Vandy in front for Bowden

ATLANTA -- When his football career is over, junior inside linebacker Nigel Bowden of Macon Central hopes to someday design automobiles for a living.

Because of that, he'd like to major in mechanical engineering.

"Academics are going to play in my [college] decision a lot," Bowden told Rivals.com.

Bowden currently carries a 4.0 GPA. On the field, he's also doing pretty well. This week, the 6-feet-2, 225-pounder is competing in the RisingSeniors.com Georgia Junior Bowl. Someday soon, he likely will be playing at a major college.

"I have one offer right now," Bowden said. "It's from Vanderbilt. But I think I'm getting one from Georgia Tech. I'm also hearing from Georgia and Florida. One of the Georgia Tech players, [Macon native] Julian Burnett, came to Macon and talked to a lot of my friends. They told me [the Yellow Jackets] are highly considering offering me."

According to Bowden, Vanderbilt is his current leader.

"It's a great education, and I feel like they're going to move up," Bowden said. "I feel like they've got a great coaching staff."

Bowden has visited both Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt.

"I went to Georgia Tech when they played Georgia," Bowden said. "And I went to Vanderbilt when they played Georgia. I had a good time [at both]. At Tech, I met up with all the players and the coaches. I saw the weight room. And I talked to Julian a little bit. At Vanderbilt, I met all the coaches. Coach [Brent] Pry made me feel like I was at home. Georgia Tech was probably the best."

Keith Niebuhr can be reached at Keithrivals@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KeithRIVALS.