What did Georgia Tech gain on early signing day? Breaking down the 2020 recruits

Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins may have just shattered the myth that the school can no longer expect to recruit the top prospects needed to return the program to national prominence.

On the first day of early signing period, the Yellow Jackets added 22 players, 21 incoming freshmen and one graduate transfer. The current class is ranked No. 20 in the nation by Rivals and is the second-highest ranked class of recruits since 2007, which came in at No. 18.

“We’re in this room where I sat a year ago and talked about the vision that is Georgia Tech football,” Collins said. “I talked about being able to recruit at an elite level and there’s been a lot of people over a lot of years that said it can’t be done. I firmly disagree with that.

“The vision of greatness to put us back in the conversation of the elite programs of college football starts with recruiting and making sure we sell that vision.”

The class includes six offensive linemen, four defensive linemen, four wide receivers, three linebackers, two cornerbacks, two quarterbacks and one tight end. Eight of the newcomers are early enrollees who will be able to participate in spring practice and get an early start on learning the system and the culture.

The quarterbacks, who are both early enrollees, are particularly interesting.

Jeff Sims (6-3, 205) from Jacksonville is a four-star player who is ranked as the No. 6 dual-threat quarterback in the country and was recognized as an Elite 11 quarterback. He threw for more than 5,000 yards, ran for 1,200 and accounted for 55 touchdowns in his high school career.

Tucker Gleason (6-3, 215) is a three-star who was ranked as the No. 26 pro-style quarterback in the nation. He threw for more than 3,000 yards and 33 touchdowns over the last two seasons.

“The thing that makes Jeff and Tucker so special is they’re great leaders,” Collins said. “Those two young men are such high-character kid because of what great upbringings they’ve had.”

The duo is expected to compete for the starting job with incumbent James Graham and redshirt freshman Jordan Yates.

Collins’ influence on the offensive line, to recruit larger bodies, is obvious. Collins said the current offensive linemen on the team average 6-foot-1 ½ and 267 pounds. The newcomers average 6-5 and 297 pounds.

Three of the new faces top 300 pounds: Paula Vaipulu (6-3, 305) from Channelview, Texas, Jordan Williams (6-6, 310) from Gainesville and grad transfer Ryan Johnson (6-6, 310) from Brentwood, Tenn. Johnson played in 36 games over three seasons at Tennessee, where he played five different positions. He will likely start at guard for the Yellow Jackets.

“It’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” Collins said.

There were four additional four-star recruits in the class: cornerback Miles Brooks from Jacksonville, wide receiver Bruce Gowdy from Deerfield Beach, Fla., defensive end Jared Ivey from Suwanee and wide receiver Nate McCollum from McDonough.

Ivey and Emmanuel Johnson, a 6-5 defensive lineman from North Charleston, S.C., were the last two additions to the class.

Ivey helped North Gwinnett reach the Class AAAAAAA semifinals. He had 80 tackles, 20 sacks and 15 hurries his senior season and was ranked as the No. 15 weakside defensive end in the nation.

Johnson is the son of former University of Georgia basketball great and three-time Olympian Katrina McClain. He was the defensive MVP of the recent South Carolina North-South All-Star game after posting eight tackles and 3.5 sacks.