Now that we are a quarter of the way through the season, let's evaluate how the portal class looks for the Yellow Jackets . Have they met, failed, or exceeded expectations?
The best player from the transfer portal this year has been Justice Haynes . Haynes ranks top 20 in rushing yards in college football with 393 yards this season. Haynes also has two multi-TD games this year against Tennessee and Mercer. Haynes has five total touchdowns this season and often makes something out of nothing on the field when the blocking breaks down. He's an elite player who is destined for the NFL.
You can throw Tawfiq Thomas as the best defender on the Yellow Jackets this season. He has been stellar. Thomas has been a great pickup and an instant impact player for Georgia Tech . He has 24 tackles, two sacks, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. Thomas has an impressive 85.7 defensive grade and an elite run-defense grade of 91.3 for the Yellow Jackets in 2026. This was an elite pickup for the program.
Alberto Mendoza has shown some good things but is still very young and prone to more mistakes early in his career. This was evident in the last game with the miscommunication with Dalen Penson that led to an interception. Also, the inexcusable intentional grounding that led to a 4th and 45. There have been mistakes, as there would be with any young quarterback.
Outside of the blunders, though, he has been solid. Mendoza has thrown for 975 yards with a 68.3% completion rate and a 146.0 quarterback rating. If he keeps trending up, this could be a steal for the Yellow Jackets.
Noah Carter has shown some flashes and has one of the best pass rush grades on the team on the team, per Pro Football Focus (PFF), with an 84.2. You can make the argument that he should get more snaps on the field and be more involved for the Yellow Jackets. Taje McCoy also has been a pleasant surprise from Oregon State. He has been a terror in opponents' backfields this season
Jaylen Mbakwe came in as a cornerback for the Yellow Jackets and quickly established himself as CB1. He showed some good play early on before an accident with a team knocked him out of a game. The potential is there. Now we just have to see if he can produce the same when he comes back.
Some surprising players have been Jaiven Plummer , who is getting into a groove and has receiving touchdowns in each of his last two games. He definitely should see the field more than he does. His 37-yard touchdown reception against Mercer ending a before half touchdown scoring streak. You can also throw in Vincent Carroll-Jackson who has been a solid defensive lineman for the Yellow Jackets. He has 13 tackles and a pass deflection. The duo of him and Thomas has been effective this season.
One player who is hard to guage is Jordan Walker. He came in as a permanent team captain and established himself in spring ball and camp as a major contributor. However, because of an injury we haven't seen him too much and the impact he can make.
Some of the disappointments this season has been Gavin Harris, Isaiah Fuhrmann, Chris Corbo , and Spencer Mermans. They haven't had a big impact on the football team this season and were expected to be major contributors.
TE1 for the Yellow Jackets is Kevin Roche Jr. Coming into fall camp, you thought it would be Harris or Corbo, but that hasn't been the case. Fuhrmann, who was electric for Elon at his last stop, only has 2 catches for 29 yards this season. We are talking more about Dalen Penson, Jordan Allen , Plummer, and Roche Jr. as main players.
Markell Samuel has also been disappointing this season. He was supposed to add depth to the team but has been getting starting reps. With the reps, he has produced a 41.0 offensive grade, per PFF. Samuel also has a 5.9 PFF grade in pass blocking this season.
Tim Griffin, Jonas Duclona, and Favour Edwin hasn't seen the field too much this year.
Overall, it's been a decent class for the Yellow Jackets. It hasn't really moved the needle this season for a team that is 1-3. There is still more work that has to be done. A good number of contributors for the team this year have been from the portal, but not everyone.
Players the Yellow Jackets were banking on simply haven't had that impact. Also, the transfer portal class hasn't put this team in a situation where they are one of the contenders in the ACC or one you have to pay attention to.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/georgiatech as Re-grading Georgia Tech's 2026 Transfer Portal Class Four Games Into The Season .
