100 Days to Kickoff: Newbies to Watch For - DB Gentry Bonds

Days to Kickoff: 74

As our 100 Days to Kickoff series rolls on, this week we’ll be taking a look at players you haven’t seen before, but will want to know about going into the 2017 season. All of these players come into the season with little to no experience at the college level, but tons of potential to make an impact on the field this fall for the Yellow Jackets.

DB Gentry Bonds | Freshman | 6-2, 210 lbs. | Murfreesboro, TN

2017 saw Paul Johnson sign the best class of talent in the defensive backfield since he has been at Georgia Tech. A critical member of that class is Gentry Bonds, a four-star DB from Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) High School.

Bonds committed to Georgia Tech in August, becoming the 11th commitment in the 2017 class and the fourth defensive back at the time. Bonds was rated as a 4-star recruit by Rivals (5.8) and a 3-star by the 247Sports Composite (0.8655). He chose the Yellow Jackets over his other four top schools - Clemson, Missouri, Nebraska and Kentucky. Bonds also had offers from Tennessee, Louisville and North Carolina.

Bonds is definitely talented enough to earn playing time in fall camp. However, Georgia Tech returns all four starters at corner and safety from last season, so how much we’ll see Bonds and some of the other freshmen is up in the air.

But if Bonds’s high school tape is any indication, he will be a great addition to the Georgia Tech football program. His physicality is an apparent asset, and he is already listed at 210 pounds, 20 pounds heavier than he was in high school. The speed of the game will obviously change and require adjustment as it does for any freshman, but if Bonds is able to make the leaps which it looks he is capable of, we could see him on the field sooner rather than later.