Georgia Tech came into camp with real questions at cornerback, and two transfer additions are already giving the Yellow Jackets something to work with.
The secondary lost its top three corners from last season - Ahmari Harvey, Jy Gilmore and Rodney Shelly - but Georgia Tech did bring back a solid group of familiar faces in Kelvin Hill, Jon Mitchell, Zachary Tobe and Daiquan White. Even with that returning depth, the staff still dipped into the portal for help, adding Jonas Duclona from USF and Jaylen Mbakwe from Alabama as the only two newcomers in the entire secondary.
Both arrived with plenty to prove. Duclona missed spring practice and hadn’t yet had a chance to work with defensive coordinator Jason Semore. Mbakwe, meanwhile, was shifting over from wide receiver, even as he carried the kind of buzz that comes with being viewed as a potential difference-maker on defense.
That uncertainty hasn’t lasted long. Through fall camp, both players have shown enough to stand out.
Semore spent part of his media availability yesterday laying out how Georgia Tech sees Duclona fitting into the defense. The short version: there’s versatility there, but the staff wants to be careful not to pile too much on him too quickly.
"Right now, he can play a lot of stuff because he's also physical enough to tackle. Right now, when we're moving into, today was our first day of situational stuff outside of like normal down things.
So he'll play some dime there. So he'll get his nickel reps in the dime package stuff.
He can play safety. He hasn't got a ton of burn at safety.
He can play corner. He's kind of a dude that we're trying not to overload by having him play a bunch of positions because we still need to evaluate him.
You know what I mean?
But right now, he probably fits best for us in the nickel-dime world. So that's probably where we see him at.
But he can play all those other things. We just have to be smart about how we rep him in terms of install.
Once he learns that position, then you can start, you know, this is what we do at corner and all that kind of stuff. But we're excited about him.
He has a lot of depth and talent."
Mbakwe’s upside has been obvious from the start. His speed gives Georgia Tech a real weapon on the back end, and his reaction time makes him look like someone who can close space in a hurry and challenge throws all over the field.
Semore said the staff is trying to harness that ability while keeping the bigger defensive picture in mind.
"Yeah, him and Savion (Riley). There are some dudes that have displayed some really good ball skills out there.
I'm speaking from a global standpoint. You know what I mean?
We've probably dropped 12, 13 interceptions in the last three days of practice. Those guys are pretty opportunistic.
You know what I mean? I feel confident about Mbakwe being at the point of attacking, making plays on the football.
You know what I mean?
So we do have some dudes with some talent and some ball skills. But globally as a defense, you know, I wish I could say, hey, they're going to throw it at you, you know, five times Mbakwe.
You know what I mean? Because what happens is when a guy does demonstrate ball skills and things like that and is making plays on the ball, they're probably not throwing it there for the rest of the game or the next couple games.
So if you want to continue producing turnovers, right, somebody else has to be able to catch. You know what I mean?
So we have to develop. you know, globally as a unit in that, right, so all we know how to do is continue getting reps and continue preaching those things, right. The guys are buying in, right, and then we have to be opportunistic when you get the chance."
Georgia Tech brought Duclona and Mbakwe in to raise the ceiling of the cornerback room, and early signs suggest both are doing their part. That matters for a unit that wants to cut down on the big plays it gave up late last season, including the loss to NC State and even in the win over Boston College.
A few strong days in camp won’t settle anything, but the early return on both transfers has been encouraging. So far, so good for Georgia Tech’s new cornerback duo.
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