THE FLATS – Former Georgia Tech football standouts Charlie Thomas (Thomasville, Ga./Thomasville H.S.), Hassan Hall (Atlanta, Ga./Maynard Jackson H.S.) and E.J. Jenkins (Fredricksburg, Va./Chancellor H.S.) all agreed to terms with National Football League organizations as free agents following the conclusion of this past weekend’s NFL Draft. Thomas and Hall both signed with the Cleveland Browns and Jenkins joined the New York Jets.
Thomas, a second-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker as a senior in 2022, emerged as one of college football’s most versatile and productive defenders at Georgia Tech. He stuffed the stat sheet with 313 tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, seven forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and four interceptions in 56 games as a Yellow Jacket. In addition to his primary role at linebacker, Thomas also lined up in the secondary and even as a defensive lineman during the course of his five seasons on The Flats (2018-22), and his 56 games played rank second in school history.
Thomas put together a historic season in ‘22, racking up 112 tackles, 10.5 TFL, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, which he returned for a total of 114 yards. He is one of only two NCAA Division I FBS players since 2000 with at least 112 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in a regular season (and the first since TCU’s Paul Dawson in 2014).
In his lone season at Georgia Tech, Hall led the Yellow Jackets with 521 rushing yards and 900 all-purpose yards as a senior running back in 2022. His 900 all-purpose yards, which included 165 receiving yards and 214 on kickoff returns, helped lead to honorable-mention all-ACC recognition as an all-purpose back. His top performances came in Tech’s road wins at nationally ranked Pitt (when he ran for 157 yards on 20 carries in the Yellow Jackets’ 26-21 win over the No. 24 Panthers) and North Carolina (when he registered 154 all-purpose yards and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter of the Jackets’ 21-17 triumph over No. 13 UNC). He earned ACC Running Back of the Week honors for his 157-yard effort at Pitt.
Prior to his only campaign at Tech, Hall amassed 3,843 all-purpose yards over 42 games and four seasons at Louisville.
In his only season at Tech, Jenkins caught 17 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns as a redshirt senior in 2022. The 6-foot-7, 243-pound wide receiver led the Yellow Jackets with his 18.6 yards per reception led the Yellow Jackets (min. 3 receptions) and his three touchdown catches were tied for the team lead.
Before coming to Georgia Tech, Jenkins played at both St. Francis (Pa.) from 2017-20, where he was an all-Northeast Conference honoree, and at South Carolina in 2021, where he appeared in 12 games and averaged 14.6 yards per reception.
Thomas, Hall and Jenkins join defensive end Keion White, a second-round selection by the New England Patriots in this past weekend’s NFL Draft, as the newest Yellow Jackets in the NFL.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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