Yellow Jackets Put on a Show on Pro Day

THE FLATS – Fifty-seven coaches, scouts and front-office personnel representing all 32 National Football League teams and two Canadian Football League teams were on hand for Georgia Tech’s 2026 Pro Day on Friday at the John and Mary Brock Indoor Practice Facility and Rose Bowl Field.

Eighteen Yellow Jackets – DL Matthew Alexander, TE Josh Beetham, TE J.T. Byrne, DB Omar Daniels, DB Jy Gilmore, DB Ahmari Harvey, RB Jamal Haynes, QB Haynes King, P Marshall Nichols, WR Dean Patterson, DB Clayton Powell-Lee, WR Eric Rivers, WR Malik Rutherford, OL Keylan Rutledge, TE Brett Seither, DB Rodney Shelley, DL Akelo Stone and DL Jordan van den Berg – auditioned for the 57 pro football reps, which included Atlanta Falcons president of football Matt Ryan and general manager Ian Cunningham.

The majority of Georgia Tech’s participants participated in the bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard dash, three-cone shuttle and 20-yard shuttle, as well as on-field positional drills. Highlights included:

• van den Berg bench-pressing 225 pounds a whopping 35 times (for comparison, only one player at the 2026 NFL Combine had more than bench press reps (37) and just six Combine participants even had 30 reps on the bench press);
• at 310 pounds, van den Berg also clocked an impressive 4.9-second 40-yard dash (only seven defensive tackles at the 2026 Combine had a sub-5.0 40 time), had a 9-foot-11 broad jump and 36-inch vertical jump (which would have ranked first and second among DTs at the ’26 Combine), and posted an other-worldly 4.19-second 20-yard shuttle run, which was nearly half-a-second faster than the best time by a DT at this year’s Combine (4.68), would have been tied for sixth among all of this year’s Combine participants, regardless of position, and is faster than any 20-yard shuttle time by a DT at the Combine since at least 2013;
• 28 bench press reps for Rutledge, which was better than all but six offensive linemen that bench-pressed at the Combine;
• Shelley running the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds (would have been tied for fifth among cornerbacks at this year’s NFL Combine) and a 4.25 20-yard shuttle (would have been fourth among CBs at the Combine), and posting a 37-inch vertical jump;
• Haynes clocking a 4.25 20-yard shuttle, which is faster than any running back posted at this year’s NFL Combine, a 4.51 40-yard dash (would have ranked ninth among RBs at this year’s Combine) and a 36-inch vertical (would have ranked sixth at the Combine).

After posting impressive numbers at the Combine themselves, King and Rivers only participated in on-field positional drills on Friday, while Rutledge only did bench press and positional work.

The 2026 NFL Draft is set for April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.

Georgia Tech’s pro hopefuls led the Yellow Jackets to a historic 2025 season that concluded with a 9-4 overall record (tied for the 10^th-most victories in Tech’s 133-season football history) and No. 24 final national ranking. The Jackets rose to as high as No. 7 in the national rankings in ‘25 and were ranked in the final 14 national polls of the season, which is their longest streak since Tech was ranked in all 16 polls in 1999.

Georgia Tech also went 6-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play in ‘25, which was good for a tie for second place in the 17-team conference. The Yellow Jackets are the only ACC team that has finished in the top four of the conference standings each of the last three seasons.

The Jackets’ 2026 roster features five returning all-ACC performers from last year’s 9-4 squad (PK Aidan Birr, OL Malachi Carney, LB Kyle Efford, RB Malachi Hosley and OL Ethan Mackenny) and 19 highly touted incoming transfers, headlined by RB Justice Haynes and QB Alberto Mendoza.

2026 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS

Georgia Tech 2026 football season tickets are available now. The Yellow Jackets’ highly anticipated 2026 home schedule features all seven home games being played at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, beginning with premium non-conference showdowns versus Colorado (Sept. 3) and Tennessee (Sept. 12), and also including Atlantic Coast Conference battles against defending ACC champion Duke (Oct. 10) and 2025 bowl winners Louisville (Nov. 7) and Wake Forest (Nov. 21).

To become a season ticket member in 2026, click HERE.

To purchase season tickets to be donated to local heroes as part of Georgia Tech’s Military and Heroes Appreciation program, click HERE.

One limited-edition Buzz/Ramblin’ Reck bobblehead will be gifted to each season ticket account.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

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