One of the best transfer portal additions Georgia Tech made this offseason was tight end Jackson Hawes. Hawes came to the Flats from Yale and immediately found his role for the Yellow Jackets. He became a force blocking in the run game and catching tough passes over the middle. With the season he had, Hawes significantly increased his draft stock and earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl. With three months to go until the 2025 NFL Draft, Hawes is steadily climbing up draft boards and Mel Kiper’s most recent draft rankings have Hawes ranked as the No. 8 tight end in the draft. He finished behind Penn State’s Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland (Michigan), Mason Taylor (LSU), Terrance Ferguson (Oregon), Gunnar Helm (Texas), Oscar Delp (Georgia) and Mitchell Evans (Notre Dame).

The Senior Bowl is widely considered college football’s preeminent all-star game and the showcase of the National Football League Draft. Hawes is expected to be the 58th Georgia Tech player to participate in the Senior Bowl and the third in the last four seasons. He joins DL Keion White, who would later be selected in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots and DB Tariq Carpenter, who was selected in the seventh round by the Green Bay Packers in 2022. Hawes is the first Tech tight end to receive an invitation to the Senior Bowl since Billy Martin in 1964.

This season for the Yellow Jackets, Hawes set a career high with 16 catches for 195 yards.

Prior to arriving at the Flats, Hawes caught 35 passes for 371 yards in four seasons at Yale (2019, 2021-23). He was a second-team All-Ivy League selection in 2022.

With Hawes leaving along with Ryland Goede and Avery Boyd, Georgia Tech had to enter the transfer portal again to find some replacements at tight end, and they received commitments from Wake Forest transfer Harry Lodge and Cal transfer JT Byrne.

Lodge was a Class of 2022 recruit and played for the Demon Deacons for two seasons. This season, Lodge caught 12 passes for 110 yards. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall offensive grade of 48.8 in 400 snaps, including a 46.4 grade in run blocking. The 6-foot, 240-pound tight end from Cambridge, MA will provide depth to the Yellow Jackets along with Byrne, Luke Harpring, Brett Seither, David Prince, Josh Beetham and others.

Byrne could be a perfect fit at Georgia Tech as a blocking tight end.

According to 247Sports, the 6-foot-2 tight end was ranked as a three-star transfer candidate, the No. 636 player in the transfer portal and the No. 35 tight end in the portal. Pro Football Focus gave him a 67.5 offensive grade this season, including a 78.5 run-blocking grade. Hawes has been a huge asset in the running game this year and Byrne looks like he can step in and take on that role. Of his 63 offensive snaps, 51 were in run blocking, according to PFF, which shows how he was used at Cal last season.

Here’s a scouting report on Byrne as a high school prospect from 247Sports analyst Greg Biggins:

“We value multi-sport athletes who demonstrate functional athleticism and this is a perfect fit for Byrne. He’s a three-sport athlete who also plays basketball and baseball, but football will be his meal ticket. That multi-sport background doesn’t just help.” But a player staying fluid and avoiding burnout means he’s never taken part in a spring conditioning program, so he’s far from reaching his maximum like so many young ones High school players we see. At 6-6, 230 pounds, he has a prototype tight end frame who can run and uses his athleticism and body control to make contested catches and win jump balls.”

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