Countdown to Kickoff: No. 37
Zach Laskey
The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.
Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.
With it now 37 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 37 Zach Laskey, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards in his career as “B-Back” in former head coach Paul Johnson’s triple-option offense, including a big senior season that earned him Second-Team All-ACC honors.
Laskey came to Tech in the 2011 recruiting class out of Starr’s Mill High (Ga.) in Fayetteville following a prep career that included rushing for 1,515 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior when the Panthers won a region title and finished as state runner-up in Class AAAA. He was named Class AAAA Player of the Year following that final prep season along with being named All-State, All-Region and All-County.
Laskey got on the field as a true freshman at Tech in 2011, mostly on special teams as he was the primary punt returner for the early part of the season and led the team with 11 punt returns for 94 total yards. He also had eight tackles on other special teams units.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder got his first real chance to play in Tech’s offense as a sophomore in 2012 when he saw action in 14 games with six starts. He led the team in rushing yards per game with 49.8 and total rushing yards with 697 while adding 122 yards receiving to give him 819 all-purpose yards as he scored one rushing touchdown and two receiving touchdowns.
While his yardage total went down as a junior in 2013, Laskey’s touchdown total went up dramatically as he scored seven rushing TDs and one receiving TD to go along with his 485 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving, playing in all 13 games.
Laskey saved his best collegiate season for his last in 2014 during Tech’s run to an 11-3 record, an ACC Coastal title and an Orange Bowl victory over Mississippi State as he capped his time on The Flats with a senior year that included playing in 11 games with seven starts and rushing for 851 yards and nine touchdowns to go with six receptions for 49 yards and a TD. He ran for a career high 140 yards and three touchdowns in the Jackets’ memorable 30-24 overtime win over rival Georgia in Athens that season and was named Second-Team All-ACC by the coaches, the ACSMA and Phil Steele.
After completing his Tech career as one of only 14 players at the time to run for more than 2,000 yards in program history, Laskey received some pre-NFL Draft buzz as a fullback prospect following his performance at Georgia Tech’s Pro Day that included him measuring 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds and running a 4.59 40-yard dash, but he went undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft.
He signed an undrafted free agent contract for three years with the St. Louis Rams that May and spent 2015, 2016 and 2017 with the team, mostly on the practice squad or on injured reserve as he never saw action in a regular-season game.
Honorable Mention
–Sammy Lilly (defensive back from 1983-1987, drafted in the eighth round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, played in 50 total games over five NFL seasons and was a part of six different franchises, including the Giants, Eagles, Chargers, Rams, Buccaneers and Steelers)
