Georgia Tech fans can expect to see plenty of B-back Dedrick Mills this season. He impressed in the spring as an early-enrollee freshman and the Ware County High graduate has kept it up in preseason practice. He was a player to watch in the team’s Saturday morning scrimmage, the first of camp.
“He did really well,” coach Paul Johnson said. “He had a good day.”
Asked what he did in the closed session – long runs or short, pile-moving carries – Johnson replied, “Some of all of it.”
Mills has taken advantage of an undisclosed injury to Marcus Marshall, the returning starter at B-back. Johnson said it was not serious. Mills has worked with the first-string offense with Marshall out. Mills plays with a physical and determined style and has impressive strength for a freshman.
“Hard to tackle, he’s a good player and he understands football,” Johnson said.
Mills’ early enrollment in January has given him an advantage in learning the Tech offense in spring practice. He was one of the standouts in the spring game and emerged from the spring second on the depth chart behind Marshall, the team’s leading rusher last year as a freshman with 654 rushing yards.
Mills’ ability to read the game has clearly impressed coaches. Earlier in the week, quarterbacks and B-backs coach Bryan Cook said that “Dedrick’s a really physical kid that’s just got a knack for football.”
Johnson also spoke well of redshirt freshman B-back KirVonte Benson, who sat out last year recovering from an ACL tear suffered as a senior at Marietta High. Johnson said that Mills and Benson stood out more than the rest of the B-back group, which includes Marcus Allen and Quaide Weimerskirch.
The two figure to push Marshall hard upon his return. Before last year, freshmen made scarce impact on the B-back position. Marshall did a year ago and now Mills is in position to do so again.
“Mills is a good player,” Johnson said. “He’s going to play a lot.”
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