Technical Tidbits 12/13: Braun named to ESPN True Freshman All-America team

First-year offensive lineman Parker Braun received a tremendous honor yesterday afternoon, being named to ESPN’s Freshman All-America team for his remarkable first season of football at Tech. This places Braun among the top tier of true freshmen offensive linemen in the entire nation, at least by ESPN’s metrics — he is one of just five to receive the honor. There is no second-team All-America, no third-team, no honorable mentions, nothing. Braun was recognized as one of the best in the whole country, the first Jacket to be praised as such since Keshun Freeman in 2014. Congratulations to Parker on an excellent season and a fitting piece of recognition.

The rest of the team was very Canes-heavy, with three of Mark Richt’s players making the cut. That could mark the beginning of a very annoying trend for Georgia Tech, as two of those three were true freshman linebackers who were integral parts of the Miami team that beat Tech soundly this season. Outside that, it’s very SEC-heavy despite an all-around awful season from the conference. We will get to see one such player, Kentucky running back Benny Snell, Jr., later on this month. Hopefully Ted Roof and company can hold him to more of a Ralph Webb type day than a Sony Michel one.

Northside quarterback and Georgia Tech commit Tobias Oliver is ready to get his career on the Flats started just a couple of weeks after choosing Tech over his other finalist, Army. There’s a video in that article of a quick conversation between a reporter and Oliver, and the commentary seems to indicate that he is seen as a quarterback in the eyes of both himself and the coaching staff. The interviewer clearly seemed skeptical of that, starting to hint at the fact that a number of players who are recruited as quarterbacks end up elsewhere on the field, but Oliver does seem to have the tools to succeed under Paul Johnson. We’ll see what happens when the full playing field is revealed for the post Justin Thomas days.

Georgia Tech’s football team made a quick visit to the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House yesterday afternoon to hang out and take pictures with some of the kids and families.

It’s a classy group spending their time in a very admirable and impactful way. Of course, I’m sure Buzz was the one who stole the show, at least among the youngest demographic.