North Gwinnett’s Tommy ‘The Jet’ Lafayette has been flying by defenders during the 2024 season, helping his team to an undefeated start. The senior back has accumulated 290 rushing yards, 116 receiving, and a total of six touchdowns in 3 games.
Lafayette can do it all, and against their arch-rival Brookwood, his impact was instrumental to the 36-10 victory. The senior toted the rock 27 times for 211 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, routing their rival in the process, and firmly cementing the Bulldogs as the #2 team in our 6A rankings.
His efforts earned him a top performer spot on the site, and on Tuesday evening, Lafayette was voted Week 5’s Player of the Week.
“Senior year has been great so far,” Lafeytte said. “It’s amazing to be a part of the team culture that North Gwinnett has. The guys all want to see each other succeed and push for each other and the coaches want nothing more than that as well.”
Lafayette moves over to North Gwinnett after starting the last 3 seasons at Lambert where he was a major impact player. With the talented back now at North Gwinnett, he will provide a consistent approach out of the backfield.
Over the years, we have witnessed Lafayette’s improvement, and senior year he looks more explosive coming out of his cuts than ever. The senior talked about how he developed his improved quickness.
“My improvement from last season to this season relies heavily on agility and side-to-side movement and cuts. I give all that credit to Chris from Fast and Marquell Beckwith from Beckwith Sports Academy,” the senior said.
We are familiar with Beckwith, and in fact, the trainer routinely uploaded Lafayette’s progress during the offseason, so we got a first-hand view of his improvement. The progress was so encouraging that we chose Lafayette to be Preseason All-State RB in 6A.
Individual accolades aside, the senior seems to be fixated on the team’s success more than his stats or trophies.
“My goals for the rest of the season aren’t for stats for myself but for the success of my team. Whatever I can do to help us get back to the Benz for a state championship is what I will do whether that means carrying the ball 30 times a game or 5 or even getting myself out in the slot.”
Score Atlanta recently included Lafayette on the watchlist for Mr. Georgia Football, a new feature they are doing this fall. With Lafayette’s resilience and savvy running vision, he can help drive the North Gwinnett offense to heights not seen since 2017, when Tyler Goodson took over the GHSA playoffs running for almost 1000 yards in 5 games.
For recruiting, Lafayette committed to Stanford over the summer but did provide a brief update.
“I am still considering my recruitment open even though I am committed at the moment. But ever since the commitment most if not all of the noise has kind of shut down,” he said.
Still, we feel like local programs will be knocking on the door at North Gwinnett, inquiring about the senior running back’s commitment, so be sure to follow @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter/X to hear the latest on Lafayette and athletes all across Georgia.
