Georgia Tech is deep and talented at wide receiver
It has been a long time since Georgia Tech has had this many quality wide receivers to work with. Maybe the program has never had a bevy of talent and depth this large at the position?
The competition to see who emerges from that group, cementing their place among the two-deep, has been an ongoing battle this preseason.
“We feel really good about our depth. We feel like there’s not a drop off and obviously going into the year, we’d love to play multiple guys and that’s something we’ve made clear,” Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said. “But it’s like I tell them, that’s up to them to get on the field, right? We’re going to play the best players, the guys that can help impact the game, learn the offense and do the things that it takes to win.”
One question that is not unanswered among Tech’s wide receivers is who the leader of the unit is: Malik Rutherford.
Rutherford has nearly 1,500 receiving yards (14th in Tech history) over 41 games as a Yellow Jacket and 1,204 of those yards have come over the past two seasons. His 136 career receptions is sixth in program history and 59 shy of Kelly Campbell’s record of 195.
Among his position mates, Rutherford is the lone senior who has spent his entire career in white and gold.
“Do it by example, that’s what we keep preaching to him, lead by example. Show these younger guys, show the newcomers, what the standard is here,” Tech wide receivers coach Trent McKnight said. “That’s the challenge for him. (We) met back in the spring and I said, ‘Hey, this is how you can take your game to the next level.’ Each and every day there’s a hunger to improve in those areas. We all know he’s elite with the ball in his hands, probably one of the best in the country, but continuing to develop to be a complete receiver.”
To give Rutherford some help, after Tech lost receiver Eric Singleton Jr. to Auburn in the offseason, Tech added Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson from Florida International, Debron Gatling from South Carolina, Rahkeem Smith from Bowling Green and Evan Haynes from North Carolina.
Rivers and Patterson, both redshirt-seniors, are expected to be a big part of Tech’s offensive plans. Patterson caught 50 balls for 685 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 while Rivers had 62 receptions for 1,172 yards and 12 scores.
Rivers finished fifth nationally in touchdown receptions and receiving yards per game, 11th in receiving yards and 16th in yards per reception. Earlier this month he was named a preseason All-American by The Sporting News.
“Just means I haven’t done anything yet. I still got stuff to prove,” said Rivers, a former walk-on defensive back at Memphis before transferring to FIU as a walk-on receiver. “The accolades in the preseason mean you haven’t done it yet. So that’s all that means to me.”
Said Tech coach Brent Key: “(Rivers) can play all across the board. You can move him around, put him in stacks, put him in different ways to clean, help his releases. He’s a smart, smart football player. He’s got a lot of experience under his belt.”
Tech also has plenty of playmakers at the position who are on the younger side of the spectrum. That’s a group that includes sophomores Bailey Stockton, Zion Taylor and Isiah Canion.
Canion (6-4, 215) has impressed in the spring, summer and preseason. Now he is expected to become more of a go-to pass catcher in Tech’s offense.
“I’ve always been a big fan of (Canion) and I’ve said that and thought he can be an elite player and he’s getting better each and every day,” McKnight said. “We knew it was gonna take some development with him.
“What we’re being on him about is being dominant every play every day. That’s what he continues to improve. The mental part of it where he’s focused on each and every rep of being an elite player. He’s fun to coach, excited to have him here and excited to see what he does because each and every day he’s got a chance to improve. His ceiling’s very high and we’re just scratching the surface. So can’t wait to see the receiver he turns into.”
On the recruiting trail, Tech signed Cal Faulkner (6-2, 195) from Lumpkin County, Jordan Allen (5-9, 180) from Buford and Jamauri Brice (5-10, 190) from Cartersville. That has given Tech 14 players listed at wide receiver on the preseason roster.
Tech cornerbacks coach Kobie Jones said all 14 make the team’s defensive backs even better because of their wide-ranging abilities.
“They keep us on our game. Those guys are really good,” Jones said. “I mean, some days I come in and I watch practice, I’m like, ‘We got some work to do. Like, we gotta get better.’ And every day at practice I go and talk to the receivers, ‘Hey, keep working. It’s only making us better.’
“And like I said, it’s a team sport. When we line up on the 29th (of August), it’s going to be Yellow Jackets all on one sideline. So as long as we’re getting each other better and competing, it’s going to be better overall effect for the team. So they’re doing a tremendous job. Trent’s obviously doing a great job coaching those guys up, and they’re giving us great competition every day. So we know we’ve got to come with it every day. We can’t take a day off.”
Should any of Tech’s receivers truly break out in 2025, they could become the first Tech wideout to have a 1,000-yard season since Demaryius Thomas totaled 1,154 in 2009.
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