So how many seniors will we have, if we don't count walk-ons and transfers? Or doubled-up COVID seniors?
One?
Helluva recruiting job, that Coach Paul Johnson.
Here's the 2017 signing class, guys who are or would be going into their fifth year at Tech:
1. Kaleb Oliver, a 4 star DB (by rivals). A starter now too.
2. Bruce Jordan Swilling. Another rivals 4 star.
3. Tre Swilling. Starter from day one it seems.
4. Gentry Bonds, a 4 star DB who bailed early in the transition .
5. Tobias Oliver. Umm ... we've got to find a place for him on the field. Period.
6. Pressley Harvin III. He's taking his talents to the NFL.
7. Tariq Carpenter. Only a 2 star by rivals but a starter now for multiple seasons.
8. Jordan Mason. He's pretty good.
9. Adonicas Sanders.
10. Zach Quinney. Multiple year stater
11. Mikey Minihan. Contributor and part-time starter.
12. Charlie Clark. Started one game this year and played a little bit. Opted to exit after the season.
13. Jaquan Henderson. Left just before the 20 season. Wasn't he the guy PJ said in his farewell presser might be the fastest guy on the team (a team that had Cottrell, Tobias and Taquon?)
14. Jerry Howard. Leaving as a grad transfer.
15. Jaytlin Askew. Played in eight games last year as a senior.
And then several who also bolted early — TD Roof was gone before the transition and Dameon Williams left too. Also among the guys who left during the current regime are:
Brenton King
Connor Hansen (who was pretty good during the 18 season. He mauled people)
Cortez Alston
Antwan Owens (who recently decided to leave)
Kelton Dawson
Avery Showell (who left this mid season).
Boe Tufele was on that list but got hurt.
We can do class of 16 too, guys who would be going into a free sixth year
1. Brandon Adams. .... gonna get dusty in here.
Aside from that, he was a force on the interior. I really thought he had a chance to play in the NFL. Alas, we will never know.
2. Parker Braun
3. Kenny Cooper
4. Dedrick Mills
5. Jalen Camp
6. Chris Martin (who opted out prior to last season. He has not opted back in and is currently not on the roster)
That's a good sample right there.
Some of the folks in that class — Jordan Woods, a 4 star DE, Emanuel Bridges, a Tennessee flip, and Jay Jones — left early on.
But yeah, let's pin this on PJ. Ok.