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Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos safety Savion Riley (9) against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Updated ACC Football Transfer Class Rankings: Georgia Tech Surges Up After Some Big Pickups

Originally posted on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Apr 25, 2025 10:14 AM ET

The spring transfer portal window for college football closes today and for the most part, rosters around the country will be set for the 2025 season. Players who had already entered the portal can still commit to schools, but the portal will close today.

When it comes to transfer classes, Georgia Tech has one of the better ones in the ACC, rankings sixth in the transfer class rankings according to 247Sports. This is not just for the spring window, but a combination of the two portal windows.

During the spring window, the secondary has been the focus for Georgia Tech, as well as finding an experienced right tackle to round out the offensive line. Penn State cornerback Jon Mitchell, Colorado safety Savion Riley, and Georgia State DB Jyron Gilmore in the last week after adding UAB transfer Kelvin Hill and Eastern Michigan DB Daiquan White earlier in the winter window. Both Hill and White were impact players in the spring and while I don't think there is a star player in the group, there is real depth there now to go along with returning players such as Clayton Powell-Lee, Ahmari Harvey, and incoming freshmen Tae Harris and Dalen Penson. This is a strong group heading into the 2025 season.

Georgia Tech is returning two notable players on the offensive line in guards Keylan Rutledge and Joe Fusile, while Ethan Mackenny and Harrison Moore should be taking over at left tackle and center. The right tackle spot was the big question mark and after the spring, Georgia Tech decided to address that spot.

According to 247Sports, Carney is the 6th best offensive tackle in the portal. The 6'4 310 LBS tackle played two years for the Jaguars and last season, he played 855 snaps according to PFF (Pro Football Focus) and finished with a 59.0 overall grade, including a 64.7 in pass blocking and a 66.6 in run blocking. In 2023, he played 317 snaps and finished with a 50.5 overall grade, including a 38.4 grade in pass blocking and 64.8 grade in run blocking.

Now, the PFF numbers are not going to blow you away, but one way to look at them is a young player that got better with more playing time last season. Carney saw a big increase in his number of snaps played and saw his pass blocking grade jump up significantly.

During spring, offensive line coach Geep Wade talked about the right tackle position and how that was a spot they were focused on:

"Yeah, but (Jameson) Riggs is at right and does some good things. It's consistency is going to be a key for him. Behind him is Jordan Floyd, and then we got Peyton Joseph behind him. So all three of those are freshmen, whether they're redshirt or just here. So they're all young and we tell our guys every day to be honest with you guys like youth is not an excuse You know, we we've got to have game reps out here at practice walk -throughs so every reps invaluable to those guys because they are talented they are they are talented, but we've got to mature at a faster rate because for you know, it's gonna be August. So we've got to have a little bit more maturity out of that group. "

All in all, Georgia Tech currently has 19 commitments from both the winter window and the spring window, with Wake Forest tight end Harry Lodge being the only player who left after the spring. The Yellow Jackets could still add some talent, as they are after other talented players, such as Boise State defensive tackle Braxton Fely, but this is a solid transfer portal haul for Brent Key that helped fill some needs.