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Juanyeh declares for the draft and Jamious enters the portal

Monday was a busy day for Georgia Tech football players leaving the program in completely different ways. Safety Juanyeh Thomas with his Georgia Tech degree in hand declared for the NFL Draft forgoing an extra year of eligibility thanks to covid while sophomore running back Jamious Griffin opted to leave via the transfer portal after a tough 2021 season that saw him redshirting after an early-season injury.

Thomas played in all 47 games Tech played during his four seasons on the Flats beginning his career as a return specialist and backup safety before taking over at one of the safety spots in 2019 and playing the most snaps of any defensive back during Geoff Collins first three seasons. He recorded four career interceptions including a full-field pick-six against Louisville as a true freshman and a game-winning interception at Duke this past year. He also had a pick-two on a two-point conversion this season at Miami. In his final season, he racked up a career-high 81 tackles, two forced fumbles, and his first career sack.

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Griffin had a harder road at Tech joining a deep running back room that Collins famously said had 13 running backs in it led by veterans Jerry Howard and Jordan Mason. He found a role that year as the third-down back showing off his pass-blocking prowess. The addition of Jahmyr Gibbs in 2020 and the emergence of Dontae Smith both ate away at Griffin's playing time along with a leg injury.

In his final season, he was the fourth tailback behind Gibbs, Mason and Smith and he suffered an injury against Kennesaw State in his first action of the season. He ended up playing in just four games in 2021 with only two carries in the season finale after the KSU game.

Griffin ended his career at Tech with 377 yards on 91 carries with two touchdowns.

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