Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 13-14vs Colorado | 19 | 64 | 3.4 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 2 | L 24-45vs Tennessee | 14 | 81 | 5.8 | 1 | 20 | Season-high 81 yds |
| Total | 33 | 145 | 4.6 | 1 | 20 |
#22
Justice Haynes
Justice Haynes has worn three jerseys in four years -- Alabama, Michigan, and now Georgia Tech -- and the move that finally makes sense is the one that brought him home. The nation's former No. 1 running back recruit out of Buford, Georgia is back in his own backyard, a half-hour from campus, after a Michigan tenure that ended in a season-ending injury and a messy exit over money.
5′11″ · 210 lb · Alpharetta, GA · Buford H.S.
CFB Index 47 · #157 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceTransferred Michigan → Georgia Tech for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
145
rushing yards · 2026
1 TD · 4.4 per carry · 7 catches
2 games into 2026 so far -- Backed by 16 car · 159 yds · 3 TD -- top 1% rushing TDs game. -- Best game: 81 rush yds, 1 TD, 36 rec yds, vs Tennessee
The play that turned itSwung Michigan from 40% to 76% to win.Michigan at Nebraska · 30-27
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Justice Haynes has worn three jerseys in four years -- Alabama, Michigan, and now Georgia Tech -- and the move that finally makes sense is the one that brought him home. The nation's former No. 1 running back recruit out of Buford, Georgia is back in his own backyard, a half-hour from campus, after a Michigan tenure that ended in a season-ending injury and a messy exit over money.
- Signed as a 5-star recruit to Alabama in 2023.
- Transferred from Michigan to Georgia Tech in 2026.
Aura™ · Him Watch
Hype = tape
-8aura tax
Fans rank this player in the 92nd percentile of RBs; the tape says
100th pctl our rushing-value metric (wEPA) RBs · 140 qualified, n=134
— the discourse is fair.Aura — fan perception92nd pctl
Production — on-field100th pctl
n=134 mentions · cohort: RBs · 140 qualified · perception = conversation volume, production = our rushing-value metric (wEPA)
Buzz vs Tape
Fans warmer than rivals
His own fans are far more bullish than the rival fanbase.
26.5own fans
-7.3rival fans
Grabbed a ticket off of StubHub on a whim Thursday afternoon and had a great time. I’ve been living in metro Phoenix the past 23 years before moving back to Michigan earlier this year, and hadn’t been to the Big House since Brady was QB1…
Also worth knowing:
In Their Words
311 windows · 2026 fan posts
justice×310.9tech×20.6brent×183.4georgia×17.2key×31.2mendoza×58.5similar×52.9king×32.5
“Unironically so excited to see Justice Haynes in a Brent Key offense.”
reddit/CFB · fan post, verbatim
The story
The Michigan year was a tease. In seven games before the injury, Haynes ran for 857 yards and 10 touchdowns at 7.1 yards a carry -- a per-touch rate that, by our play-by-play, no other Power Four running back in the modern era has matched over a real workload. Then the season ended, and so did his time in Ann Arbor: by reporting, the split came down to NIL money and a desire for a change, and he was in the portal by January.
Georgia Tech is the homecoming. Buford is barely thirty minutes from campus, and Brent Key's program landed him to be the unquestioned featured back -- the centerpiece of a run-first offense that should finally hand him the volume Michigan's committee never did. The Doak Walker buzz is already there; Georgia Tech fans had him tagged a 'Doak Walker RB of the year candidate' before he'd taken a single handoff in white and gold.
The forward question isn't the talent. Our perception-versus-production model has fans rating him in the 98th percentile and his actual production in the 100th -- a rare case where the hype is fully earned, not inflated. It's durability and volume: can a back who has never carried a full healthy season as the clear lead, at his third school, turn elite-per-carry efficiency into the counting stats a Doak Walker actually requires? Get there, and the journeyman label flips to the best back in the country.
SOURCES
His career
He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.
Scouts and fans describe Haynes the same way, and the play-by-play backs every word: an explosive 'one-cut-and-go' runner with 'home-run hitting long-strider speed' and 'knockout-inducing contact balance' in the open field, per Pro Football Network's scouting profile. The data is just as loud -- a 94th-percentile yards-per-carry, a 90th-percentile rushing-touchdown rate (he finishes, not just gets to the second level), and an 92nd-percentile EPA per carry (real value on every touch). The 81st-percentile explosive-run rate and a 75-yard long are the booms fans clip; the 90th-percentile rushing success rate says he's efficient on early downs too, not boom-or-bust. The honest limit is the one evaluators flag and his stat line confirms -- 13 catches for 50 yards in 2025 -- he's a between-the-tackles hammer more than a true three-down back. At a compact 5-foot-10, 210 pounds he runs angry and bigger than the frame, the kind of volume early-down back an offense can build a downhill identity around -- if the body finally holds up.
Written by our staff.
20236 games
- Signed with Alabama5-star out of Buford
202412 games
The role got bigger.
- All-SEC
20257 games
- Entered the portal
- All-Big Tenthird
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★★
CFB
College
3 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-BIG TEN
All-Big Ten mention (2025)
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
1 coach2023–2026
Georgia Tech
Played his entire career under Brent Key.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Georgia Tech
2025Michigan
2026Georgia Tech
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2023Alabama12-2HC: Nick Saban · Run-heavy
2024Alabama9-4HC: Kalen DeBoer · Run-leaning
2025Michigan9-4HC: Biff Poggi · Run-leaning
2026Georgia Tech0-2HC: Brent Key · Balanced, slow tempo
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
Box-score percentiles
High confidenceAscending
Concern: rush yards (0th percentile).
Box-score rates (7)
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 72.5 YDS/g, 4.6 YPC, 0.5 TD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Brent Key
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Georgia Tech | 33 | 145 | 4.4 | 1 | -- |
| 2025 | Michigan | 121 | 857 | 7.1 | 10 | -- |
| 2024 | Alabama | 79 | 448 | 5.7 | 7 | -- |
| 2023 | Alabama | 25 | 168 | 6.7 | 2 | -- |
| Career | 258 | 1,618 | 6.3 | 20 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Georgia Tech | 7 | 40 | 5.7 | 1 | -- |
| 2025 | Michigan | 13 | 50 | 3.8 | 0 | -- |
| 2024 | Alabama | 17 | 99 | 5.8 | 0 | -- |
| 2023 | Alabama | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 37 | 189 | 5.1 | 1 | -- |
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 2 · Tennessee · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.46(03:10) #22 J.Haynes rush middle for 9 yards gain to the UT 43 (#6 Q.Moss), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Tennessee · 2&2 · Q3 · EPA +2.07(07:10) No Huddle #15 A.Mendoza pass complete short left to #22 J.Haynes caught at UT 02, for 2 yards to the UT 00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 07:10. The previous play is under automatic review - "Runner broke the plane". CALL UPHELD #33 A.Birr kick attempt good (H: #47 A.Bacchetta, LS: #50 R.Thomas)
- Week 2 · Tennessee · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.80(04:18) #22 J.Haynes rush middle for 20 yards gain to the GT 45 (#0 A.Campbell; #1 T.Metcalf), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Tennessee · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.71(11:40) No Huddle #15 A.Mendoza pass complete short right to #22 J.Haynes caught at GT 36, for 19 yards to the GT 44 (#13 E.Spillman), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Colorado · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -1.48(14:00) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 J.Haynes rush middle for 3 yards loss to the CU 43 (#7 R.Fontenette)
- Week 1 · Colorado · 3&1 · Q4 · EPA +1.41(04:20) #22 J.Haynes rush left for 11 yards gain to the CU 36 (#35 T.Martinez), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Tennessee · 1&2 · Q4 · EPA +1.21(01:46) No Huddle-Shotgun #22 J.Haynes rush middle for 2 yards gain to the UT 00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 01:39 #33 A.Birr kick attempt good (H: #47 A.Bacchetta, LS: #50 R.Thomas)
- Week 2 · Tennessee · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.04(11:52) No Huddle-Shotgun #15 A.Mendoza pass complete short left to #22 J.Haynes caught at GT 39, for 8 yards to the GT 44 (#1 T.Metcalf; #7 A.Carter). #17 E.Utley injured on the play
- Week 1 · Colorado · 2&2 · Q4 · EPA -1.01(05:02) #22 J.Haynes rush middle for 1 yard gain to the CU 47 (#53 T.Anene)
- Week 1 · Colorado · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +0.96(05:56) Shotgun #22 J.Haynes rush middle for 8 yards gain to the CU 48 (#7 R.Fontenette; #53 T.Anene)
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Scouts and fans describe Haynes the same way, and the play-by-play backs every word: an explosive 'one-cut-and-go' runner with 'home-run hitting long-strider speed' and 'knockout-inducing contact balance' in the open field, per Pro Football Network's scouting profile. The data is just as loud -- a 94th-percentile yards-per-carry, a 90th-percentile rushing-touchdown rate (he finishes, not just gets to the second level), and an 92nd-percentile EPA per carry (real value on every touch). The 81st-percentile explosive-run rate and a 75-yard long are the booms fans clip; the 90th-percentile rushing success rate says he's efficient on early downs too, not boom-or-bust. The honest limit is the one evaluators flag and his stat line confirms -- 13 catches for 50 yards in 2025 -- he's a between-the-tackles hammer more than a true three-down back. At a compact 5-foot-10, 210 pounds he runs angry and bigger than the frame, the kind of volume early-down back an offense can build a downhill identity around -- if the body finally holds up.
Our classifier reads him the same way: hits the crease and outruns the angle.
DNA match
Player DNA
Speed Merchant
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jordan James’s 2023 season.
61%match
NFL Rd 5
Matches Jordan on
Weight
Receiving share
Differs from Jordan on
Yards / reception (lower)
Recruiting rating (higher)
Class year (higher)
Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to King Miller’s path through USC.
92%match
Matches King on
Weight
Yards per carry
Height
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jeremiyah Love's junior season at Notre Dame (2025).
63%match
Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 3
Matches Jeremiyah on
Weight
Receiving share
Height
Differs from Jeremiyah on
Yards / reception (lower)
EPA / carry (adj) (higher)
Player DNA
Players who play like Justice Haynes
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #198
Peaked at #198 this season.
The backfield · Georgia Tech
- #22Justice Haynes857 rushing yards · 2025
- Malachi Hosley697 rushing yards · 2025
- #20J.P. Powell72 rushing yards · 2025
- #1Trelain Maddox38 rushing yards · 2025
- #24Shane Marshall10 rushing yards · 2025
2 more on the roster · Georgia Tech team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology