Georgia Tech Football: Meet the Newcomers - Quarterback

As we begin to approach Spring Practice, we are going to be taking a brief look at the position groups that will be welcoming new players. Today, we get started by looking at the quarterback room.

With the departures of Jordan Yates and Chayden Peery, the Yellow Jackets’ quarterback room became a little barren. For what it’s worth, Temple transfer Trad Beatty is no longer listed on the roster either. In their place, the Yellow Jackets added Zach Pyron in the recruiting class and Zach Gibson who transferred from Akron.

Zach Pyron

Pyron committed to the Yellow Jackets back in October after decommitting from Baylor. He was ranked as a four-star recruit by Rivals (5.8) and 247 Sports (90), but the 247 Sports Composite has him as a three-star (0.8875). He stands at 6-3, 215 pounds and comes to Tech from Pinson Valley High School in Pinson, Alabama.

Unfortunately, Pyron never released a full senior film, so I only have his junior film to rely on.

There is a lot to like here. His deep passes are not amazing, but between his short-to-intermediate passing abilities and his ability to handle pressure, I am a big fan of Pyron. Also of note, is that Pyron took part in the Elite 11 competition and finished ranked ninth, giving Tech two Elite 11 finishers in its QB room.

Zach Gibson

Gibons comes to Georgia Tech from Akron, joining his brother Tyler, an offensive line recruit from the 2022 class. While at Akron, Gibson really showed out this season. In seven games, Gibson completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 1,262 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Looking at the advanced stats from Robert’s article about Gibson’s commitment, there is a lot to like there as well:

2021 Advanced Stat QB Ranks (Courtesy of ESPN Stats and Info)

- Completion Percentage over Expectation (CPOE): 2nd

- Completed Air Yards Over Expectation (CAYOE): 6th

- Expected Points Added (EPA) per play: 9th

Additionally, if we include QBs with all snap counts, Gibson finished 2021 with the 8th highest QB grade on PFF (compared to 173rd and 132nd for Yates and Sims, respectively).

Robert also did a pretty in-depth film review that I would encourage you to check out in the article linked above, but here are the cliff notes:

• Gibson exceeds in ball placement, though is arm strength is not the best.
• He had a tendency to rely on his best receiver, Konata Mumpfield (who recently transferred to Pitt).
• He has solid footwork and is able to navigate pressure in the pocket.

How do they fit in?

If for no other reason than depth, I think there is a decent chance that Pyron will not be redshirting this season. I think Tech will try its hardest to do so, but with only three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, it may not happen. It’s also entirely possible that Pyron comes in and impresses immediately and gets playing time right away.

More likely to happen, at least in my opinion, is that Tech will try to rely on whoever wins the camp battle between Sims and Gibson this Spring/Fall. Given that they both have starting experience at the FBS level (and Sims is the incumbent starter), they already have a leg up. I think at the moment, it is Sims’ job to lose, but I would not be surprised in the least to see Gibson be the starter this season.

How do you see the new QBs factoring this season?