The NFL’s roster cuts brought the usual wave of disappointment around the league, but for a handful of former Georgia Tech players, it turned into a reason to celebrate. When teams trimmed down to 53 this weekend, several Yellow Jackets made the cut and kept their season dreams alive.
One of the biggest surprises from the group was Haynes King, whose Hall of Fame Game showing helped push him onto the Carolina Panthers roster. King was not the only undrafted rookie from The Flats to survive the cut, either, giving Georgia Tech a pair of rookies who turned preseason momentum into a job.
Carolina is also home to another former Yellow Jacket in Waller, a late addition who is coming out of retirement in hopes of helping the Panthers defend their NFC South crown and get back to his old form as one of the NFL’s top tight ends. That gives the Panthers the distinction of being the only team with multiple Georgia Tech alums on the roster.
Elsewhere, Georgia Tech’s presence stretches across the league. Jenkins spent the 2022 season with the Yellow Jackets and has kept hanging around in the NFL despite Georgia Tech’s 5-7 finish that year. He’ll have Dallas Goedert ahead of him on the Eagles depth chart, but the source material notes that an impact this season is not out of the question, especially after the trade of AJ Brown to New England.
Van den Berg also made the jump from college standout to NFL roster survivor, and his path was notable from the start. He slipped to the 6th round in April, then turned in a strong preseason for the Bears.
Chicago seems confident enough in what it saw that the team traded last year’s starting DT, Gervon Dexter, to the Atlanta Falcons. Van den Berg could wind up being one of the most impactful rookies on defense.
The Texans also got encouraging work from Rutledge, who became the first Georgia Tech player drafted in the first round since 2010. He had a very good preseason and is expected to start somewhere along Houston’s front, giving another Yellow Jacket a chance to play a major role for a team viewed as a Super Bowl contender.
Minnesota is set to use Mason in a familiar kind of role, too. He has established himself as a dependable NFL running back and now looks ready to form a 1-2 punch with Aaron Jones Jr. The 49ers gave Mason his breakout a couple of years ago, and he has kept that solid level of play going with the Vikings.
King’s former Georgia Tech reputation as one of the nation’s best dual-threat quarterbacks still shows up in the way people talk about him now, and the Panthers are expected to use his athleticism in a variety of ways even if he is not likely to start this season. His Hall of Fame Game performance helped set that path in motion.
The rest of the list is spread across several teams with different expectations. White has settled in with San Francisco after being traded from the Patriots, the team that drafted him in 2023, and the 49ers defense could be one of the league’s better units as they look to rebound and reach the playoffs.
Hawes is back on Buffalo’s roster after a successful rookie season, giving the 2025 5th-round pick another shot with a team expected to contend for a Super Bowl. Biggers, who put together a strong year as a 7th-round rookie, remains with Miami and should see plenty of snaps on a Dolphins team expected to be among the worst in the league.
And then there is Butker, who stays put as one of the NFL’s most consistent kickers. He remains with the Chiefs as Kansas looks to bounce back after a downer of a 2025 season. Shelley, meanwhile, made the Chargers roster after going undrafted in April, and he did it after a strong camp and preseason with a potential playoff team.
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For Sanders, the point is less about gaining an advantage than about teaching Colorado how to live on the same timetable it will face under the lights. The altered schedule is meant to help players settle into the rhythm of a Thursday game rather than wake up and rush into it, which makes Georgia Tech an interesting first test of how quickly the Buffaloes can adapt. However the matchup plays out, the pregame routine already has Sanders coaching with the opener in mind. [Read more 🡒]
Deion Sanders Sees A Real Opening In Colorado's Georgia Tech Matchup
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Jason Semores arrival as Georgia Techs new defensive coordinator adds another layer to the scouting report, since the Yellow Jackets could show different looks than they have in the past. For Georgia Tech, that makes the challenge as much about disguise and adjustments as it is about raw talent, and it leaves the upcoming game with one obvious question: how much will Colorado be able to exploit the opening Sanders thinks is there? [Read more 🡒]