DALLAS - Langston Patterson had some convincing to do.

The Vanderbilt linebacker attended Christ Presbyterian Academy with London Humphreys. At the time, Humphreys viewed himself mainly as a baseball player.

"We saw past it a little bit," Patterson said. "No one that fast should be on a baseball diamond."

Humphreys eventually joined the CPA football team as a junior. Three years later, his former Vanderbilt teammates gave their thoughts on Georgia's transfer receiver addition.

Patterson said he is excited to see Humphreys continue to develop in Athens. That process has been ongoing since their time at CPA.

"It was his junior year and he didn’t even start until like four, five, six games in just because he’d never really even played football that much," Patterson said. "When he did, he took off. It was super exciting to watch. Just a deep threat, all he knew how to run at first was go balls. We’d throw him about five just as far as we could and just hope he’d run under them and get them."

Once Humphreys arrived at Vanderbilt, he wasted no time impressing defensive back CJ Taylor.

"Last fall camp, I was dealing with a hamstring injury," Taylor said. "I think he was in the slot and he ran a slot fade. It was like, it looked like everybody else was like dead-legged. He was just moving. That’s when I first experienced him."

Taylor believes Humphrey can still get stronger and grow into his body more. But when that happens, Taylor said, "he's going to be dangerous."

Patterson, who has seen Humphreys' career since the beginning, agrees.

"They’re getting someone who’s special," Patterson said.