Georgia Tech Football: Five Breakout Players - Kyric McGowan

The first thought I had when sitting down to write about Kyric McGowan is that he rightfully belongs on our impact player, breakout player, and newbies to watch for lists. He’s a newbie, arriving as a grad transfer to Georgia Tech from Northwestern. I expect him to break out by exceeding the production he put up at Northwestern, and he looks primed to be an impact player as Jeff Sims’s go to target this fall.

McGowan is one of three additions to the wide receiver room for 2021. Originally from Dalton High School in northwest Georgia, McGowan is another one of those guys choosing to come back home to finish his time in college.

McGowan stands at 5-11, 205 pounds, and we should expect him to play multiple roles in the GT offense, as he did at Northwestern. During his time in Evanston, he grabbed 66 catches for 773 yards and 2 touchdowns, carried the ball 55 times for 352 yards and 2 touchdowns, and got touches as both the punt returner and kick returner for the Wildcats. He had several explosive touchdowns over his career, including a long catch of 77 yards and a long run of 79 yards.

The physical toughness he showed at Northwestern had me excited to watch him during GT’s Spring Game in April. And boy did he show out. McGowan looked electric. He took a quick pass from Sims off of jet motion on the opening play of the game for 11 yards, and he effectively ended the game on a 33 yard touchdown reception that came on a crossing route where he exploded after the catch. Patenaude and company clearly have high hopes for Kyric and will deploy him in a number of creative ways. He racked up 36 yards after the catch on three targets during the spring game; each of his targets resulted in a successful play, and he had the look of “the guy.”

During his final season for the Wildcats, he had 34 catches and 24 carries, averaging 7.25 touches from scrimmage in only 8 games. Northwestern heavily targeted him and utilized his skillset to get tough yards on catches over the middle and on jet motion plays. Coach Patenaude should aim to exceed that average touch number; GT has not had a player capable of getting tough yards on jet motion plays or racking up YAC like McGowan under this coaching staff. I’d be happy if he approached the 100 total touch mark for the season. Sims needs to have a reliable, consistent target on third and medium type plays, and I expect Kyric McGowan to earn the love of the fanbase as he becomes that guy this fall.