Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Recruiting: Meet C.J. Leggett

If I were to ask you who the highest-rated RB in this class was, you'd probably tell me Myles Autry. And you'd be wrong. It was actually C.J. Leggett, who became Georgia Tech's second eighteenth commitment when he committed to the Yellow Jackets on December 20, 2013, over a month after Caleb Kinlaw's de-commitment and flip to Wisconsin, and a full 6 weeks after Antonio Simmons' commitment. He stands at 5'10", 207lbs (well-built for a RB), and hails from North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, GA -- traditional rival of my alma mater, Collins Hill High School. (The opening of Peachtree Ridge in 2003 provided a much more hostile rivalry than our traditional rivals.) He was one of four players rated at 3-stars or higher in his senior class, with 4-stars headed to Missouri and South Carolina, and another 3-star headed to Vanderbilt. Leggett played RB in high school, and projects as either an AB or BB depending on need. He signed with Georgia Tech over offers from Pittsburgh, UCLA, Vanderbilt, and Yale, along with interest from a slew of major BCS programs, not to mention Stanford, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Harvard.

Leggett's film brings only one word to my mind, and it's "complete". Frankly, Leggett is very balanced and can do it all. His short, stocky frame gives him great balance, making him tough to bring down in one-on-one situations downfield. That stocky frame also enables him to run with power when he gets behind his pads. (Something he's really not afraid to do when squared up on a defender in the open field, by the way.) That itself would be great, except he also has some really impressive agility that makes him even tougher to bring down in the open field. He's got this freakish ability to put his foot in the ground and completely change his trajectory in a single step. It's a very impressive skill, and one that pairs very nicely with his natural power. If there's a knock on him, it's that his speed would appear to be pretty average. He's not a huge home-run threat, though his agility and ability to break tackles do enable him to rip off sizeable gains. In general though, Leggett is a very complete, balanced back that will see a lot of carries in his time at Georgia Tech.

As for how he fits in immediately, time will tell. My guess is that Leggett is slotted at A-Back, though he could also play B-Back with his build and skill set. If put at A-Back, it's almost certain that he'll redshirt as a freshman given the sheer volume of older players. (Remember that this fall there are 5 senior A-Backs -- Bostic, Days, Hill, Perkins, Zenon -- along with the redshirt sophomore Dennis Andrews and redshirt freshman Donovan Wilson, to supplement the three incoming freshmen -- Leggett, Autry, and Lynch. It's a crowded depth chart to say the least.) That said, after a redshirt season, it's feasible that Leggett could start for three years as the "bigger" A-Back, a la Orwin Smith. (While shorter than Smith, he runs similarly, being tough to bring down and cutting well.) This all changes if slotted at B-Back, but with Travis Custis there and another player or two in the coming signing class, it would be unlikely for him to play there. I've been wrong before though. Wherever he plays though, Leggett looks like a guy who will be a regular with the ball in his hands in his coming years at Georgia Tech.

Leggett is rated a 3-star prospect by Rivals (5.7) and the 247Sports Composite (.8570).

If it were you, would Leggett play A-Back or B-Back? Is he perhaps the first "hybrid" since Luke Cox? Do you consider him the best RB in this class?