ESPN: Position that needs improvement: Georgia Tech

[worthco jacket]

Because negative Tech fan is negative. Last year, after three games, there were otherwise perfectly sensible people pondering whether the bowl streak would continue. I don't know if this happens with other teams, but a very noticeable and loud portion of the Tech fanbase is always 100% convinced that the worst case scenario will come to pass. Will the offense regress? Probably, although it's possible to regress and still be the best offense in the country. Will the defense improve? It almost has to, and while yes, 108th to 107th would be a technical improvement, I don't think that's the most likely scenario. It's ok to believe that the team is good, people.

Excellent points. In the timeless tradition of Tech fans everywhere I will offer a rebuttal that is typically found anyplace Tech fans gather:

Schedule: This year will be challenging. However, I think we got a break in having it weigh more heavily to the end. True, Notre Dame in the third week is daunting. If this team gets 9 wins it would be a nice surprise

B Backs: It will be difficult to replace the two headed tandem of Laskey and Days. Their timing on the mesh with JT was something to behold. When Laskey went down, Days played his best ball of the year. They were constantly picking each other up on the sidelines. Great teamwork. Good gracious, I am going to miss them. Can the freshmen step up? Big shoes to fill here

A Backs: Four of the top 6 are gone. Someone check my arithmetic. Good players that each found a niche. Albany's own, Tony Zenon with the good hands and hard running on the outside. Charles Perkins, a man among boys, fighting through injuries, disappointment, but coming up big his senior year. Hill. Enough cannot be said about this man's courage. Fighting through a disease. Did everyone see him get first downs against Georgia with little room to run? Making timely blocks. Great way to finish the drill. Bostic. Four star bust some said. Time to eat crow. Good receiver, great blocking down the stretch. Catch that block he laid on a linebacker in the Orange Bowl to spring JT for a touchdown. Outstanding senior year. All good players and NO problems from any of them.

Wide outs: This is the one that worries me. Both Smelter and Waller were the kind of guys other players would point to and say: "Look at the size of that (expletive deleted)" They had presence and a certain swagger that automatically commanded respect. They kept defensive coordinators up at night and caused defensive backs to wake up from nightmares in a cold sweat. Most of all they were JT's security blanket and were great blockers. I, for one, greatly appreciate their willingness to do the dirty work while only getting a few touches a game. Can we replace them?

Shaq: Continuing a Georgia Tech tradition of great guards and centers going all the way back to Bill Curry, Jim Breland, in Dodd's time to Uzzi, in Johnson's time. It is going to be hard to replace him. I know, the "Big Guy" has the tools but Shaq had that something about him that made him a formidable opponent and a great team leader. We will see.

Defense: Losing a good player at all three levels. IJ saved the best for last. A timely interception against Miami, big hits all season long culminating with the hit at the Georgia game for the fumble. Another guy that had his share of critics but no one's talking now. Will miss his leadership. Shawn Green: finally got on the field for good. Another player who heard his share of criticism amid talk of big time bust. Played through the pain and injuries to show Tech fans what he could do. Great job on the interior combining strength, quickness and smarts. Neeley: Going to miss him big time. Always seemed to be in the right place such as the fumble for six against NC State. Sacks, interceptions, fumbles caused and recovered and tackles he did it all. Some questioned his speed but no one would question his heart and desire.

Such is the nature of college football. Players come and they go. Leaving fans with memories, heartbreak some times but always an appreciation for their character, desire, and athletic ability. As always, Next Man UP! There are opportunities to be had here for players to step up and show what they can do be they freshmen or red shirts.

 

[AE 87]

Excellent points. In the timeless tradition of Tech fans everywhere I will offer a rebuttal that is typically found anyplace Tech fans gather:

Schedule: This year will be challenging. However, I think we got a break in having it weigh more heavily to the end. True, Notre Dame in the third week is daunting. If this team gets 9 wins it would be a nice surprise

B Backs: It will be difficult to replace the two headed tandem of Laskey and Days. Their timing on the mesh with JT was something to behold. When Laskey went down, Days played his best ball of the year. They were constantly picking each other up on the sidelines. Great teamwork. Good gracious, I am going to miss them. Can the freshmen step up? Big shoes to fill here

A Backs: Four of the top 6 are gone. Someone check my arithmetic. Good players that each found a niche. Albany's own, Tony Zenon with the good hands and hard running on the outside. Charles Perkins, a man among boys, fighting through injuries, disappointment, but coming up big his senior year. Hill. Enough cannot be said about this man's courage. Fighting through a disease. Did everyone see him get first downs against Georgia with little room to run? Making timely blocks. Great way to finish the drill. Bostic. Four star bust some said. Time to eat crow. Good receiver, great blocking down the stretch. Catch that block he laid on a linebacker in the Orange Bowl to spring JT for a touchdown. Outstanding senior year. All good players and NO problems from any of them.

Wide outs: This is the one that worries me. Both Smelter and Waller were the kind of guys other players would point to and say: "Look at the size of that (expletive deleted)" They had presence and a certain swagger that automatically commanded respect. They kept defensive coordinators up at night and caused defensive backs to wake up from nightmares in a cold sweat. Most of all they were JT's security blanket and were great blockers. I, for one, greatly appreciate their willingness to do the dirty work while only getting a few touches a game. Can we replace them?

Shaq: Continuing a Georgia Tech tradition of great guards and centers going all the way back to Bill Curry, Jim Breland, in Dodd's time to Uzzi, in Johnson's time. It is going to be hard to replace him. I know, the "Big Guy" has the tools but Shaq had that something about him that made him a formidable opponent and a great team leader. We will see.

Defense: Losing a good player at all three levels. IJ saved the best for last. A timely interception against Miami, big hits all season long culminating with the hit at the Georgia game for the fumble. Another guy that had his share of critics but no one's talking now. Will miss his leadership. Shawn Green: finally got on the field for good. Another player who heard his share of criticism amid talk of big time bust. Played through the pain and injuries to show Tech fans what he could do. Great job on the interior combining strength, quickness and smarts. Neeley: Going to miss him big time. Always seemed to be in the right place such as the fumble for six against NC State. Sacks, interceptions, fumbles caused and recovered and tackles he did it all. Some questioned his speed but no one would question his heart and desire.

Such is the nature of college football. Players come and they go. Leaving fans with memories, heartbreak some times but always an appreciation for their character, desire, and athletic ability. As always, Next Man UP! There are opportunities to be had here for players to step up and show what they can do be they freshmen or red shirts.

Nice write up. Two bones to pick:
1) Bostic was great for us, but his blocking and receiving disappointed at more than average key points.
2) I still think Summers is much better than credited. I'm not worried about WR.

 

[worthco jacket]

Nice write up. Two bones to pick:
1) Bostic was great for us, but his blocking and receiving disappointed at more than average key points.
2) I still think Summers is much better than credited. I'm not worried about WR.

You are right. Bostic did get blown up a few times on the outside especially early in the Orange Bowl. He also had a habit of running into either his blocker or the tackler when he got the pitch.
I forgot about Summers. He will be a good player for us. Not sure about his blocking. We will see.

 

[AE 87]

Summers' blocking has been fine, imo.

 

[RamblinRed]

The big thing to me is I think our depth is likely to be better on the DL and that could help alot.
if Jabari gets eligible, then the DL looks alot better in 2015.
You start Jabari and Adam inside. With Freeman at one end and maybe still Gamble at the other (especially on running downs).
You can also rotate Gamble inside along with Kallon. On the outside you have Chokoung, Whitehead and Simmons all available.
Could potentially go 8-9 deep on the DL and rotate alot to keep fresh. That would help this defense alot.

 

[Boomergump]

I

Excellent points. In the timeless tradition of Tech fans everywhere I will offer a rebuttal that is typically found anyplace Tech fans gather:

Schedule: This year will be challenging. However, I think we got a break in having it weigh more heavily to the end. True, Notre Dame in the third week is daunting. If this team gets 9 wins it would be a nice surprise

B Backs: It will be difficult to replace the two headed tandem of Laskey and Days. Their timing on the mesh with JT was something to behold. When Laskey went down, Days played his best ball of the year. They were constantly picking each other up on the sidelines. Great teamwork. Good gracious, I am going to miss them. Can the freshmen step up? Big shoes to fill here

A Backs: Four of the top 6 are gone. Someone check my arithmetic. Good players that each found a niche. Albany's own, Tony Zenon with the good hands and hard running on the outside. Charles Perkins, a man among boys, fighting through injuries, disappointment, but coming up big his senior year. Hill. Enough cannot be said about this man's courage. Fighting through a disease. Did everyone see him get first downs against Georgia with little room to run? Making timely blocks. Great way to finish the drill. Bostic. Four star bust some said. Time to eat crow. Good receiver, great blocking down the stretch. Catch that block he laid on a linebacker in the Orange Bowl to spring JT for a touchdown. Outstanding senior year. All good players and NO problems from any of them.

Wide outs: This is the one that worries me. Both Smelter and Waller were the kind of guys other players would point to and say: "Look at the size of that (expletive deleted)" They had presence and a certain swagger that automatically commanded respect. They kept defensive coordinators up at night and caused defensive backs to wake up from nightmares in a cold sweat. Most of all they were JT's security blanket and were great blockers. I, for one, greatly appreciate their willingness to do the dirty work while only getting a few touches a game. Can we replace them?

Shaq: Continuing a Georgia Tech tradition of great guards and centers going all the way back to Bill Curry, Jim Breland, in Dodd's time to Uzzi, in Johnson's time. It is going to be hard to replace him. I know, the "Big Guy" has the tools but Shaq had that something about him that made him a formidable opponent and a great team leader. We will see.

Defense: Losing a good player at all three levels. IJ saved the best for last. A timely interception against Miami, big hits all season long culminating with the hit at the Georgia game for the fumble. Another guy that had his share of critics but no one's talking now. Will miss his leadership. Shawn Green: finally got on the field for good. Another player who heard his share of criticism amid talk of big time bust. Played through the pain and injuries to show Tech fans what he could do. Great job on the interior combining strength, quickness and smarts. Neeley: Going to miss him big time. Always seemed to be in the right place such as the fumble for six against NC State. Sacks, interceptions, fumbles caused and recovered and tackles he did it all. Some questioned his speed but no one would question his heart and desire.

Such is the nature of college football. Players come and they go. Leaving fans with memories, heartbreak some times but always an appreciation for their character, desire, and athletic ability. As always, Next Man UP! There are opportunities to be had here for players to step up and show what they can do be they freshmen or red shirts.

I think a point to keep in mind is that, with the exception of Shaq, Nealy, Smelter, Johnson, and Laskey, none of those guys mentioned had made a large impact before 2014, yet they stepped up just fine. Some might have also argued that, while experienced, Johnson hadn't recovered from the knee and Laskey hadn't been able to beat out Sims as well. In fact, I would say the confidence of the fanbase in GT's ability to get it done with returning players was quite low going into last off season. It will always be a question until they actually do it, but we have some good guys in the system now and the system produces players. As always, it will be fun to see things come together.

 

[GTech63]

I


I think a point to keep in mind is that, with the exception of Shaq, Nealy, Smelter, Johnson, and Laskey, none of those guys mentioned had made a large impact before 2014, yet they stepped up just fine. Some might have also argued that, while experienced, Johnson hadn't recovered from the knee and Laskey hadn't been able to beat out Sims as well. In fact, I would say the confidence of the fanbase in GT's ability to get it done with returning players was quite low going into last off season. It will always be a question until they actually do it, but we have some good guys in the system now and the system produces players. As always, it will be fun to see things come together.

And we have a great class coming in with 4 potentially y good early enrolees. Great bunch of RS freshmen. Our depth every where is going to be better and we have a QB who knows how to run this offense plus a great back up and good developing replacement. The future looks bright.
GO Jackets! Together We Swarm!!

THWG

 

[bravejason]

Why?

Regarding 3rd down conversions, Records are records for a reason. It's difficult to maintain that level of play from one year to the next. That isn't to say 3rd down conversions will be bad, GT could be top 5, but it'll be more like 53% instead of 58%. Over the course of a season, a 5 pct pt delta is about another half a dozen set of downs the offense gets.

Regarding turnovers, that is just the nature of the thing, particularly fumble recovery. Again, that isn't to say the team will lose every fumble, but the ball will probably bounce towards the opponents a few more times next season. Due to defensive issues, the team hasn't really been good enough in recent years to tolerate many bad breaks.

If the team can establish some defensive strength, then the occasional string of bad breaks or the occasionsl stall by the offense won't be so damaging to the team's chances to win.

 

[OldJacketFan]

Regarding 3rd down conversions, Records are records for a reason. It's difficult to maintain that level of play from one year to the next. That isn't to say 3rd down conversions will be bad, GT could be top 5, but it'll be more like 53% instead of 58%. Over the course of a season, a 5 pct pt delta is about another half a dozen set of downs the offense gets.

Regarding turnovers, that is just the nature of the thing, particularly fumble recovery. Again, that isn't to say the team will lose every fumble, but the ball will probably bounce towards the opponents a few more times next season. Due to defensive issues, the team hasn't really been good enough in recent years to tolerate many bad breaks.

If the team can establish some defensive strength, then the occasional string of bad breaks or the occasionsl stall by the offense won't be so damaging to the team's chances to win.

Thanks for the reasoned reply. As to 3rd down conversions I see what you're saying but I will say the offense as it's designed is set up to put the offense in favorable down/distance scenarios so I don't have concerns is not be able to maintain a high level of efficiency. Under PJ Tech's offense has always had a very efficient 3rd percentage and I don't see that changing.

Turnovers are a product of luck, good and bad, as well as hustle/effort/great individual plays. In my mind it's almost impossible to quantify if a D will be successful in the turnover aspects of the game from one year to the next. Everybody that watches the games has seen the inexplicable turnover. From a ball carrier just dropping a ball or a receiver has a ball bounce off his hands directly into the defenders hands or a ball on the ground that squirts away from a player trying to fall on it or in getting kicked our of bounds. So many of Tech's turnovers on D were of the forced or hustle kind of play. Those are the ones that luck, good or bad, have nothing to do so and those are the ones that players and coaches can affect. Those are the ones I expect to see out of a good D every year. The inexplicable ones are the ones you can't count on and the ones you just have to see how the year plays out.

 

[Josh H]

Why?

Smelter being gone will be a big factor. He absolutely could not be covered 1 on 1.

 

[Ggee87]

Smelter being gone will be a big factor. He absolutely could not be covered 1 on 1.

I agree. Gonna be the one spot we NEED someone to become a game changer. When we don't have a good receiver to pick up 1st downs on 3rd down... we struggle more often on offense. How many BIG BIG BIG time catches did Smelter make the past 2 years? Hell go ahead and throw in Waller too... That's what made us so formidable this year. Extending drives.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I'm more worried about finding a wr than an Aback.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I'm not worried about finding a WR that can get open. We'll have plenty of those opportunities with the type of offense we run. It'll be important that they catch the balls that are thrown their direction. This includes the AB's too. Zenon and Hill made some huge catches to keep drives alive. As for Smelter, he's not going to be missed because DB's couldn't cover him (like I said above, we've got guys who can do that). He's going to be missed for two reasons: the first (and of lesser importance for this discussion) is that he went up and fought for the ball, taking it away from the DB's; and second (most important and will be the biggest hole if someone doesn't recognize how to do this) is that he knew how to create space coming back to his QB when JT was in trouble or moving around. I can't tell you how many times I saw DS coming back towards JT after running a fly pattern to help him, and picking up a critical first down to move the sticks. That's what we'll miss most if someone else isn't able to recognize the need and find the space.

 

[AE 87]

I'm not worried about finding a WR that can get open. We'll have plenty of those opportunities with the type of offense we run. It'll be important that they catch the balls that are thrown their direction. This includes the AB's too. Zenon and Hill made some huge catches to keep drives alive. As for Smelter, he's not going to be missed because DB's couldn't cover him (like I said above, we've got guys who can do that). He's going to be missed for two reasons: the first (and of lesser importance for this discussion) is that he went up and fought for the ball, taking it away from the DB's; and second (most important and will be the biggest hole if someone doesn't recognize how to do this) is that he knew how to create space coming back to his QB when JT was in trouble or moving around. I can't tell you how many times I saw DS coming back towards JT after running a fly pattern to help him, and picking up a critical first down to move the sticks. That's what we'll miss most if someone else isn't able to recognize the need and find the space.

Great post. My two cents is that I think Micheal Summers has already shown the ability and willingness to adjust his routes to passes and to help out a scrambling QB better than Waller. So, with that in mind, whether or not someone beats out Summers as the #1 target next year, I'm not worried about WR.

 

[mmbt0ne]

So this almost certainly isn't happening, but any chance that with Dee Liner's decision to transfer from Alabama that he comes here and provides some DT depth in 2016/17?

It would be nice to have a little more experience on the line in 2016, and could help balance the small 2012/13 classes since he'll only have 2 years of eligibility after sitting out a year.

 

[UgaBlows]

It seems that only one WR at a time can truly be a targeted wr in this offense, just not enough passes to go around imo. for instance we really didn't see any huge games out of Wallers until Smelter was out. i like to think that Summers just hasn't had his chance to shine yet.

 

[Stinger90]

I see that Nick Buchanan ( T, DE) Dunwoody, Ga. just decommitted from Cal. Berkeley.

@Eric, do you know if we were interested in him at anytime or have shot at signing him now?

 

[Eric]

@Stinger90

He visited us for a camp.

No, we aren't taking anymore OL.