Joshua Leonard Nesbitt (born April 15, 1988) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was a starter at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

Early life

Nesbitt attended Greene County High School in

Greensboro, Georgia Greensboro is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,648 as of the 2020 census. The city is located approximately halfway between Atlanta and Augusta on Interstate 20. History Greensboro ...

from 2003 to 2007. He was regarded as Georgia's number one recruit at quarterback as a senior and the number 12 QB in the nation. Nesbitt was named to the Scout.com national Hot 100 (No. 76) and the Rivals 250, and was the No. 4 overall prospect in Georgia according to Scout.com. He was also rated the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback in the nation by Rivals. Nesbitt was a two-time, first-team all-state selection and the Class AA Offensive Player of the Year as a junior. He was named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super Southern 100 and preseason Super 11 team before his senior year. As a junior at Greene County High under Coach Larry Milligan, Nesbitt passed for 2,833 yards with 31 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,252 yards and 22 scores. As a senior, he passed for 2,256 yards and 32 touchdowns with just four interceptions, and 134-of-222 passes completed. Nesbitt also rushed for 493 yards on 93 carries and scored eight touchdowns. He added four interceptions in two seasons on defense.

College career

Freshman season

As Taylor Bennett's backup, Nesbitt was brought in for rushing during his freshman season under coach

Chan Gailey Thomas Chandler Gailey Jr. (born January 5, 1952) is a former American football coach. Most recently in 2020, he was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Gailey has previously served as the hea ...

Sophomore season

In 2008, Nesbitt earned the starting quarterback job under new Tech coach Paul Johnson for his

option offense An option offense is an American football offensive system in which a key player (usually the quarterback) has several "options" of how each play will proceed based upon the actions of the defense. Traditionally, option-based offenses rely on Rus ...

Junior season

The 2009 season saw Nesbitt rush for 1037 yards and 18 touchdowns. Nesbitt also had 1701 yards through the air with 10 touchdowns. He led the Yellow Jackets to an

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and a

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bowl game. The Jackets finished the season with an 11–3 record following the 2010 FedEx Orange Bowl loss to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. Nesbitt was honored as the 2009 ACC first-team quarterback. He was joined on the all-conference team by

Jonathan Dwyer Jonathan Avery Dwyer (born July 26, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets footba ...

Demaryius Thomas Demaryius Antwon Thomas (December 25, 1987 – December 9, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. He played college fo ...

, Cord Howard, Sean Bedford,

Derrick Morgan Derrick Morgan OD (born 27 March 1940)Walters, Basil (2012)A New Day – Songs heralding JA’s Independence", ''Jamaica Observer'', 3 June 2012, retrieved 3 June 2012 is a Jamaican musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He w ...

, and

Morgan Burnett Morgan Mark Burnett (born January 13, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety. He played college football at Georgia Tech and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the t ...

, all of whom were on the

2009 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team The 2009 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by second year head coach Paul Johnson. Georgia Tech played their home gam ...

alongside Nesbitt.

Senior season

After returning for his senior year, Nesbitt suffered a broken right arm after attempting a tackle on November 4, 2010, vs. Virginia Tech. He missed the remainder of the season, but not before setting some impressive records at his position. With 2,806 career rushing yards, Nesbitt rushed for more yards than any quarterback in ACC history and over 1,000 yards more than any quarterback in Georgia Tech history. He also rushed for 35 career touchdowns— six more than any quarterback in the history of the ACC and 16 more than any Yellow Jacket quarterback before him.

Professional career

Nesbitt went undrafted in the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

but was signed by the

as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. On September 3, 2011, he was cut from the Bills' final 53-man roster, but was signed to the practice squad the following day. Nesbitt was signed to the Bills 53-man roster as a safety on November 15, 2011. He was waived/injured by the Bills on August 22, 2012, and subsequently reverted to

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on August 24.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, Joshua 1988 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football safeties Buffalo Bills players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players People from Greensboro, Georgia Players of American football from Greene County, Georgia