Smelter knocking off football rust

DeAndre Smelter has a long way to go. But Smelter, who will join the Georgia Tech football team as a wide receiver after playing three years with the baseball team, likes the progress he’s made.

“I feel I’ve definitely held my own (in seven-on-seven passing drills),” Smelter said Monday.

Smelter has been going through strength and conditioning workouts with the team as well as participating in weekly seven-on-seven workouts. His addition could prove critical, as receiver is a position where departures and injuries have severely thinned out depth.

From Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, Smelter was offered scholarships for football by Tech, Auburn, South Carolina and Georgia, among others. Smelter, who will begin his fourth academic year at Tech, last played organized football in the fall of 2009.

“It’s been a few years, but I feel like it’s coming back,” said Smelter, who mostly pitched for the Yellow Jackets baseball team. “It’s definitely helped I haven’t been, like, not competing or not doing anything for years.”

With help from quarterbacks Vad Lee and Justin Thomas and wide receiver Darren Waller, Smelter has been learning the Tech offense. He has also focused on change-of-direction drills, as three seasons of baseball have not required him to do much of that.

“It’s definitely going to be a learning curve,” said Smelter, 6 foot 3 and 223 pounds. “I definitely don’t want, after every play call, to be like, ‘Hey, Vad or Justin, what do I run here? Do I run this or that?’”

Smelter has two years of eligibility remaining for football and one for baseball. In the spring, when he decided to try football, he and coach Paul Johnson agreed that he’ll go on scholarship for football for one year and re-evaluate after that.

“It’s really pretty awesome because a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to even play a (Division I) sport,” Smelter said. “And for me being out of the game and still having the opportunity, it’s great.”

Football honors: Defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu and cornerback Jemea Thomas were named to the 75-player watch list for the Bednarik Award, given to the nation's top defensive player.

Tech was one of 16 schools to have multiple players named to the list. Playing outside linebacker last season, Attaochu finished third in the ACC in sacks with 10. Thomas had a team-high four interceptions last season and was second on the team with 86 total tackles.

On Friday, defensive back Jamal Golden was named to the watch list for the Paul Hornung Award, given to the most versatile player in college football. Last year, Golden was the only player in the country to rank in the top 10 in both punt return and kickoff return average.