Darren Waller: From Georgia Tech to NFL Stardom
Darren Waller's journey to the NFL is a compelling story of athletic potential, personal struggles, and ultimate triumph. This article delves into his college career at Georgia Tech, highlighting his strengths, weaknesses, and the path that led him to become a prominent figure in professional football.
Early Years and High School Career
Darren Waller's athletic journey began at North Cobb High School, where he played under coach Shane Queen. A good student with lofty high school GPA, Waller participated in NC’s International Studies Magnet program. Waller earned three varsity letters and served two years as team captain. Playing both wide receiver and defensive back, he demonstrated his versatility on the field. Waller played on regional championship team in 2007. As a senior, he earned first-team all-county and all-region honors, as well as second-team all-state recognition. Waller was invited to play in Cobb Senior Bowl. One memorable moment was a 71-yard TD reception against Hillgrove. He also recorded 19 tackles as junior against Cherokee. Additionally, he played three seasons on the basketball team.
College Career at Georgia Tech
After graduating from North Cobb, Waller accepted an athletic scholarship to play football at the Georgia Institute of Technology. At Georgia Tech, Waller proved his reliability as a receiver, recording his best season in 2014-2015. Though running routes in a triple-option system, where teams focus on racking up running yards in a three-carrier structure rather than passing, Waller tallied 26 receptions for 442 yards and six touchdowns his senior year, garnering attention from NFL scouts.
2011 Season
Waller played in 12 games as top reserve at wide receiver and as blocked kick/punt specialist. Had forced fumble on special teams.
2012 Season
Waller played in all 14 games and started 10 times. Started final six games when Yellow Jackets went 4-2 down stretch. Had two receptions longer than 40 yards. Recorded eight receptions for 162 yards (20.2 yards per reception). Made first two receptions of career vs. Middle Tennessee State (Sept. 29). Caught two passes for 19 yards following Saturday at Clemson (Oct. 6). Broke loose for 68-yard reception in win at North Carolina (Nov. 10). Had two receptions for 59 yards, including one catch for 42 yards, against Florida State in ACC Championship Game (Dec. 1).
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2013 Season
Waller played in 12 games and started four times. Recorded 17 receptions for 367 yards and team-best 21.6 yards per reception. Had three touchdown receptions. Caught two passes for 38 yards and touchdown vs. North Carolina (Sept. 21). Had three receptions for 28 yards vs. Virginia Tech (Sept. 26). Caught two passes for 41 yards at Miami (Oct. 5). Had 46-yard reception vs. Syracuse (Oct. 19). Hauled in 68-yard reception vs. Georgia (Nov. 30). Caught two passes for 79 yards including 72-yard TD reception vs. Ole Miss in Music City Bowl (Dec. 30).
2014 Season
Played in 12 games, making eight starts. Caught 26 passes for 442 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 17.0 yards per catch. Hauled in career-high 114 yards on career-high-tying five receptions with one TD in Tech’s Orange Bowl win over Mississippi State (Dec. 31). Had five receptions for 73 yards and caught 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:47 left in game vs. Florida State in ACC Championship Game (Dec. 6). Caught seven-yard touchdown pass at Georgia (Nov. 29). Hauled in two receptions for 10 yards vs. Clemson (Nov. 15). Had one catch for 16 yards at NC State (Nov. 8). Recorded two catches for 17 yards, including 11-yard touchdown reception vs. Virginia (Nov. 1). Had two receptions for 24 yards at Pitt (Oct. 25). Caught 55-yard touchdown pass at North Carolina (Oct. 18). Hauled in career-high five receptions for 96 yards vs. Duke (Oct. 11). Saw action against Miami (Oct. 4). Saw action at Virginia Tech (Sept. 20). Had two receptions for 30 yards, including four-yard touchdown catch against Georgia Southern (Sept. 13). Graduated from Georgia Tech in December with bachelor’s degree in management.
College Statistics Overview
| Year | Rec | Yards | Avg | Long | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 8 | 162 | 20.3 | 63 | 0 |
| 2013 | 17 | 367 | 21.6 | 72 | 3 |
| 2014 | 26 | 442 | 17 | 55 | 6 |
At first glance, the numbers don’t look very impressive at all. Darren Waller failed to eclipse 1,000 yards over the course of this entire career, with his best year resulting in at a paltry 442 yards. The numbers don’t tell the entire story of Waller’s career, however. He initially struggled to adjust to the college game, and wasn’t a significant part of the offense until 2013. However, he was still the number two receiving target behind Deandre Smelter by a large margin. Much like Synjyn Days, Waller only put up big numbers for part of his final season after in injury opened the door for him to be the go-to guy. Also, like Days, Waller stepped up big. After an injury to Smelter in the regular season finale, Waller lit up the postseason with two huge games.
| Opponent | Rec | Yards | Avg | Long | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State | 5 | 73 | 14.6 | 25 | 1 |
| Mississippi State | 5 | 114 | 22.8 | 41 | 1 |
Waller came up big in both of these games, especially the Orange Bowl. The receptions were limited in both games, but his catches went for big gains. The big play potential is what has the NFL interested, but there is a risk involved. As I stated in the Days scouting report, there is a risk involved in drafting a player who only put up great numbers for a short period of time. With only two big games in his entire career, Waller may be the epitome of this type of gamble.
NFL Combine Performance
Waller was the only Georgia Tech prospect to participate in drills at the combine, and he was able to greatly improve his stock in the process. I’ve always thought of Waller as a “poor man’s Kelvin Benjamin” given the similarities in their strengths and weaknesses coming into the draft. Both had limited production during their careers, had great size, and were considered raw, lacking the necessary route running techniques. In addition, both had questionable effort and concentration. at the college level and were considered high risk. What made Benjamin more highly regarded was his catch radius. He was able to make ridiculous catches far away from his body, something Waller hasn’t shown. Benjamin also had more production during his senior year than Waller.
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| Player | Height | Weight (lb) | Arm (in) | Hand (in) | 40 Yard Dash (s) | Vertical Jump (in) | Broad Jump (in) | 3 cone (s) | Short Shuttle (s) | Long Shuttle (s) | Bench Reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darren Waller | 6'6" | 238 | 33 1/4 | 9 | 4.46 | 37 | 125 | 7.07 | 4.25 | 11.35 | 12 |
| Kelvin Benjamin | 6'5" | 240 | 34 7/8 | 10 1/4 | 4.61 | 32.5 | 119 | 7.33 | 4.39 | 12.08 | 13 |
Tools, tools, tools. Waller’s got more of them than your local Home Depot. These numbers are ridiculous, and far better than Kelvin Benjamin’s numbers from a year ago. He’s taller, faster, and had more burst at the combine. Waller’s long shuttle was one of the best at the Combine. These numbers show he has the athleticism to run the entire route tree and gain separation, even if he has limited experience doing this in games. Waller’s arms aren’t quite as long as Benjamin’s, and his smaller hands will only exacerbate concerns about drops at the next level. However, the numbers overall show tremendous upside that will entice teams to take the a risk in drafting him.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- Sideline Awareness: Waller shows good awareness of both where his feet are and where the sideline is. There are several plays where he shows the presence of mind to get one or both of his feet down on sideline catches, making him an even more reliable target for Justin Thomas. This is a great trait to have for catches in the end zone, where “toe-tapping” is often required in order to catch the ball in close coverage. Waller’s great sideline play against Georgia Southern shows off his ability. It’s simply a great catch. Thomas put the ball where only Waller could get it, and Waller made sure he came down with it.
- Size: At 6’ 6 5/8”, Waller has ridiculous height that will cause severe match up problems no matter where he is placed on the field. Against corners, he uses his size to shield the defender from the ball and uses his height to go up and grab the ball at a higher point than any corner could hope to reach. If the ball is thrown right, it’s almost unfair. This trait is great for the red zone, as it allows for the QB to throw jump balls, trusting that his receiver will come down with the ball or draw pass interference. One of the simplest and best representations of this ability came against Georgia. Waller runs into the end zone, turns around and boxes the corner out with his body, he then climbs the ladder to catch the ball at its high point. The corner can’t do anything but watch Waller score the touchdown.
- Physicality: At almost 240 lbs, Waller is difficult to bring down. Most cornerback prospects hover around 200 lbs, so Waller will be able to use his extra bulk to beat smaller corners for contested catches. This is another trait that is valuable in the red zone, as there isn’t a ton of room to gain separation on a short field. In this play from the Virginia game, Waller goes up for a fade route in a fashion similar to the previous clip, but has to fight for the ball this time. He still comes down with it. The next play came from the ACC championship, and was one of Waller’s best plays in a Georgia Tech uniform. He uses his strength to break away from FSU CB PJ Williams, a highly regarded prospect, and takes it to the house. This isn’t Williams’ best tackle attempt, but the size and physical mismatch are evident in this play.
- Deep Threat: Waller displays surprising speed for his size, clocking in at 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Combine. This combined with his height make him a fantastic deep threat. He doesn’t quite have the speed to really burn NFL corners, but has just enough speed, and his size and physicality will still make him incredibly difficult to defend down field. If he can get any separation whatsoever, he’ll be able to easily high point the ball once it gets to him. Waller’s long touchdown from the Orange Bowl will provide a good demonstration. Waller beats the cornerback deep, and all the defender can do is hold on for dear life. Even though the holding prevented Waller from gaining good separation once the ball arrived, he still went up and caught the ball where the defender had no hope of breaking up the play. The deep ball is another means by which Waller is a “Matchup Nightmare.” If he’s placed outside, he can beat the corner deep in man coverage. If a safety is used to assist in covering Waller, then that takes attention away from the middle of the defense. When Waller is lined up on the inside, linebackerss have no business covering him, and bringing a safety down to do so leaves 1-on-1 opportunities for receivers on the outside. No matter what you do, you can’t win.
Weaknesses
- Motor: When watching film, Waller noticeably takes some plays off. Most of these occur when he is not the primary target or is not blocking on the play side, but the lack of 100 percent effort will not sit well with teams. His lack of effort could telegraph the play to opponents if they recognize a pattern. In addition, not blocking on the backside could allow his man to make a play in pursuit. Waller will probably get grilled about this in interviews with teams, and will need to show teams that he intends to up his effort level as a professional.
- Run Blocking: At Waller’s size, one would expect this to be a strength, but he is a surprisingly poor run blocker. Waller’s blocking technique involves using his body to shield the defender from run plays. Sometimes this works, but if he used proper technique he’d be using his hands to drive the corner down field. Considering his size, this is something that could likely be coached into him. Waller also struggles to find his assignment while blocking and occasionally whiffs horribly. Revisiting the great Synjyn Days run from the Orange Bowl, I was struck by how badly Waller missed his assignment. If he blocks properly, Days has to make one less man miss. When I saw this play on film, my first thought was “What are you doing Darren?” This is another coachable trait, but it means Waller will have a LOT to work on in his run blocking.
- Tracking the Ball: Yet another thing that came up in the Orange Bowl was the fact that Waller noticeably slows down when tracking the ball overhead. By doing this, he inhibits his ability to go for the deep ball, which is one of his strengths. In order to reach his full potential as a deep threat, he’ll need to fix this. It’s another coachable trait, but these coachable traits are adding up, and increase the risk involved with drafting him. Waller does this most notably during the Orange Bowl, where he was unable to catch up to a deep pass from Justin Thomas despite getting behind the entire defense. He also slowed down before the defender grabbed him on his great deep touchdown from the previous video, but still made the catch.
- YAC (Yards After Catch): Despite his great touchdown from the Florida State game, Waller isn’t very good at getting YAC. He lacks the short field quickness and fluid hips required to make defenders miss in the open field, and thus was never used on screen plays or reverses. There were only two screen plays during the entire Orange Bowl, and the both happened to be thrown to Michael Summers for this reason. This is the weakness Waller will be least able to correct, so he will have to be utilized in ways that are best suited to his strengths, just as he was while at Georgia Tech.
NFL Draft and Early Career
The Baltimore Ravens selected Waller in the sixth round with the 204th overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft. He initially played wide receiver before transitioning to tight end. Due to off-field distractions and internal struggles, Waller faced a four-game suspension from the NFL in the 2016-2017 season and then a year-long suspension for the 2017-2018 season for violating the NFL’s drug policy.
Overcoming Adversity and Finding Success
After being reinstated by the NFL, Waller signed with the Oakland Raiders. Waller, converting from wide receiver to tight end, saw limited action for the Raiders in the 2018-2019 season, only appearing in 2 games. Continuing into the summer, Waller endured the Oakland Raiders’ yearly training camp, elevating his positional status.
Through the first three games of the 2019 season, Waller tallied 26 receptions for 267 receiving yards. Week three of the NFL season featured Waller’s best performance to date, allotting for 13 receptions for 134 yards. Due to these consistent performances, NFL analysts and journalists project Waller as the “next big thing”.
The HBO series, Hard Knocks, which studies NFL teams and dives into the stories that NFL players have gone through, featured Waller in the third episode of the newest season. His popularity among NFL players and fans suddenly increased due to the relatable perseverance he displayed through his suspensions.
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On the opening drive, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr found Waller as his primary target, accounting for two completions and 36 yards in the first six minutes. Waller finished with a total of seven catches for 70 yards, rounding his yards per catch (YPC) to a first down average, along with earning a 24-16 win over the Denver Broncos. Week two of the NFL season, saw Waller making similar grabs. In a 28-10 loss versus the Kansas City Chiefs, Waller led the Raider receiving unit with six receptions for 63 yards.
Continued Success and Recognition
Waller's impressive performances earned him a three-year contract extension with the Raiders through the 2023 season. In Week 7 against the Green Bay Packers, Waller caught seven passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns in the 42-24 loss. In Week 13 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Waller caught seven passes for 100 yards in the 40-9 loss. During Week 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Waller finished with eight catches for 122 receiving yards as the Raiders lost 20-16. In Week 17 against the Denver Broncos, Waller caught six passes for 107 yards, including a 75-yard catch, during the 16-15 loss. He finished the season with a break out year of 1,142 from ninety receptions and three touchdowns
Waller was named as an alternate to the 2020 Pro Bowl, and after the Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl, he was originally supposed to be named in as a replacement for Travis Kelce, but he had recently had thumb surgery and was unable to play.
Later Career and Retirement
On July 1, 2025, the New York Giants traded Waller along with a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick following his decision to come out of retirement. Waller's first game after coming out of retirement came in Week 4 against the New York Jets; he had two touchdowns during the game. Waller was placed on injured reserve on October 22, due to a pectoral injury suffered in Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns. He was activated on November 29, ahead of the team's Week 13 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. On January 2, Waller was placed on injure reserve due to a groin injury.
Personal Life and Community Involvement
Born Sept. 13, 1992 in Landover, Md. Parents are Dorian and Charlena. Has one sibling, Deanna. Has previously lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Marietta, Ga. Has three uncles who all played for Johnson C. Smith University. Great grandfather was Fats Waller, legendary jazz musician.
Waller began abusing oxycodone at 15 years old and drinking alcohol at 16 years old. His oxycodone addiction escalated to the point that he was eventually spending $100 per day on pills.
Waller credits much of his preparation to his time at NC. “I play a lot of Madden NFL 20, and I’m really excited to use Darren Waller on the Raiders. It’s super cool that he played here at North Cobb and made it big in the NFL,” junior Brendan Koch said. Waller, a vital part of the Raider offense, continues to impress the Oakland coaching staff, fans, and fellow teammates with his consistent performances.
Along with helping players on the field, Waller dedicated Thursday, October 10 as “Team Up Against Drugs” night, in which Waller will share his own experiences with substance abuse.
Waller has produced two music albums, Better Call Wall (2017) and Wall Street(2019), under the name “D.Wall.” Appropriate since jazz legend D Fats Waller, who died in 1943, is his great-grandfather.
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