Charles Perkins didn’t seek Georgia Tech’s emblem of greatness.
“I was trying to wear my high school number, No. 5,” Perkins said. “But Stephen Hill had it, so coach [Paul] Johnson told me 21’s open, so I took 21.”
That’s how Perkins, a Tech B-back, inherited the jersey number worn in recent years by all-time Tech greats Calvin Johnson and Jonathan Dwyer.
“It’s a number to me, but it has a little tradition at this school, so you’ve got to carry it on,” Perkins said.
Perkins is in the thick of a competition to determine if and when he’ll get the chance to extend the jersey’s legacy. He is one of four B-backs vying to succeed Anthony Allen, who took over for Dwyer. In Johnson’s first three seasons at Tech, Dwyer and Allen ran for 4,106 yards and 33 touchdowns in their time as the B-back.
“This year, [the competition is] more for the starting job,” said rising senior Preston Lyons, the most experienced of the four aspirants. “So even if we don’t want to think about it, it’s definitely an added bonus because we all want to go out there and perform our best and be the starter.”
None of the four — Lyons and Perkins are competing with David Sims and Richard Watson — has overwhelmed Johnson or B-backs coach Brian Bohannon. Tech concludes its third of four weeks of spring practice Saturday with an open practice at Bobby Dodd Stadium at 9 a.m.
“We haven’t got a lot going at that position, not a lot of big runs,” Bohannon said.
Johnson noted that because of the offensive line’s struggles this spring, the B-backs haven’t had much opportunity to showcase their running ability. Lyons has proved the best blocker. Sims, who played quarterback last season, is adjusting to playing out of a stance and staying low. Watson might be the most mentally astute of the four.
“He could probably play quarterback” because of his knowledge of the offense, Lyons said.
Perkins, who came to Tech from Collins Hill High wearing the label of Dwyer’s successor, has exhibited explosiveness and ability “that lead me to think he can do it,” Bohannon said.
Both Sims and Perkins, who played on the scout team last season and like Sims is learning the position this spring, are struggling with pass blocking assignments and techniques. Johnson said that part of the job is crucial.
“I know what I can do when I have the ball in my hands,” said Perkins, who weighs 220 pounds after checking in at 207 last summer. “It’s the whole blocking aspect and all that.”
Said Sims, “We have to learn where to cut, how to cut, how to get yourself into position, having pad level and all that good stuff.”
Bohannon has mostly kept Lyons and Watson with the first string and Sims and Perkins with the second string, though he has given Sims and Perkins snaps with the starting offense. It would appear the competition will carry into the summer and fall.
“There’s always people moving around, somebody who’s biting at your heels if you don’t go out there and perform your best,” Lyons said.
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