Georgia Tech Football: Newbies to Watch for - AB Qua Searcy

Before I start off on anything, I do have to note something. This is Qua Searcy's second year in a row being a part of this category. Last year, Cade posted a fantastic piece on why we should watch Searcy in 2014 at wide receiver.

Unfortunately, we at FTRS were a bit off on the prediction in 2014, as Searcy was redshirted and didn't see any time on the field. Part of this was because of how solid Tech ended up being at receiver, and another part of it was the coaches couldn't seem to figure out where Searcy would succeed the most for the Jackets.

Searcy came into Atlanta projected as a wide receiver. After a few weeks of the season, the coaching staff moved him over to cornerback to give him a tryout and to potentially burn his redshirt for some depth and playing time at defensive back. The feedback seemed to be positive, but Searcy was held out and kept his redshirt which was definitely the right decision.

Now, Searcy has been moved to A-Back where he has four years of eligibility to make his impact at an extremely important position in the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets' offense that also has very little experience on the depth chart. A-Back could potentially fit Searcy extremely well, because it allows him to do all of the things he does best. He has top line speed which can be utilized on the outside with the pitch. He has very good hands which can be utilized on rollout routes to get him in open space. He has a knack for hitting people which can be utilized in the all-important blocking schemes that A-Backs have to be productive at. While Searcy may not have completely worked out at other positions, A-Back may actually take all of his best skills and roll it into one to create an ideal situation for the redshirt freshman.

I'm not going to go into detail on Searcy's past and background - as none of that has changed since Cade highlighted it just one year ago - but I will say that you can be confident that Searcy will in fact be a newbie to watch in 2015. The position fits him perfectly as I said, and it's also completely wide open after Broderick Snoddy. We all know how often Paul Johnson rotates the A-Backs, so Searcy will undoubtedly see the field plenty of times this season. Once he's on it, he has all of the athleticism and talent in the world to give Georgia Tech the big play threat on the outside that they always need. If Searcy can also learn all of the responsibilities at A-Back quickly and can be depended on to make the blocks, he will be a huge addition at a position that many thought would regress heavily in 2015.