CPJ Press Conference #HateWeek

[Lee]

Problem = he has to be a home run hitter who can get you 4 yards on 3rd and 3. I haven't seen Marshall do that c

Since it seems that size is the only thing that matter to you when it comes to this position, have you seen Skov (235 lbs) be able to do this? Or anyone on this team be able to do this? When the guard is getting whipped and their DT gets both paws on you, it's pretty tough to run through that. I doubt ZL or SD would be either. Now they would have down the little things better to hit the right hole and hit it quicker, but running through a DT is not going to happen when he is swallowing you up as you take the ball.

I still have no clue why you are stuck on moving our best bback prospect since Dwyer to a position where he might get 5 touches a game. Bback is the spot that makes this whole offense move. When a defense has to respect the threat up the middle, it opens up the rest of the offense. As others have said, he has been in this system for what, 4 months? He is learning on the fly. I would be willing to bet he hits the hole much faster next year, the mesh will be a lot cleaner and the offense as whole will be a lot more efficient. MLD looked good in limited time, but nothing about his game makes me feel like he would run through tackles any better than Marshall.

The is so much more PJ can do with his playbook with a guy like Marshall vs the plodder you want at the position. Those guys are great and no one is saying we shouldn't have a bruiser in there as well, but it limits what we can do effectively on O. The speed option is a true threat with JT and MM running it and something we rarely ran after JD left. I for one love seeing us get back to that.

 

[takethepoints]

I still have no clue why you are stuck on moving our best bback prospect since Dwyer to a position where he might get 5 touches a game. Bback is the spot that makes this whole offense move. When a defense has to respect the threat up the middle, it opens up the rest of the offense. As others have said, he has been in this system for what, 4 months? He is learning on the fly. I would be willing to bet he hits the hole much faster next year, the mesh will be a lot cleaner and the offense as whole will be a lot more efficient. MLD looked good in limited time, but nothing about his game makes me feel like he would run through tackles any better than Marshall.

"When a defense has to respect the threat up the middle, it opens up the rest of the offense." Yes, that's it and that's what we haven't got.

Let's compare last year to this year. With Days and Laskey, we had two bruisers (230 and 225) who could run; just like we've had with most of the teams Coach has put onto the field in his career. And they produced both reliable 4 yard runs and the occasional long one. And the middle of the LOS got softer and easier to run in as the game went on. And, of course, the edge game worked better too; the opposing MLBs had to slow down to take on the BBs if they broke to the second level. And they often did because both of them (but especially Laskey) were quicker to the mesh than our BBs this year and bigger too boot. In short, they were game breakers in ways Marshall isn't: they wore Ds down, made them stationary, created opportunities at the edge as a result, got big gains as the other side wore down, and - monster plus - kept the D off the field by getting first downs. That's what BBs are supposed to do.

Look, as you say, maybe Marshall will develop what he doesn't have now; he is brand new. I think a Leggett/Quaid combination is more likely to emerge next year but it could be Marshall with one of them. You never know. Still, if I were Coach, I'd move him out to the edge where he can do some serious damage. We'll see about how that works out this spring and that's my last word on the subject.

Until the next thread on this, of course.

 

[Unk T]

Lynch was my preseason offensive player to break out and for the first time ever in years of making guesses on both sides of the ball I got one right. I guess if you try long enough you eventually get one right!

Whether Lynch starts or not or is in the top 2 A Backs IMO doesn't really matter. He's got chemistry with Justin and seems to have knack for getting open. He's also really natural catching it over his shoulder like a WR. If he dropped one this year I can't remember it. Make no mistake Lynch is a real weapon in the passing game.

As a runner Lynch is "just enough". He won't juke you out of your cleats and he's not a power guy. Yet he has just enough wiggle and wiry strength to find a way to get more out a play when it looks like there's not much there. The kind of stuff that moves the sticks. He doesn't have elite speed but he's just fast enough with just enough vision to gash you some if there's a lot of daylight.

There is something to Lynch....I don't know if it's craftiness, or if he just has a lot of desire, or what. He just seems reliable and has been in on a lot of big plays. We get 3 more years of him. Now lets add Searcy, Green, Cottrell, Benson, Gantt, Jarrett, Lands-Davis, etc. and if we can't come up with a 5-headed monster!

Something to remember is that WR is Lynch's natural position. It's what he played in HS and lead Norcross in receiving during both State Championship runs.

Running back is a new position to him and he is still learning to play the position. Just think how good he'll be when he's completely comfortable in the position...

I keep reading that he lacks speed, but he consistently gives 9+ yards a carry and 25+ yards a catch. The numbers say his speed is fine....

Also, with all of the talent at AB.... I'd like to see Searcy move back to the Defensive backfield at Safety with Golden being a senior. He can give use some needed speed back there. He could also return punts and kicks like Golden does for us now...

 

[stingyoa$$]

Historically, BB 's that dance through the hole don't do well. Sure they may hit a big one every once in awhile but to be effective you have to run hard and initially be that "north south" runner the first 5-7 yards. I can't ever remember running a play with ZL and it being 2nd and 11 or 12. Time will tell on MM. People just have to be patient.

 

[ATL1]

Coach Cook liked Marshall at Bback from the start, he's not changing positions. It will be interesting adding Q & Leggett (who isn't that much bigger than Marshall) to the mix.

A 4 bback rotation?

 

[gtg936g]

JT is good to go

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/7/5/375...48490115&hwt=1535cb800c17d27ecce8db9ed0a6d060

 

[00Burdell]

Coach Cook liked Marshall at Bback from the start, he's not changing positions. It will be interesting adding Q & Leggett (who isn't that much bigger than Marshall) to the mix.

A 4 bback rotation?

I really don't care who we put back there as long as they don't cost us the game by putting the ball on the ground. We have one game left - the season is over in 72 hours - whoever is back there needs to play like a grown man with a bad attitude.

 

[awbuzz]

Great that JT use doing well enough to play!

 

[stylee]

Marcus Marshall will be the starting BB in 2015, as he should be.

 

[steebu]

Don't wanna jinx anything ... but in light of PJ's comments about the current A-Backs not even playing next year ... he also said that Dedrick Mills, our current B-Back commit, has the best natural ability at B-Back since you-know-who.

It'll be awesomely scary if we can throw out a lineup of A and B-Backs who are incredibly good with the ball in their hands (and hopefully without the ball in their hands, too).

 

[Lee]

"When a defense has to respect the threat up the middle, it opens up the rest of the offense." Yes, that's it and that's what we haven't got.

Let's compare last year to this year. With Days and Laskey, we had two bruisers (230 and 225) who could run; just like we've had with most of the teams Coach has put onto the field in his career. And they produced both reliable 4 yard runs and the occasional long one. And the middle of the LOS got softer and easier to run in as the game went on. And, of course, the edge game worked better too; the opposing MLBs had to slow down to take on the BBs if they broke to the second level. And they often did because both of them (but especially Laskey) were quicker to the mesh than our BBs this year and bigger too boot. In short, they were game breakers in ways Marshall isn't: they wore Ds down, made them stationary, created opportunities at the edge as a result, got big gains as the other side wore down, and - monster plus - kept the D off the field by getting first downs. That's what BBs are supposed to do.

Look, as you say, maybe Marshall will develop what he doesn't have now; he is brand new. I think a Leggett/Quaid combination is more likely to emerge next year but it could be Marshall with one of them. You never know. Still, if I were Coach, I'd move him out to the edge where he can do some serious damage. We'll see about how that works out this spring and that's my last word on the subject.

Until the next thread on this, of course.

Comparing what two 22 year old seniors did with last year's offense to what an 18 year old true freshman has done in this offense is pointless. I guarantee MM would have been very successful plugged into the bback spot in last year's O. We were much more dynamic, more experienced, and we had 2 NFL WR's to keep the defense honest. I'm not saying he would have been as productive as ZL or SD, but he would've looked a lot better than he has this year (which has honestly been one of the only bright spots on O).

Like you said earlier, I would love to have had ZL back this year. I think he would've made a big difference on his team just in terms of leadership as well as on the field play. This also may have allowed us to redshirt MM.

As for Marshall, I'm not saying he needs to be or will be a guy that gets 95% of the carries like Dwyer either. I do think we need that bruiser to come in and get tough yards and bang bodies, I just think having a home run threat at the position makes our offense so much more dangerous.

 

[Lee]

Historically, BB 's that dance through the hole don't do well. Sure they may hit a big one every once in awhile but to be effective you have to run hard and initially be that "north south" runner the first 5-7 yards. I can't ever remember running a play with ZL and it being 2nd and 11 or 12. Time will tell on MM. People just have to be patient.

You mean like Days last year? I personally thought what made him so good was his ability to put his foot in the ground and make a subtle cut prior to getting to the LOS. Vision and fgood feet are very important for a RB and MM has both. I do agree that "dancing" is not good, especially for the bback. I haven't really seen that, but maybe I'm missing something.

Getting "north and south" is important, I agree, but if that leads you into the back of your guard or center that just got blown up by the opposing DT, it does you no good. There have been many times this year when the defense is meeting whoever was at bback at the mesh. Very tough to judge the ability of any back to get upfield with the blocking miscues we've had this year. I will take what MM is giving us over another bback that only knows "north south." The other kid busts his tail and is a great team guy, but we've got a better shot with MM in there IMO.

I'm a big ZL fan too. I loved the way he ran the ball. Especially how angry he ran in the dwag game last year. We really could've used him this year.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Mills is very intriguing. Our recruiting certainly seems to be improving looking at last year and this year so far. We still have to close out this current class....half way there?

If we do continue to recruit at this level going forward, my expectations for results will increase also. We still lack a little at DT but most other positions are 2 thumbs up.

 

[stingyoa$$]

It's very difficult to win with freshmen in HS or college. If Mills has to come in and play I'd expect another season like the one we are going through now.

 

[takethepoints]

Comparing what two 22 year old seniors did with last year's offense to what an 18 year old true freshman has done in this offense is pointless. I guarantee MM would have been very successful plugged into the bback spot in last year's O. We were much more dynamic, more experienced, and we had 2 NFL WR's to keep the defense honest. I'm not saying he would have been as productive as ZL or SD, but he would've looked a lot better than he has this year (which has honestly been one of the only bright spots on O).
As for Marshall, I'm not saying he needs to be or will be a guy that gets 95% of the carries like Dwyer either. I do think we need that bruiser to come in and get tough yards and bang bodies, I just think having a home run threat at the position makes our offense so much more dangerous.

Well, I said I wouldn't say anything more on this and I won't. Wait until after spring and we'll go over these points again.

 

[Lee]

Well, I said I wouldn't say anything more on this and I won't. Wait until after spring and we'll go over these points again.

Fair enough. It's Hate Week anyways. There is always something all GT fans can agree on...THWG!