Football: Georgia Tech Releases Depth Chart for Alcorn State, True Freshman WR to Start

It's the last Friday of the college football offseason, as we're just SIX DAYS AWAY from Georgia Tech football. As we close in on game time, the Yellow Jackets' coaching staff released its depth chart for the season-opener against Alcorn State. It's as follows, with true freshmen listed in bold:

Offense

No huge surprises here, with the biggest one being that true freshman Brad Stewart will start in place of an injured Micheal Summers. It's pretty special when a true freshman gets to start his first college game, so hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

Additional takeaways are the presence of TaQuon Marshall on the two-deep at A-Back (and the subsequent absence of Clinton Lynch, who just a week ago I said might start), as well as Will Bryan in the two-deep at offensive line. Overall, this looks to be a solid group.

Defense

So, this confirms it: Jabari Hunt-Days will start alongside Adam Gotsis, with Pat Gamble playing the SDE role along with Rod Rook-Chungong. This sets up to be a very, very good defensive line. (Note that these roles might be adjusted on a per-game basis depending on personnel match ups.)

Maybe the biggest head-scratchers for me here are Corey Alford listed as a starter at one of the linebacker spots, and the absence of Terrell Lewis, who had a strong 2014 on special teams and should be a contributor this year on defense. Sometimes when talking about a 4-2-5, the nickel role will be listed as a linebacker, but with that role already separated from the linebackers, I'm not sure what to make of it. Maybe the coaches just like getting the internet into a frenzy. (Which, would that really surprise you to find out at this point?)

The other thing that I find noteworthy is the number of individuals listed on the depth chart. There's a total of 31 unique players listed here for 12 spots. In other words, the coaches have added an extra 7 players to the two-deep, and I take that to be a testament to the depth there will be on this defense.

Special Teams

This group is back to the usual suspects this year, with the addition of Qua Searcy as a returner. The only thing I can think of to watch for here is rotation on kick and punt returns. There's been some discussion from coaches about possibly not having Golden return all of them (due to concerns about fatigue after a defensive series), so keep an eye on that in Thursday's game.