Georgia Tech Football: Position Previews - Wide Receivers

Hey everyone - welcome to another installment of our 2020 position previews! Today we’ll be talking about the Wide Receivers. 2020 is shaping up to be an interesting year for this squad. With an improved quarterback room and an improved O-line the passing game should hopefully take a few major leaps forward this season - great news for a talented receiving corps. Without further ado, let’s get into who you’ll see catching balls in 2020.

Roster

Jalen Camp (RS Senior)

Ahmarean Brown (Sophomore)

Marquez Ezzard (RS Sophomore)

Adonicas Sanders (RS Junior)

Malachi Carter (Junior)

Peje’ Harris (RS Sophomore)

Stephen Dolphus (RS Senior)

Josh Blancato (RS Junior)

Zach Owens (RS Freshman)

Kalani Norris (Sophomore)

Luke Moseley (RS Freshman)

Avery Boyd (Freshman)

Ryan King (Freshman)

Nate McCollum (Freshman)

Ahmarean Brown

Any conversation about Georgia Tech receivers has to start with AB. One of the bright spots of the 2019 offense, Brown burst onto the scene last year and tied Calvin Johnson’s freshman touchdown record with 7 scores. He did that on 21 receptions for 396 total yards. Explosive and ridiculously fast, he caught a pass in all 12 games. He’ll look to build on that impressive freshman outing this season and I think he’s got a great shot at some national attention. One of our main offensive goals for this season should be getting Brown the ball in space as much as possible so I’m expecting him to haul in 40-50 receptions and at least match his freshman touchdown mark.

Jalen Camp

One of the elders in the group, Camp unfortunately had his 2019 campaign cut short due to surgery after just four games. He recorded stats in two of those games (The Citadel and Temple), catching 7 balls for 134 yards and one score. His 19.1 yards/catch was one of the highest on the team and the offensive will be extremely glad to see his return in 2020. He brings a ton of experience to a relatively young unit and should provide a much-needed boost both on and off the field. I expect him to see a lot of action on the outside and catch some big third-down conversions.

Adonicas Sanders

After not seeing much action in 2018 due to injury, Sanders was used pretty frequently in 2019 once Jalen Camp was out. His 19 catches and 249 yards were second best on the unit (behind Ahmarean Brown), although he didn’t find the end zone. He was a good model of consistency, catching a pass in all 8 games he played in. He received a lot of praise for his 2019 campaign and will likely build on it and play a large role in 2020.

Malachi Carter

Rounding out the main receivers returning from 2019 is Malachi Carter. Last season he caught 16 passes for 240 yards and two scores. Similar to Sanders, he caught a ball in all nine games he saw action in. Carter is another Johnson-era receiver with a great jump-ball skillset.

Remaining Returning Players

Of the remaining players on the roster, only Josh Blancato and Peje’ Harris recorded stats at receiver in 2019. Blancato caught 2 passes for 53 yards and Harris caught 1 for 4 yards.

Newcomers

There are a couple exciting newcomers in this group to keep your eyes on. Marquez Ezzard is eligible this year after transferring from Miami and is someone that could have an immediate impact. Go read Jeff’s recent write-up about him for more details, but the short summary is that he’s large, talented, and spent a year learning from one of the elite receiving squads in the ACC. There’s also the trio of incoming recruits Nate McCollum (3*, 0.8870), Ryan King (3*, 0.8830), and Avery Boyd (3*, 0.8450). Both McCollum and King are top 100 receivers according to 247. McCollum is a smaller, speed-oriented guy (with a 4.41 40 time) while King is more the large-and-imposing type (6’3”, 215).

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So who’s Above The Line? Last year’s ATL charts typically listed 7 WRs per game for the latter half of the season so that’s the mark we’ll shoot for here. Right now I’d say those 7 will be:

• Ahmarean Brown
• Jalen Camp
• Adonicas Sanders
• Malachi Carter
• Marquez Ezzard
• Nate McCollum
• Ryan King

Of that group I think Brown, Camp, Sanders, and Ezzard will be the true “starters” receiving the most attempts with Carter, McCollum, and King rotating in for depth. What do y’all think? Who are you excited to see catching passes? How many touchdowns will Ahmarean Brown score?