AE 87's Pre-Spring Retrospect & Prospect (fwiw)

[AE 87]

I think most here know that I'm a pretty big supporter of CPJ and our offense. I find our offense fun to watch, and it works. However, I'm still not farting rainbows after last season.

Retrospect
2014 was great but not all good.

We had the most efficient offense in the country, perhaps of the last decade, and we needed it. Our offense has been fairly reliable under CPJ, top 20 in Off FEI 4 of 7 years, top 2 twice (from 2008: #18, #2, #41, #16, #26, #38, #1; I think 2010 and 2013 had extenuating circumstances). Imo, the decision-making/talent of JT and especially the excellent play of the OL made this last season great.

However, our defense as a unit was worse than our normal below average for much of the season. Our Def FEI since 2008 must be noted, imo: #30, #51, #80, #61, #64, #51, #51. On the bright side, that #51 ranking for 2014 reflects significant improvement over the 1st half of the season. For the season, we were #111 in yards/play allowed with 6.32 ypp and #114 in opp 3rd dn conv%, 45.56%. In November, we were #32 with 5.1 ypp allowedand #19 with 33.33% opponent 3rd dn conv%. Yet, we allowed 7.44 ypp and 48.15% in our 2 post season games. FSU gained 7.75 ypp against us with a season average of 6.39 ypp. MsSt gained 7.2 ypp with a season average of 6.67 ypp. Clemson was the only game we held a team to fewer than 5 ypp.

As it turns out, of the three best defenses that we faced, cu, vpi, and uva, vpi and uva had bad offenses this year, #93 and #68 in off FEI respectively. Our D played a great game against CU (but some may think that the loss of Deshaun Watson after the 2-3 week build-up for his return may have had an effect)

We had a lot of good fortune to go along with good play to get our wins in 2014.

Prospect
Our Offense should still be good. We won't know the full impact of losing Shaq Mason for a few weeks, but I expect us to be fine with Brown or Devine or whomever.

While we will likely miss the speed at which ZL hit the holes and the strength with which SD ran, I think we should be fine. In large part my confidence here arises from my confidence in our OL. Also, we have Leggett as a RS Fr who almost played this past year, remembering that Charles Perkins earned the starting job at B-Back in 2011 as a RS Fr. We also some very talented guys coming in as true freshmen.

We lost a lot of talent at A-Back, but again I'm not worried. We have two solid A-Backs in Andrews and Snoddy, and, imo, a future superstar in Qua Searcy who's been practicing there for some weeks. Recalling that Embry Peeples and Marcus Wright were able to make significant contributions as Tr Fr in 2009, I think we should be good.

We also lost our two top WRs, but I like Summers a lot, but with Jeaune and Messick and the true freshmen, we should be good. We've relied on true freshmen at WR in the past.

I expect some drop-off, but I predict our Off FEI will still be top 15.

Our Defense remains a question mark for me. Part of me still feels like our defensive signals must have been ripped by opponents for our D to be so bad. On the other hand, it seemed to me without statistical analysis that we played some of our best D when we used 3 down linemen. So, I also wonder about play calling.

I will say, that I can't imagine our D being worse or even as bad as 2014. If Jabari can come in and dominate as expected, we should be good with Gamble and Gotsis in the middle. If we can get solid development from Rod and Tyler, maybe Lewis, at SDE with Freeman, Simmons, and Whitehead at WDE. We should be fine and could be good.

Like I said, I'm still at a loss. I expected better this year. I'm also a little wary seeing how many guys from our 2013 D made NFL rosters for a time while our 2013 D was that great.

That's it. What say you?

 

[vamosjackets]

I think most here know that I'm a pretty big supporter of CPJ and our offense. I find our offense fun to watch, and it works. However, I'm still not farting rainbows after last season.

Retrospect
2014 was great but not all good.

We had the most efficient offense in the country, perhaps of the last decade, and we needed it. Our offense has been fairly reliable under CPJ, top 20 in Off FEI 4 of 7 years, top 2 twice (from 2008: #18, #2, #41, #16, #26, #38, #1; I think 2010 and 2013 had extenuating circumstances). Imo, the decision-making/talent of JT and especially the excellent play of the OL made this last season great.

However, our defense as a unit was worse than our normal below average for much of the season. Our Def FEI since 2008 must be noted, imo: #30, #51, #80, #61, #64, #51, #51. On the bright side, that #51 ranking for 2014 reflects significant improvement over the 1st half of the season. For the season, we were #111 in yards/play allowed with 6.32 ypp and #114 in opp 3rd dn conv%, 45.56%. In November, we were #32 with 5.1 ypp allowedand #19 with 33.33% opponent 3rd dn conv%. Yet, we allowed 7.44 ypp and 48.15% in our 2 post season games. FSU gained 7.75 ypp against us with a season average of 6.39 ypp. MsSt gained 7.2 ypp with a season average of 6.67 ypp. Clemson was the only game we held a team to fewer than 5 ypp.

As it turns out, of the three best defenses that we faced, cu, vpi, and uva, vpi and uva had bad offenses this year, #93 and #68 in off FEI respectively. Our D played a great game against CU (but some may think that the loss of Deshaun Watson after the 2-3 week build-up for his return may have had an effect)

We had a lot of good fortune to go along with good play to get our wins in 2014.

Prospect
Our Offense should still be good. We won't know the full impact of losing Shaq Mason for a few weeks, but I expect us to be fine with Brown or Devine or whomever.

While we will likely miss the speed at which ZL hit the holes and the strength with which SD ran, I think we should be fine. In large part my confidence here arises from my confidence in our OL. Also, we have Leggett as a RS Fr who almost played this past year, remembering that Charles Perkins earned the starting job at B-Back in 2011 as a RS Fr. We also some very talented guys coming in as true freshmen.

We lost a lot of talent at A-Back, but again I'm not worried. We have two solid A-Backs in Andrews and Snoddy, and, imo, a future superstar in Qua Searcy who's been practicing there for some weeks. Recalling that Embry Peeples and Marcus Wright were able to make significant contributions as Tr Fr in 2009, I think we should be good.

We also lost our two top WRs, but I like Summers a lot, but with Jeaune and Messick and the true freshmen, we should be good. We've relied on true freshmen at WR in the past.

I expect some drop-off, but I predict our Off FEI will still be top 15.

Our Defense remains a question mark for me. Part of me still feels like our defensive signals must have been ripped by opponents for our D to be so bad. On the other hand, it seemed to me without statistical analysis that we played some of our best D when we used 3 down linemen. So, I also wonder about play calling.

I will say, that I can't imagine our D being worse or even as bad as 2014. If Jabari can come in and dominate as expected, we should be good with Gamble and Gotsis in the middle. If we can get solid development from Rod and Tyler, maybe Lewis, at SDE with Freeman, Simmons, and Whitehead at WDE. We should be fine and could be good.

Like I said, I'm still at a loss. I expected better this year. I'm also a little wary seeing how many guys from our 2013 D made NFL rosters for a time while our 2013 D was that great.

That's it. What say you?

Really good analysis, and I pretty much agree with it all. A couple nitpicks: IMO, Perkins didn't earn the start at BB in 2011. He wasn't named starter until game week after Sims (and someone else I think) couldn't make the start due to injury. And, Perkins was quickly replaced both in that first VT game and displaced as starter the following week. Also, did you mean to say Lewis at SDE rather than Merriweather; Lewis is at OLB (Maybe you meant St-Amour). Third, our 2013 D wasn't that great.

Ok, now as far as your analysis, I think you're spot on with the offense. I expect a slight dropoff with losing Smelter/Waller/Shaq/DaySkey. It's hard to overstate how big those guys were for us this year. Couple that with the AB exodus, and we probably won't be quite as good, especially the first third of the season. But, like you said, a dropoff would mean something like top 15 in efficiency rather than #1, so we're still going to be good offensively, and should still be able to win most of our games with the offensive production we're likely to get.

I'm with you too on the defensive question marks. How did we perform so well in a few key games last year and totally stink (like worst in the country) in many others? Thank God we saved our best effort IMO for Ugag. I'm thinking with Roof's defense, getting a little more talent on the field will go a long way, and I think we'll get that next year. When Roof was here before, his first year, we were horrible (Joe's senior year '99), then we were very good the very next year (Godsey's first year as starter '00), and it seemed to be due to a talent/experience upgrade. One thing about Roof is it seems the guys really want to play for him - they try to do what he asks - if they can't just flat out stop the other team, they go all out for turnovers and get them. I think that's why, though we were not very good comparatively (personnel/experience), we still were able to step up at key moments. If we can become just solid defensively personnel/experience wise, and keep that clutch emotional edge, we'll have something special on that side of the ball too.

 

[ChasonBaller]

Best part of this was when you said "farting rainbows" it got me crackin up

 

[thwgjacket]

Think our secondary has a lot of talent, especially when we let them press later in the year. We get everyone back except IJ and I think he is replaceable with the young, talented guys we have. PJ Davis is PJ Davis, he's going to have a lot of tackles. The DL should be some mix of Freeman, Gotsis, JHD, Gamble and Whitehead. We should be much better and deeper along the DL and that allows our DB's to be even better. The one spot on D I'm worried about is the 2nd LB spot. I'm feeling better about it with Marcordes being a year older and the addition of Vic Alexander and the other young, big LB's.

It's very possible we will have 9 upperclassmen starting on D, then Freeman (Freshman All-American) and the other DB spot (If it's Lynn Griffin then 10 upperclassmen). Have to like that.

 

[danny daniel]

I think most here know that I'm a pretty big supporter of CPJ and our offense. I find our offense fun to watch, and it works. However, I'm still not farting rainbows after last season.

Retrospect
2014 was great but not all good.

We had the most efficient offense in the country, perhaps of the last decade, and we needed it. Our offense has been fairly reliable under CPJ, top 20 in Off FEI 4 of 7 years, top 2 twice (from 2008: #18, #2, #41, #16, #26, #38, #1; I think 2010 and 2013 had extenuating circumstances). Imo, the decision-making/talent of JT and especially the excellent play of the OL made this last season great.

However, our defense as a unit was worse than our normal below average for much of the season. Our Def FEI since 2008 must be noted, imo: #30, #51, #80, #61, #64, #51, #51. On the bright side, that #51 ranking for 2014 reflects significant improvement over the 1st half of the season. For the season, we were #111 in yards/play allowed with 6.32 ypp and #114 in opp 3rd dn conv%, 45.56%. In November, we were #32 with 5.1 ypp allowedand #19 with 33.33% opponent 3rd dn conv%. Yet, we allowed 7.44 ypp and 48.15% in our 2 post season games. FSU gained 7.75 ypp against us with a season average of 6.39 ypp. MsSt gained 7.2 ypp with a season average of 6.67 ypp. Clemson was the only game we held a team to fewer than 5 ypp.

As it turns out, of the three best defenses that we faced, cu, vpi, and uva, vpi and uva had bad offenses this year, #93 and #68 in off FEI respectively. Our D played a great game against CU (but some may think that the loss of Deshaun Watson after the 2-3 week build-up for his return may have had an effect)

We had a lot of good fortune to go along with good play to get our wins in 2014.

Prospect
Our Offense should still be good. We won't know the full impact of losing Shaq Mason for a few weeks, but I expect us to be fine with Brown or Devine or whomever.

While we will likely miss the speed at which ZL hit the holes and the strength with which SD ran, I think we should be fine. In large part my confidence here arises from my confidence in our OL. Also, we have Leggett as a RS Fr who almost played this past year, remembering that Charles Perkins earned the starting job at B-Back in 2011 as a RS Fr. We also some very talented guys coming in as true freshmen.

We lost a lot of talent at A-Back, but again I'm not worried. We have two solid A-Backs in Andrews and Snoddy, and, imo, a future superstar in Qua Searcy who's been practicing there for some weeks. Recalling that Embry Peeples and Marcus Wright were able to make significant contributions as Tr Fr in 2009, I think we should be good.

We also lost our two top WRs, but I like Summers a lot, but with Jeaune and Messick and the true freshmen, we should be good. We've relied on true freshmen at WR in the past.

I expect some drop-off, but I predict our Off FEI will still be top 15.

Our Defense remains a question mark for me. Part of me still feels like our defensive signals must have been ripped by opponents for our D to be so bad. On the other hand, it seemed to me without statistical analysis that we played some of our best D when we used 3 down linemen. So, I also wonder about play calling.

I will say, that I can't imagine our D being worse or even as bad as 2014. If Jabari can come in and dominate as expected, we should be good with Gamble and Gotsis in the middle. If we can get solid development from Rod and Tyler, maybe Lewis, at SDE with Freeman, Simmons, and Whitehead at WDE. We should be fine and could be good.

Like I said, I'm still at a loss. I expected better this year. I'm also a little wary seeing how many guys from our 2013 D made NFL rosters for a time while our 2013 D was that great.

That's it. What say you?

I agree it's a good analysis. Depth, improved talent, and more experience are a plus. By biggest concern is the ball security. We have a lot of new people handling the ball. A few untimely turnovers could prove painful. I would like to see improved blocking on our KO returns as we did poorly returning kickoffs in 2014. I concur that the defense should be a little better with even more experience and some added talent, but getting those timely turnovers is iffy.

Pieces are falling into place for a really good team, but we need to continue to play with few penalties, few ball handling errors, good blocking and tackling, O precision execution, timely defensive turnovers, few dropped passes, good third down conversion %, and minimal injuries. Some of that is good play, good coaching, and some good luck. Some of it like injuries is mostly out of our control. Can't wait to see it unfold.

 

[UgaBlows]

I believe Anthony Harrell is going to ball out replacing Neally

 

[4shotB]

I will say, that I can't imagine our D being worse or even as bad as 2014. If Jabari can come in and dominate as expected, we should be good with Gamble and Gotsis in the middle. If we can get solid development from Rod and Tyler, maybe Lewis, at SDE with Freeman, Simmons, and Whitehead at WDE. We should be fine and could be good.

That's it. What say you?

AE, overall good writeup. One nit to pick -I'm not (and I hope not many others) are expecting JHD to "dominate". Reason #1, we have never had a dominant DLineman (although we have several very good ones - Attachou, Morgan, M. Johnson to name but a few over the years). #2, he has never played the position. I would be happy if he performed as well as S.Green did. Anything above that is gravy (imo).

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Missed ST which is a large part of the game (18% of the plays). We are returning Butker and Rodwell and upgrading athleticism. Should be better. But we should have been better this year and weren't.

Here's the final summary after MSU: https://gtswarm.com/threads/gt-special-teams-versus-msu.5864/

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I agree with your analysis, but I'm a little more worried than you with our Abacks. Blocking the edge, a critical component in our O, was a strong suit last year and a welcomed change. I hope we don't drop a notch or two in that department with the noobs.

 

[InsideLB]

Nice write up!

Schedule is tough next year and injuries at key positions can make or break a season.

That said I do feel we are starting to build some good depth which is nice to see. Can't wait to see what happens next.

 

[GlennW]

Why would you start to bring up any negativity so soon about a team that just beat VA Tech, Miami, Clemson, UGA, and Miss State (in the Orange Bowl no less), and lost the ACC Championship game to FSU by just 2 points, and ending up Nationally ranked in the Top 10 in the Country?

Why can't you just be happy for even a few lousy months?

 

[4NatlChmps]

#THWG and f Jimbo F

 

[GlennW]

I should have added that our team lost three games last season, TOTAL, by less than 15 points, TOTAL, and while it's true we're losing starting A-Backs, B-Backs, and WR's (players considered to be critical in most offenses), in OUR Offense, we rarely pass so losing WR's isn't as critical as most teams, and what we saw last year was Justin Thomas working closly with his WR's PRIOR to the season to build some sort of a "relationship" with them, and we play a lot of RB's (A-Backs & B-Backs) all year historically and have done so successfully since Paul Johnson has been our Head Football Coach.

What makes our Offense work is if our QB and Offensive Line can do their jobs from the initial snap of the ball. And what we see is that our QB has urned out to be the best we've had since PJ has been here, and even though Shaq Mason has graduated, the rest of the O-Line is back, and has depth, and is strong, so these will continue to be strengths for our team.

Defensively, what we saw was that the second half of the season we looked like a totally different team as they became more aggressive on the field rather than sitting back, and we got more turnovers and held teams to many fewer points (for the most place). While we are losing some key players, we are bringing back a vast majority of starters and have built quality depth/experience, and have key players coming in, including the potential Jabari Hunt (Days) possible return. The fact that this will the the third year under Ted Roof's tenure as Defensive Coordinator means the players should now have a clear understanding, and comfort level, of his defense, and he should, finally, be getting "his" players on the field as Al Groh's recruits are cycling out. This means he can now put his desired personnel in for desired defensive sets, and they should be able to play instinctively rather than having to think about what they have to do, meaning our defense should be able to play faster than ever, be in better positions, and Ted Roof can be even more aggressive in his play calling.

I have to say how frustrating it is to hear criticism so soon after a stellar season, and I say this as someone who spent time in the football locker room with the guys under BDS. You think what happens on the field is easy? You think playing at Tech, with all of the academic rigors, is fun? These guys bust their *** in the blistering heat of the summer, through horrible rain and cold, terrible travel schedules, early mornings and late nights, missed holidays and birthdays, some even missing deaths in the family, just to play football at GA Tech, and when they have a season like they did in 2014, it still isn't good enough for some of you? How many teams do you think end up in the Top 10 a season? How many win a National Championship a season?

Celebrate and appreciate the players for what they accomplished in 2014. It's what they earned, what they deserve, and what anyone whose played the game should expect. At least they hope to. You're supposed to be fans, aren't you?

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I should have added that our team lost three games last season, TOTAL, by less than 15 points, TOTAL, and while it's true we're losing starting A-Backs, B-Backs, and WR's (players considered to be critical in most offenses), in OUR Offense, we rarely pass so losing WR's isn't as critical as most teams, and what we saw last year was Justin Thomas working closly with his WR's PRIOR to the season to build some sort of a "relationship" with them, and we play a lot of RB's (A-Backs & B-Backs) all year historically and have done so successfully since Paul Johnson has been our Head Football Coach.

What makes our Offense work is if our QB and Offensive Line can do their jobs from the initial snap of the ball. And what we see is that our QB has urned out to be the best we've had since PJ has been here, and even though Shaq Mason has graduated, the rest of the O-Line is back, and has depth, and is strong, so these will continue to be strengths for our team.

Defensively, what we saw was that the second half of the season we looked like a totally different team as they became more aggressive on the field rather than sitting back, and we got more turnovers and held teams to many fewer points (for the most place). While we are losing some key players, we are bringing back a vast majority of starters and have built quality depth/experience, and have key players coming in, including the potential Jabari Hunt (Days) possible return. The fact that this will the the third year under Ted Roof's tenure as Defensive Coordinator means the players should now have a clear understanding, and comfort level, of his defense, and he should, finally, be getting "his" players on the field as Al Groh's recruits are cycling out. This means he can now put his desired personnel in for desired defensive sets, and they should be able to play instinctively rather than having to think about what they have to do, meaning our defense should be able to play faster than ever, be in better positions, and Ted Roof can be even more aggressive in his play calling.

I have to say how frustrating it is to hear criticism so soon after a stellar season, and I say this as someone who spent time in the football locker room with the guys under BDS. You think what happens on the field is easy? You think playing at Tech, with all of the academic rigors, is fun? These guys bust their *** in the blistering heat of the summer, through horrible rain and cold, terrible travel schedules, early mornings and late nights, missed holidays and birthdays, some even missing deaths in the family, just to play football at GA Tech, and when they have a season like they did in 2014, it still isn't good enough for some of you? How many teams do you think end up in the Top 10 a season? How many win a National Championship a season?

Celebrate and appreciate the players for what they accomplished in 2014. It's what they earned, what they deserve, and what anyone whose played the game should expect. At least they hope to. You're supposed to be fans, aren't you?

It's not criticism, it's concern over holes that are left by hugely experienced seniors being filled by vastly inexperienced underclassmen. It's justifiable, imo. Just because we don't pass much, doesn't devalue wr's in our offense. They are critical in sealing the edge which is a huge part of our running game.

What worries me most is our inexperienced Aback corps blocking. It's not something that is easily or quickly learned, look how long it took our departing seniors to perfect. I feel pretty good about Andrews, but that's it. Snoddy is a question mark and he wasn't particularly know for his blocking anyway. Even counting Snoddy that leaves 4 more guys with no experience to round out the 6 we need in rotation.

 

[GlennW]

It's not criticism, it's concern over holes that are left by hugely experienced seniors being filled by vastly inexperienced underclassmen. It's justifiable, imo. Just because we don't pass much, doesn't devalue wr's in our offense. They are critical in sealing the edge which is a huge part of our running game.

What worries me most is our inexperienced Aback corps blocking. It's not something that is easily or quickly learned, look how long it took our departing seniors to perfect. I feel pretty good about Andrews, but that's it. Snoddy is a question mark and he wasn't particularly know for his blocking anyway. Even counting Snoddy that leaves 4 more guys with no experience to round out the 6 we need in rotation.

My point is why even start a thread like this now; it's insulting to the team? Why can't our fans just enjoy a great season? Are we EVER satisfied?

 

[AE 87]

Wow, @GlennW, smh.

Most of my OP was simply stating facts and asking questions. Frankly, I question the adulthood of people who get offended by facts, but maybe that's just me. If you want our defense to be satisfied with being the worst defense of a P5 conference than you're not a good fan, imo. If you don't want them to be satisfied, then nothing I posted would be a surprise to them. If you read my post again, you'll see that I questioned whether our play calls were being ripped or whether Roof may not have been designing the best game plans. However, I did not call out any players or team effort etc. So, most of your rant seems off-target to me unless you want to be satisfied, and more want our players to be satisfied, with being average to below average. I doubt very seriously if they want that for themselves.

By the way, I didn't respond to your first post because I respect your opinion, but I figured your 3rd post critiquing my OP wanted a response.

 

[Skeptic]

Wow, @GlennW, smh.

Most of my OP was simply stating facts and asking questions. Frankly, I question the adulthood of people who get offended by facts, but maybe that's just me. If you want our defense to be satisfied with being the worst defense of a P5 conference than you're not a good fan, imo. If you don't want them to be satisfied, then nothing I posted would be a surprise to them. If you read my post again, you'll see that I questioned whether our play calls were being ripped or whether Roof may not have been designing the best game plans. However, I did not call out any players or team effort etc. So, most of your rant seems off-target to me unless you want to be satisfied, and more want our players to be satisfied, with being average to below average. I doubt very seriously if they want that for themselves.

By the way, I didn't respond to your first post because I respect your opinion, but I figured your 3rd post critiquing my OP wanted a response.

What to say? I thought it an excellent critique, though I share others' concerns about A-back, because even the seniors should you look at the last few games closely, missed a lot of blocks on the edge. (See JT's TD runs against MSU). But it is hard to get a helmet on somebody out there in space because he, as well as you, is a scholarship player for a reason, and it is not academics, else we would recruit the honor society. (I would also question the conclusion that playing football for GT isn't fun. The very reason they go out to practice in heat and ice and snow is to have fun on Saturday.) Good piece of work and defensive criticism of it reminds me of the piece I saw somewhere: let's talk about the flower beds as the house falls.

A couple or three games could have gone either way on either side of the ledger so to me 11-3 is a reasonable representation of the season, and sometimes the D did get a stop, but if it is dwelling on the negative to point it out, MSU got almost 600 yards in total offense against GT.

I have a friend who was on the Clemson sideline at the GT game, and the effect of losing Watson cannot be overstated. He said "the air went out of the sideline" when he was hurt. Of course he is also the fellow who stood literally next to Thomas for a moment and dismissed all talk of 5-11, 189 pounds. Loved him as a QB without buying the, shall we say, misdirection.

 

[GlennW]

My comments weren't directed specifically at you, but were made because of this specific thread, and others who continued in the same vein.

I made the comments because I'm extremely disappointed that such a short time after our team exceeded virtually everyone's expectations so spectacularly, rather than just sitting back and savoring the experience, and letting the players enjoy the fruits of their labor, some fans are already starting to look for things they did wrong, or could have done better.

I don't know how many of you realize it, but 11 win seasons on our campus don't come around too often, and they should be celebrated, not criticized. Just one man's opinion who spent time in that locker room many years ago.

 

[forensicbuzz]

It's the off-season. It's the time for us fans to critically evaluate what we saw, project where we'll be and what's the best way to get there. That's what we do. Do any of us have the credentials to actually do this? Probably not. But it's a fanboard and that's what happens on fanboards during the off-season. If you don't like it, move along.

That being said, it can be taken too far. Personal attacks are a no-no, criticism of individual and team performance isn't. As DCS stated, if we want to compete for a playoff seat, then our defense is going to have to perform much better than it did in 2014. It was "good enough" at times and "opportunistic enough" to get the job done most of the time. If our defense effectiveness was comparable to our offense, we would have been in the playoff last year.

We have holes in our defense. That's a fact. We have holes in our offense. That too is a fact. If you're not interested in a critical assessment of the state of our team and what we need to do to make it better next year, then this place is going to drive you crazy. This site is very optimistic when it comes to discussing the future of GT Football. We all love what the team accomplished. But NSD is passed and we're going to discuss what went wrong until Spring Ball. And then we're going to discuss how next year is going to be better/worse based on what we saw in Spring Ball. That's just the way it works.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

To get back on topic, I'll go ahead and say right now I think JHD will be just as impactful on the defense next year as JT was on the offense last year. I really think he could have that much of an impact. Of course no one was expecting JT to do the things he did last offseason, but I think having one dominant DT, assuming he and the other DL's stay healthy, can have a tremendous impact on the entire defensive performance. It's the ripple effect, JHD is the stone that falls in the pond creating the expanding wave.