Georgia Tech Football Ranked 53rd In CBS Sports Preseason Rankings

Georgia Tech is close to kicking off the 2024 season against Florida State and the Yellow Jackets are hoping to make some noise in the ACC this season. They were voted 9th in the ACC preseason media poll that was released yesterday and in the new CBS Sports 134 rankings that rank every FBS team, the Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 53. Florida State (13), Clemson (14), Miami (16), NC State (24), Louisville (26), SMU (28), Virginia Tech (29), Noth Carolina (44), Duke (48), and Cal (50) were the other ACC teams ranked ahead of Georgia Tech.

I would rank Georgia Tech ahead of some of these teams. I think they have a good argument to be above North Carolina, Cal, SMU and Duke. While SMU has had success in the group of five, moving to the ACC and regularly playing power four competition is going to be a whole different game for them.

Despite a tough scheduled, Georgia Tech should be considered a dark horse in the ACC. They have one of the conferences best offenses and made good hires on the defensive side of the football. It is going to be a challenge to improve on their record from last season, but Brent Key’s team has the ability.

Yellow Jackets QB Haynes King accounted for 3,729 yards of total offense (2,842 passing, 737 rushing) and 37 touchdowns (27 passing, 10 rushing) in his first season as the Yellow Jackets’ starting quarterback in 2023. He was one of only two Power Five conference players with at least 2,800 passing yards, 700 rushing yards, 25 touchdown passes and 10 touchdown runs in 2023, joining Heisman Trophy winner and eventual No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Jayden Daniels of LSU, while he became only the fourth Atlantic Coast Conference player since 2000 to reach those plateaus in a single season, joining Clemson’s Deshawn Watson (2015), Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (2016 and 2017) and Virginia Tech’s Jerod Evans (2016).

Running back Jamal Haynes, who made the switch from wide receiver to running back during Georgia Tech’s fall camp in 2023, became the Yellow Jackets’ first 1,000-yard rusher in five years when he ran for 1,059 yards last season. He capped four 100-yard games with a career-high 128 en route to being named MVP of the Jackets’ 30-17 win over UCF in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. In addition to his 1,059 rushing yards (the 15th-most in Georgia Tech single-season history), Haynes also caught 20 passes for 151 yards and returned two kickoffs for 47 yards, totaling 1,257 all-purpose yards and earning all-ACC recognition as both a running back and all-purpose performer.

Led by King and Haynes, Georgia Tech ranked third in the ACC and among the top 35, nationally, in total offense last season (424.6 ypg). Tech led the conference/ranked 12th nationally in rushing offense (203.8 ypg). The Yellow Jackets return eight starters from last season’s prolific offense in 2024.

Georgia Tech center Weston Franklin has started 25 straight games at center for the Yellow Jackets over the last two seasons and played 884 offensive snaps in 2023. He was the anchor of an offensive front that helped pave the way for Tech to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference and rank among the top 15 teams nationally in both rushing offense (203.8 ypg – 12th nationally) and fewest sacks allowed (1.15 pg – 15th) in 2023.

Franklin is one of four starting offensive linemen and eight overall offensive starters that return for Georgia Tech in 2024. Last season, Tech ranked third in the ACC and among the top 35 nationally in total offense (424.6 ypg).

He is one of only 14 centers on the 75-player Outland Trophy watch list.

Georgia Tech kicks off the 2024 season in three weeks vs Florida State.