We are in the final stretch towards the early signing period, and recruiting is about to get wild. While Tech’s 2020 class is nearly full, the coaching staff is working hard to fill the last few spots with as many highly-touted players as possible.

The staff made another step towards that goal today, getting a commitment from local North Gwinnett defensive end Jared Ivey.

Ivey is rated a high three-star prospect by Rivals (5.7 rating) and is a four-star recruit on the 247Sports Composite Rankings (.9054). Rivals also has Ivey as the #40 prospect in the state of Georgia. Ivey boasted offers from a host of Power-5 conference schools, and his decision came down to Tech, Duke, Colorado, Nebraska, and Stanford. Of those five, Tech’s main competition seemed to come from Colorado and Nebraska, both of whom recruited Ivey heavily.

Ivey is the type of player that Collins needs to keep in state to be successful. Expecting the staff to instantly bring in top-10 recruits in the state is unrealistic, but Tech was getting beat by teams like Nebraska, Colorado, Duke, and Stanford for Top 50 recruits for many years. Fixing that will lead to a huge jump in recruiting, and we’re already seeing progress. With Ivey’s commitment, Tech now has five players in the 2020 class who are rated four-star prospects on the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Film

Ivey possess impressive and imposing physical tools that will make him an intriguing player at the next level. At 6-6, he clearly has impressive length, but it’s his bend and closing speed that stand out to me the most. He tracks down several running backs from the backside and quickly closes in on QBs. Ivey’s bend allows him to change directions more quickly than expected. These athletic traits are all highly coveted for pass rushers and are the fundamental building blocks of edge rushing that cannot be taught.

Ivey’s frame is somewhat slim. He’ll never be a huge 275+ lb DE, but his role will be to get after the QB above all else. Getting his speed on the field on third down will be invaluable, especially considering Tech’s struggles this year getting off the field. Ivey needs to work on his ability to bend the corner as well, but he has the physical tools to do it.

Ed. Note: Looks like the staff wasn’t done for the night!

South Carolina-native defensive tackle Emmanuel Johnson also announced his commitment to the Jackets tonight! He reportedly received offers from Tennessee and Western Kentucky.

Johnson stands at 6-5, 252 pounds, but still has plenty of room to grow, which should suit him well to play defensive tackle for the Jackets. He is rated as a two-star recruit by Rivals (5.4) and a three-star by the 247 Sports Composite (0.8204).

Johnson doesn’t have full season highlights on his Hudl page, so I would recommend watching through a couple of his game videos to really get a picture of what Tech is bringing on board here. From watching a couple videos, it seems that Johnson has a really strong base, so he doesn’t get knocked off balance very often by the offensive linemen. There are also a couple plays where he blows up the guy trying to block him which is always nice to see!

Let’s welcome Jared Ivey and Emmanuel Johnson to the Flats!