Here is a look at the starters (or co-starters) listed on the Georgia Tech and Duke depth charts and their Rivals' star and point rankings as high school recruits.
We’ll go position by position, starting with the offense first:
Offense
Quarterbacks:
Maalik Murphy (4-star, 5.9)
Haynes King (3-star, 5.7)
Running backs:
Jaquez Moore (5.5, 3-star, was ranked as an athlete)
Jamal Haynes (3-star, 5.6, was ranked as an athlete)
Tight Ends:
Nicky Dalmolin (3-star, 5.5)
Avery Boyd (3-star, 5.6, was ranked as a wide receiver)
Or Jackson Hawes (Unranked, was a defensive end in high school)
Wide receivers:
1. Eli Pancol (3-star, 5.6)
or Javon Harvey (2-star, 5.3, was ranked as an athlete)
2. Sahmir Hagans (2-star, 5.4)
or Que'Sean Brown (3-star, 5.5)
3. Jordan Moore (3-star, 5.5, was ranked as a Dual QB)
Eric Singleton Jr. (2-star, 5.4)
Chase Lane (3-star, 5.6)
Malik Rutherford (3-star, 5.7)
Offensive line:
Left tackle: Bruno Fina (3-star, 5.6)
Left guard: Caleb Krings (unranked)
Center: Matt Craycraft (3-star, 5.5)
Right guard: Justin Pickett (3-star, 5.6)
Right tackle: Brian Parker II (3-star, 5.6)
Left Tackle: Corey Robinson II (3-star, 5.5)
Or Jordan Brown (unranked, no Rivals card)
Left Guard: Joe Fusile (unranked)
Center: Weston Franklin (3-star, 5.7)
Right Guard: Keylan Rutledge (2-star, 5.4)
Right Tackle: Jordan Williams (3-star, 5.7)
Defense
Defensive line
Vyper: Wesley Williams (5.7, 3-star, was ranked as a strongside defensive end)
Nose Tackle: Aaron Hall (3-star, 5.5, was ranked as a weakside defensive end)
Defensive Tackle: Kendy Charles (2-star, 5.3, was ranked as a strongside defensive end)
Defensive End: Vincent Anthony Jr. (4-star, 5.8)
End: Josh Robinson (3-star, 5.7)
or Sylvain Yondjouen (3-star, 5.5)
Nose: Zeek Biggers (2-star, 5.2)
Tackle: Makius Scott (3-star, 5.6)
Rush: Romello Height (3-star, 5.7, was ranked as an outside linebacker)
Or Kevin Harris (4-star, 5.8)
Linebackers:
Mike: Nick Morris Jr. (3-star, 5.6, was ranked as an outside linebacker)
Will: Tre Freeman (3-star, 5.5, was ranked as an outside linebacker)
or Alex Howard (unranked, listed as an outside linebacker)
Star: Cameron Bergeron (3-star, 5.6, was ranked as a cornerback)
or Tre Freeman (3-star, 5.5, was ranked as an outside linebacker)
Kyle Efford (3-star, 5.6)
Trenilyas Tatum (4-star, 5.8)
Defensive backs
CB: Chandler Rivers (3-star, 5.6)
CB: Joshua Pickett (3-star, 5.5)
FS: Terry Moore (3-star, 5.5, was ranked as a running back)
Rover: Jaylen Stinson (3-star, 5.5, was ranked as a CB)
Nickel/Sam: Omar Daniels (3-star, 5.5)
Or Rodney Shelley (2-star, 5.4, was ranked as an athlete)
Strong Safety: Clayton Powell-Lee (3-star, 5.5)
Free Safety: LaMiles Brooks (4-star, 5.9, was ranked as a CB)
Right Cornerback: Ahmari Harvey (4-star, 5.8, was ranked as a safety)
Left Cornerback: Warren Burrell (4-star, 5.8)
Special Teams
Kicker: Todd Pelino (unranked)
Punter: Kade Reynoldson (2-star, 5.4)
Kickoff: Ryan Degyansky (no Rivals card)
Kicker: Aidan Birr (3-star, 5.5)
Punter: David Shanahan (2-star, 5.4)
Analysis: Looks for the first time in an ACC matchup this year that Georgia Tech has the solid "star power" advantage. The higher-rated recruits were definitely in the favor of Florida State in the opening game, somewhat even or maybe a slight advantage for Georgia Tech in the Syracuse game and pretty even or maybe a slight advantage for Louisville in the Louisville game.
The lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball is often an area I look at mainly, and Georgia Tech and Duke are relatively even in those areas as far as starters as high school recruits. Several starters on the OL and DL split between the teams are mostly between the 2 and 3-star range with maybe a 4-star tossed in there.
Skill-wise, each team has some playmakers that were rated around 3-stars with the outlier being Duke QB Maalik Murphy as a four-star top 150 player in his class before he started his career at Texas and then made his way to Durham.
Defensively, Georgia Tech has the higher-rated linebackers and secondary so take that for what it's worth.
In the end as we all know, it doesn't come down to the star rating out of high school but rather what kind of players the teams have now and how they've developed in the years since high school. We'll see how it matchups up once the ball is kicked off on Saturday night under the lights at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
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- OLB