Georgia State released its first depth chart of the season Tuesday, and while it contains more “or” than a copper mine, it gives a sneak preview of what to expect when the Panthers take that 15-minute bus ride – depending on traffic – to Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium for Saturday’s season opener.
There are 16 positions on the depth chart that have an “or” beside either the name of the starter or the primary backup. Some of that may be subterfuge, but it also indicates how competitive the competition has become at those spots for a roster that has almost 50 new faces.
“We acquired guys, we missed on some and got some that we didn’t expect,” coach Dell McGee said. “Now we’re just getting all these new players on the same page with the guys that were here before, and for the most part, the kids have been wonderful.”
The biggest “or” is at quarterback, where Pitt transfer Christian Veilleux and Tech transfer Zach Gibson wear that undetermined tag. Both have starting experience and produced wins at their previous schools,.
Kyle Lowe, a Middle Tennessee transfer, is listed third. But McGee isn’t tipping his hand about the decision on how the situation will be handled.
“There’s always potential for a rotation,” McGee said. “It could be four guys, it could be one guy. Not sure yet.”
The most notable new face among the skill position players is running back Michael Dukes, a graduate transfer who spent the past two seasons at South Florida after three years at Clemson. He got the nod ahead of Sy’veon Wilkerson, a transfer from Colorado, and holdover Freddie Brock, who set the school’s single-game rushing record at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in December.
Holdover Ja’Cyias Credle (53 career receptions in three seasons) and Petey Tucker, a transfer from Lackawanna College, earned starting designations at wide receiver.
The starters on the offensive line will be Ben Chukwuma at left tackle, Lamar Robinson at left guard, Alec Johnson at center, Joshua Black at right guard and Trevor Timmons at right tackle. Black is a veteran who transferred from Louisville, but the others are returnees who played in the bowl game.
There is less finality on defense where 10 positions have the “or” designation beside the starter’s designation. The exception is inside linebacker Justin Abraham, the team’s second-leading tackler last season.
Outside linebacker Kevin Swint has the “or” designation, but is expected to be one of the team’s top players, as are all-conference cornerback Gavin Pringle, nose guard Henry Bryant, and safety Kenyatta Watson II, who transferred from Tech.
Newcomers expected to play key roles are defensive end Dorian Royal (transfer from Maine, where he played with Brock), inside linebacker Tavian Brown (Colorado State) and nickel Jyron Gilmore (Tennessee Tech).
This week’s game against Georgia Tech – part of a two-game contract that has Tech coming to GSU in 2026 – is the first for the Panthers against one of the state’s two power-conference teams. GSU is 10-4 against other Georgia schools.
The Panthers have played in such venues as Auburn, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and LSU over the past few years, but the proximity and familiarity makes this seem different. That’s one reason McGee piped crowd noise into Tuesday’s practice.
“I mean, it’s just a game at the end of the day,” said Swint, who played against Tech during his two seasons at Clemson. “You’ve got to block out all the crowd noise, just like you do anything in life, and be focused on the main thing.”
McGee has been familiar with Tech since he grew up in Columbus. The Yellow Jackets recruited him out of Kendrick High School, and McGee almost went to Tech.
“Probably one of my best visits,” he said with a chuckle. “I can’t say why, but it was definitely one of my best visits coming to Atlanta.”
McGee ended up signing with Auburn and playing professionally for seven years before becoming a coach. He spent the past eight seasons on the staff at the University of Georgia before taking the GSU job in February.
The game will be telecast on ACC Network. It can be heard locally on WRAS-FM (88.5) and WGTJ-FM (97.5). Dave Cohen begins his 42nd season as the school’s play-by-play man.
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