Georgia Tech has spent the offseason trying to patch holes all over its roster, and the Yellow Jackets are going to feel a few departures more than others when 2026 rolls around.
The most obvious one comes at wide receiver. Georgia Tech lost a wave of production there, and Canion would have been the clear No. 1 option on this team.
That’s not a small thing. After he caught 33 passes for 480 yards last season while sharing the workload with Eric Rivers and Malik Rutherford, it looked like his turn to take over had arrived.
He came to Georgia Tech as a four-star in-state prospect, a player the Yellow Jackets flipped from Notre Dame and kept out of Georgia’s hands. Instead, he entered the transfer portal this offseason and landed at Georgia.
That exit stings even more because of everything else Georgia Tech lost at receiver. Rivers, Rutherford, Dean Patterson, Bailey Stockon, and Zion Taylor are all gone too, leaving the Yellow Jackets with a very inexperienced group heading into 2026.
Maybe somebody steps up. That happens.
But keeping Canion would have given this offense a proven piece it badly needed.
The other departure that stands out is Tah'j Butler at linebacker. Georgia Tech needs better play from that group, and most of the room is coming back from last season.
Butler was the one notable loss, and he might have been the most talented linebacker on the roster. His time on The Flats was uneven, but the upside was real, and there were signs he could have been in line for a big year.
Instead, Butler entered the portal and headed to Ole Miss, where he’ll join a team chasing an SEC title and a College Football Playoff berth. Georgia Tech did bring in two freshman linebackers, but no transfers, so the Jackets are banking on their veterans to bounce back.
Under new defensive coordinator Jason Semore, that’s the plan. Still, Butler would have been a major asset in that room, and Georgia Tech could absolutely miss him this season.
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The challenge now is turning that continuity into a cleaner finish than the one Georgia Tech got last fall. The room is short on turnover, with two freshmen added and only one linebacker leaving through the portal, so the Jackets should have enough familiar pieces to build around. What happens next in camp will go a long way toward showing whether this group can become a strength again, or whether the late-season issues that lingered from 2025 are still waiting to surface. [Read more 🡒]