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Recruiting: 4-Star DB Kaleb Oliver is Commitment #23 for Georgia Tech

The addition of Oliver makes this unquestionably the highest-rated group of defensive backs that Paul Johnson’s staff has ever recruited at Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech Flag Bobby Dodd Stadium Danny Karnik/Georgia Tech Athletics

With National Signing Day coming up this week, Georgia Tech’s coaching staff has officially pulled off one of its strongest closes ever. Today, they scored a commitment from 4-star DB Kaleb Oliver.

Oliver originally committed to Mississippi State in June 2016, but decommitted in January after the Bulldogs made a change at defensive coordinator. In the final two weekends before Signing Day, Oliver visited Ole Miss last weekend before visiting Georgia Tech on the final weekend.

Oliver stands at 6’3”, weighs in around 200 pounds, and hails from Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, TN. He joins Gentry Bonds and Jordan Ponchez-Mason as the third 2017 commitment to the Yellow Jackets from Tennessee, and joins Bonds as the second from Murfreesboro. Oliver commits to Georgia Tech over offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Louisville, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and more. Oliver becomes the fourth prospect with a 4-star rating from Rivals to join Georgia Tech’s 2017 recruiting class — the second-most for Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson (there were five in the 2010 recruiting class), and the third 4-star prospect in this class in the defensive backfield alone.

Oliver’s senior highlights look awfully familiar, resembling those of fellow DB commit Avery Showell. As a safety, Oliver is regularly lined up in the box and asked to rush the quarterback or disrupt plays in the backfield. He shows excellent acceleration and speed that make him nearly impossible for opposing offenses to properly account for, and which are on full display for a couple of blocked kicks shown. His physicality is also a nice compliment that should play well at the next level against opposing backs and tight ends. The only real concern, as far as I can tell, is that Oliver’s highlights don’t include a ton of him in coverage. As a safety, his responsibilities will include a lot of coverage, although those responsibilities could be reduced if he’s used in more of a nickel- or strong safety-type role where he’ll focus a little more on supporting the run. That said, even in that role, he could still be involved in a lot of man coverage against backs and tight ends.

Oliver is rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals (5.8) and a three-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite (0.8670).

Congratulations to Oliver, his family, and the Georgia Tech coaching staff!

With the commitment of Oliver, the Yellow Jackets’ 2017 recruiting class now looks like this:

Georgia Tech’s 2017 Recruiting Class

Pos Name Ht Wt Hometown Rivals 247Sports Comp Status
Pos Name Ht Wt Hometown Rivals 247Sports Comp Status
DB Gentry Bonds 6-1 190 Murfreesboro, TN 4-star (5.8) 3-star (0.8545) Enrolled (1/9/2017)
DB Jaytlin Askew 5-9 170 Powder Springs, GA 3-star (5.7) 3-star (0.8646) Enrolled (1/9/2017)
P Pressley Harvin III 6-0 230 Sumter, SC 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8145) Signed (2/1/2017)
OL Connor Hansen 6-2 320 Tallahassee, FL 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8238) Signed (2/1/2017)
LB TD Roof 5-11 202 Buford, GA 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8346) Signed (2/1/2017)
DB Dameon Williams 5-10 170 Norcross, GA 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8472) Signed (2/1/2017)
OL Zach Quinney 6-6 260 Savannah, GA 3-star (5.6) 3-star (0.8396) Signed (2/1/2017)
OL Michael Minihan 6-3 285 Honolulu, HI 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8403) Signed (2/1/2017)
DB Tre' Swilling 6-0 180 New Orleans, LA 4-star (5.8) 3-star (0.8752) Signed (2/1/2017)
LB Bruce Jordan-Swilling 6-0 215 New Orleans, LA 4-star (5.8) 4-star (0.9150) Signed (2/1/2017)
RB Jerry Howard, Jr. 6-0 210 Rock Hill, SC 3-star (5.6) 3-star (0.8147) Signed (2/1/2017)
QB Tobias Oliver 6-2 180 Warner Robins, GA 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8312) Signed (2/1/2017)
DL Cortez Alston 6-3 250 Atlanta, GA 3-star (5.6) 3-star (0.8534) Signed (2/1/2017)
OL Charlie Clark 6-4 270 Atlanta, GA 2-star (5.3) 3-star (0.8072) Signed (2/1/2017)
RB Jordan Ponchez-Mason 6-1 205 Gallatin, TN 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8158) Signed (2/1/2017)
DE Kelton Dawson 6-2 240 Stockbridge, GA 3-star (5.5) 3-star (0.8359) Signed (2/1/2017)
DB Avery Showell 6-2 200 Cartersville, GA 3-star (5.6) 3-star (0.8320) Signed (2/1/2017)
LB Jaquan Henderson 6-1 210 Covington, GA 3-star (5.7) 3-star (0.8813) Signed (2/1/2017)
DL Antwan Owens 6-4 286 Tallahassee, FL 3-star (5.6) 3-star (0.8192) Signed (2/1/2017)
K Brenton King 6-0 165 Hoschton, GA 2-star (5.4) NR Signed (2/1/2017)
DB Tariq Carpenter 6-2 191 Ludowici, GA 2-star (5.4) 3-star (0.8182) Signed (2/1/2017)
DT Boe Tufele 6-3 290 Harbor City, CA 2-star (5.3) 3-star (0.8207) Signed (2/1/2017)
DB Kaleb Oliver 6-3 200 Murfreesboro, TN 4-star (5.8) 3-star (0.8670) Signed (2/1/2017)
WR Adonicas Sanders 6-1 190 North Charleston, SC 2-star (5.2) NR Signed (2/1/2017)