Blackburn, Yondjouen on Watch List for Comeback Player of the Year

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech junior wide receiver Leo Blackburn (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake H.S.) and senior defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen (Ruisbroek, Belgium/Don Bosco School) are among 90 student-athletes on the official preseason watch list for the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year award.

Blackburn missed the entire 2023 season after sustaining his third major injury in three years during spring practice. Due to two season-ending knee injuries (2021 and 2023) and a wrist injury that cost him the first five games of the 2022 campaign, Blackburn has played in just seven games in his collegiate career. However, when healthy, the 6-5, 220-pounder has flashed the potential to be one of the nation’s top receivers, including catching three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown in his collegiate debut versus Duke in 2022 and two receptions for 32 yards against No. 1 Georgia in the ’22 finale.

Yondjouen sustained a season-ending knee injury early in Georgia Tech’s season opener versus Louisville on Sept. 1 of last season. A top-level pro football prospect, he was coming off his most productive collegiate season in 2022, when he amassed 2.5 sacks and five tackles for loss while backing up eventual second-round NFL Draft pick Keion White. For his career, Yondjouen has totaled 52 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Blackburn and Yondjouen are the sixth and seventh Yellow Jackets to land on watch lists for national awards this preseason. They are joined by QB Haynes King and RB Jamal Haynes, who are both on the Maxwell Award watch list (national player of the year), Haynes on the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Doak Walker Award (running back) and Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) watch lists, OL Weston Franklin on the Outland Trophy watch list (interior lineman), PK Aidan Birr on the Lou Groza Award watch list (place kicker) and DB Clayton Powell-Lee as an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee and on the Wuerffel Trophy watch list (community service).

Since 2018, the Comeback Player of the Year has recognized college football student-athletes for overcoming injury, illness or other circumstances. Three student-athletes will be honored as Comeback Player of the Year award winners at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. on Dec. 31.

Georgia Tech opens the 2024 season on August 24 versus Florida State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Kickoff is set for noon ET and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

2024 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS

Season Tickets

2024 Georgia Tech football season tickets are on sale now and include the best seats for the Yellow Jackets’ six-game home slate, which features Atlantic Coast Conference showdowns against Duke, NC State and Miami (Fla.) at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field and Tech’s highly anticipated matchup with Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Season ticket packages begin at just $225. Click HERE to become a season ticket member today.

Three-Game Mini-Plans

Three-game mini-ticket plans to catch the exciting action of Georgia Tech football in 2024 are on sale now. Mini-plans include a ticket to the Yellow Jackets’ highly anticipated showdown versus Notre Dame on Oct. 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Sept. 14 Military Appreciation Day home game versus VMI and the choice of either the Oct. 5 ACC matchup versus Duke or the Nov. 21 primetime ACC battle against NC State. Click HERE to purchase a three-game mini-plan.

Single-Game Tickets

Single-game tickets for Georgia Tech’s five home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in 2024 – Aug. 31 vs. Georgia State, Sept. 14 vs. VMI, Oct. 5 vs. Duke, Nov. 9 vs. Miami (Fla.) and Nov. 21 vs. NC State – and a limited number of single-game tickets for the Notre Dame game on Oct. 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking HERE.

Georgia Tech finished 7-6 overall and 5-3 in ACC play in 2023 (good for a tie for fourth place in the 14-team ACC), and claimed its first bowl win in seven seasons with a 30-17 victory over UCF in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Yellow Jackets return 17 starters, including all-ACC honorees DL Zeek Biggers, OL Joe Fusile, RB Jamal Haynes, QB Haynes King, WR Eric Singleton, Jr. and OL Jordan Williams.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and 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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