Georgia Tech Football: 2014 Position Previews - B-Backs

It's been a long time since Georgia Tech has had a 1,000-yard rusher at the B-Back position, but if you remember back to the article I wrote for opinions week, I predicted that senior B-Back Zach Laskey would be Georgia Tech's first 1,000-yard-rusher at the B-Back position since Anthony Allen. I still stand by that position and am expecting him to act as a leader on the offense this year. Now, let's take a look at the position group.

Who Left

Gone from last season's roster is our leading rusher David Sims. As a three-year starter, Sims rushed for over 2,000 yards in his career at Georgia Tech after moving to B-Back from quarterback. He also scored a total of 26 touchdowns throughout his career, including 12 last season (11 rushing, 1 receiving). Though he didn't help much as a blocker, 
Sims was still able to make an impact as a runner.

Georgia Tech's next loss at B-Back is a guy that never played a down on the Flats: Travis Custis. After missing what would have been his freshman year at Georgia Tech due to an NCAA Clearinghouse issue, Custis finally got onto campus in time for Spring practice and was looking to split playing time with Zach Laskey. Unfortunately, he ran into more issues and was forced to transfer away from Georgia Tech, and at this point is unlikely to return again.

Who's New

Even though there is only one recruit that will be coming in to likely play B-Back, Georgia Tech still has two new B-Backs with the move from A-Back to B-Back by Donavan Wilson. Wilson, who redshirted last season, will challenge Matt Connors for the second string job and playing time.

As mentioned in the last paragraph, Georgia Tech also brought in a recruit who will likely see some time at B-Back in the form of CJ Leggett. The three-star running back from North Gwinnett is one strong son-of-a-gun. According to Rivals, Leggett's max at the bench press and squat were 310 and 420, respectively. Add that to his 4.5 40-yard dash, and you have a nice balance of speed and power, which is wonderful to have at B-Back.

Coming in as a walk-on transfer from uga of all places is Justin Bryan. You're probably wondering why I decided to include him. Well I included him for two reasons. First of all, he stands at 6-5, 230 pounds and also has pretty good speed. Secondly, he is the brother of current GT commit OL Will Bryan (who is an absolute beast; go watch his film if you haven't already). I'm not sure if he'll stick at B-Back, but he could definitely be a guy to keep an eye on. He could also end up at WR or LB.

Projected Depth Chart

The likely starter at B-Back is Zach Laskey. Matt Connors and Donavan Wilson are both good back-ups, but at this point that is all they are. Those two will have an ongoing battle for the second string job. Thankfully, we do have at least one more B-Back coming in next year (and likely at least another one) in the form of Mikell Lands-Davis. So while Georgia Tech doesn't have a whole lot of depth at the position currently, I believe it will look pretty good next season with Lands-Davis, CJ Leggett, Donavan Wilson, and possibly another B-Back commit.

How do y'all feel about the depth at B-Back? Will we survive without Custis? Will Laskey turn into a 1,000-yard rusher?