Georgia Tech announced this afternoon that it has dismissed leading Yellow Jackets rusher Dedrick Mills from the team for a violation of team rules.
Mills ran for 771 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and was named to the preseason All-ACC team. He missed three games in 2016 due to two other suspensions for violations of unspecified team rules.
Georgia Tech did win all three games that Mills missed last season, but he figured to be a key cog in the crazy system this fall. According to ESPN, the other B-backs on the Yellow Jackets roster “have combined for just 14 career carries, 13 of which came from senior Brady Swilling, who was just awarded a scholarship this week after four years as a walk-on.” Of course, a B-back in the GT system is just one position of about 11 that might run the ball, but still.
As we and others have said on multiple occasions over the summer, the problem with playing Georgia Tech isn’t necessarily the talent but the system, and the loss of one player won’t change that. Still, losing one of your key guys this close to the opener has to be bad news for the Yellow Jackets.