Georgia Tech’s fall camp opens next week, and the Yellow Jackets have a lot to sort through before they line up against Colorado in Atlanta for the first game of the season.
Picked to finish fifth in the ACC, Georgia Tech is coming off an offseason that brought plenty of turnover. A roster that once leaned heavily on veterans now has new faces in key spots, and the next four weeks will tell a lot about how quickly this group can come together.
The biggest spotlight will land on Mendoza, who won the spring quarterback battle and is now set to start. It will be his first time opening a season as a starter for a program, but the snaps he took last season for the Hoosiers made clear why he’s being talked about as a potential breakout quarterback in the ACC.
Over camp, he’ll be working to show command of the playbook and build timing with his receivers. And yes, all eyes will be on the brother of last year’s Heisman trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick.
Behind him, though, the quarterback room is just as important and far less settled. Georgia Tech has one of the most inexperienced groups in the nation, and the battle for the backup job should run through the entire month.
Grady Adamson, Graham Knowles, and Cole Bergeron are in the mix. None of the three has started a game, and Knowles is the only one who has seen any real game action.
Adamson has been in the program for a season, Knowles is entering his third year, and Bergeron arrives as a true freshman with four-star billing out of high school.
Receiver is another spot with plenty of questions. Jordan Allen and Elon transfer Isaiah Fuhrmann enter camp as the top two options, but the depth chart behind them is wide open.
Converted cornerback Dalen Penson brings speed and athleticism. Debron Gatling, Evan Haynes, and Rahkeem Smith are candidates to take a step forward.
And then there are the freshmen - Darnell Collins, J.J. Winston, Kentrell Davis, and Jeffar Jean-Noel - who could force their way into the conversation.
The lack of proven production is hard to ignore. Allen is the only receiver on the roster who caught a pass for Georgia Tech last season.
Fuhrmann was productive at the FCS level, and Smith put up solid numbers at Delaware State and Bowling, but there isn’t much Power Four experience here. That makes this one of the more unsettled parts of the offense heading into camp.
Up front, the Yellow Jackets do have some stability. Ethan Mackenny and Malachi Carney return as starters at left tackle and right guard, and Alabama transfer Joseph Ionata is stepping in at center.
The other two spots remain open, and both jobs matter. Georgia Tech will be trying to settle those positions while also building out the depth behind them.
On defense, the need for improvement runs across the board, but it begins on the line. Brent Key wanted more size there this offseason, and Georgia Tech responded by bringing in Tawfiq Thomas, Vincent Carroll-Jackson, and Tim Griffin. The Jackets also added more edge athleticism with Noah Carter, Jordan Walker, and Taje McCoy.
The transfers are part of the equation, not the whole story. Georgia Tech also needs its returning defenders to take a step. Amontrae Bradford, Jordan Boyd, Christian Garrett, and others will need to show growth and give the unit dependable depth if the defense is going to move forward.
Safety is another area loaded with youth. Tae Harris is expected to break out, and Fenix Felton flashed against Georgia and BYU last season.
Savion Riley brings the most experience, though injuries limited him for most of last year. The rest of the room is made up of freshmen Kealan Jones, Kymani Morales, Isaac Obrokta, and Chris Hewitt Jr, none of whom has played in a college game yet.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Lost A Key Defender Before Georgia Tech Showdown
Tennessee will be without linebacker Arion Carter to open the season after the NCAA handed down a suspension tied to an impermissible benefit, a reminder that even a small off-field misstep can ripple into a marquee September matchup. The Volunteers are already navigating the early part of the schedule without one of their defensive pieces, and Georgia Tech has reason to note the absence as it looks ahead to the meeting.
Josh Heupel has publicly backed Carter through the process, stressing that the program stands behind him while the matter plays out. For Tennessee, the short-term issue is straightforward: the Vols have to get through their first two games without a defender they expected to count on, and the Yellow Jackets will be watching closely to see how that reshapes the opening stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Faces A Secondary Test It Can't Afford To Miss
Losing Clayton Powell-Lee and Omar Daniels leaves Georgia Tech with a familiar offseason problem in the secondary: replacing veteran production with players who have not yet proven they can handle the job every week. The Jackets are leaning on a younger group in 2026, with Harris and Felton positioned to take on bigger roles as new safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri sorts through a room that suddenly needs answers.
Beyond the top of the depth chart, the evaluation gets even more complicated. Savion Riley, Kealan Jones, Isaac Obrokta, Chris Hewitt Jr. and Kymani Morales are all in the mix for snaps and depth, but the group is still short on certainty, which is exactly what makes this spot so important for a defense trying to hold together over a long season. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Techs Backfield Hype Feels Bigger Than Just A Strength
Georgia Techs backfield is already drawing as much attention as any position group on the roster, and that says plenty about where the Yellow Jackets think their offense can go in 2026. Justice Haynes, the transfer from Michigan, joins Malachi Hosley, the teams top returning rusher, to form a duo head coach Brent Key pointed to at ACC media days as a sign of how prepared and deep the position room has become.
It was notable enough that Georgia Tech brought both running backs to the leagues showcase instead of the usual quarterback face of the program, a small detail that still says a lot about the staffs confidence in the group. Haynes and Hosley both arrive with strong resumes and the expectation that they will carry a major share of the offense, but the bigger question now is how quickly that hype turns into production once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]