group.

Here was who I thought stood out the most today:

Malik Rutherford

The receivers are a big question for Georgia Tech heading into the season and today was the first opportunity to get a look at how the unit looks heading into the summer and fall. Both Key and wide receivers coach Josh Crawford have heaped praise on Malik Rutherford, the teams leading returning receiver, and today he showed why.

Rutherford finished the day with seven catches for 154 yards, including a 64-yard catch. He was great after the catch and found a way to make guys miss. The highlight of the day for Rutherford came when he reversed his field and scored a touchdown while making plenty of defenders miss.

This offense needs to be better at creating explosive plays down the field this season and I think Rutherford is going to be a big part of that.

The Running Backs

Georgia Tech Running Back Jamie Felix — Jamie Felix ran hard during today's spring game for Georgia Tech
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It was hard to pick one single guy out of the Georgia Tech running back room today that played the best and that is a compliment.

Dontae Smith is the leader of the unit and one of the leaders of the team and he finished today with five carries for 27 yards. Smith looked explosive in a limited sample size and he will be counted on this fall.

One of the guys I was interested in seeing was Louisville transfer Trey Cooley and he did not disappoint. He led both teams with eight carries for 59 yards and he ran the ball tough today and was a hard guy to bring down.

Jamie Felix had seven carries for 29 yards and one guy that stood out was true freshman Evan Dickens. Dickens was impressive with the ball in his hands today and had six carries for 24 yards.

D.J. Moore and Avery Boyd

Both D.J. Moore and Avery Boyd showed that they are going to be challenging for reps in the fall. Both players had explosive plays and stretched the defense vertically as well.

Moore finished with four catches for 92 yards and Boyd had two for 66 and two touchdowns. This position will need guys to step up and after today, both young guys showed they could be the ones to be playmakers for the offense.

Ashton Heflin

Dickens was a standout freshman on offense and on the defensive side of the football, it was linebacker Ashton Heflin.

Heflin was moving around the field well and finished with four tackles and two pass breakups. Georgia Tech is looking to replace both Charlie Thomas and Ace Eley this season and there is a lot of competition in the linebacker room for those reps. If today was any indication, Heflin could be a challenger for playing time this fall in some capacity.

Zach Pyron

The quarterback battle was one of the key things to look at today for Georgia Tech and although Haynes King and Zach Gibson had their moments, I think that Zach Pyron looked the best today.

He was the first quarterback on the field and he looked composed from the start. He led the offense on a touchdown drive right away and moved well in the pocket. He was not allowed to be hit however and coming off an injury, he will have to show he can stay healthy.

Pyron finished the day going 11-16 for 153 yards and a touchdown and most of that came in the first half. I think there is still a long way to go in this competition, but Pyron put on a good showing today in the spring game.

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