Expectations for the 2021 season

Pointer

Pointer

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slugboy said:
There are some places where it’s hard to predict our team for this year. For example, our secondary should have been a strength for our team last year, but injuries and medical issues and a doubly constrained practice environment hurt us.

I also think Connelly does a fair and impartial job previewing the team. He has a more optimistic view than the analysts over at PFF.

Saying that there are question marks doesn’t mean that we’ll be bad. It just means we don’t know what’s “behind door number two”. Athletes with a lot of potential have joined, and we have players returning from injury.

We have a light question mark in the secondary. We had a down year for a couple of reasons, but it’s reasonable to expect a bounce-back there. We have talent, and Collins is a known top-end defensive back coach.

We have a big question at linebacker. Our leading LB graduated. We brought in a new, highly rated, all-conference-level LB in Eley, but he hasn’t played here yet. It’s not necessary a BAD question mark—it’s a chance for us to take a step up at those positions. But it’s still a question mark.

The crew over at From The Rumble Seat previewed the offensive line. We graduated two starters in DeFoor and Quinney, and depth in Clark. In theory, we’ve brought in more talented replacements. They have an entire Spring and Summer to gel as a line. Multiple years together would have been nice, but I think we have a shot at being at least middle of the road on the OL.
One of the problems two years ago was that there were a couple of places on the OL, often as many as three, where we ended being outmatched. Last year, we narrowed that down to one or two spots where we were getting beaten; for example, Syracuse abused us on the edge.
This year, we will have a couple of new starters, but there’s competition at most of the positions. Some of our question marks are because we don’t have as much experience at Georgia Tech with these players, but some is the good question mark of who will win what spot?
There are two positive things that can happen here
1. One or more of the players is a Shaq Lawson that we can get behind in short yardage situations. Ryan Johnson is back. If Cochran lives up to his reputation, we could have a go-to player to run behind. Minihan can be that player at center.
2. No weak spots. This has been our Achille’s heel. We have enough depth that if Williams or one of the other young players matures this season, that we won’t have any vulnerable spots for our opponents to take advantage of.
In case you’re interested: https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...ech-football-position-previews-offensive-line

DL has some questions on the interior—we spent so much of the year dinged up there, that if we can field and rotate healthy players in the middle, it could make a world of difference.

WR started well last year, and the year before, and tailed off as the season went on. They weren’t a factor in our Pitt game at the end of the season. We have a new transfer slot receiver and some new recruits—it’s a big question mark, but it’s also a place where there’s a ton of opportunity for improvement.
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Great post (as usual). Certainly question marks can be perceived as a negative or positive. For example, 2014 was a massive question mark year. Going into that season, I remember many players left including starting QB, but there was hope for optimism in the guys who replaced them (and we know how that season played out).

Question marks after a bad year tend to be accompanied by optimism while the opposite is usually true after a good year.

To your point of the secondary having been expected a strength for last year, injuries can derail those hope pretty quickly (further aggravated by lack of spring practice in year two to @forensicbuzz 's legitimate point). I expect a nice bounce back from this group, especially now that they will have more practice time with CGC himself.

Good things could happen this year.
 
RichardFrazier

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MidtownJacket said:
For me the question is what went wrong in 2020, and what can be fixed for 2021.

1. Depth issues on the D Line and injuries essentially folded our chances at fielding a competitive Defense. We did things in the secondary that looked foolish and had guys in the middle depth of the defense missing tackles or being out of position because we could not get pressure from our defensive fronts. We also couldn't dictate running lanes so didn't have a good way to play coverages with any safety valve because if we dropped back they gashed us in the running game and if we came forward they hit us with quick slants or deep throws depending on the placement of our deep secondary.

2. Similar story on the OLine. If you can establish a foundation and some space to work in then it is really hard to maneuver. Couple that with a young decision maker at C and QB and you have guys who really needed the time they lost on the practice field due to Covid. Yes, every program faced similar constraints but the elements of their challenge were different. For example look to our Basketball team (all got old and stayed old) when we missed practice time, then limited it further by not having contact at first we stumbled, but we fixed it quickly and synched up based on experience in the system, with the coaches and the players skills and attributes around them.

For me, the story of 2021 is how do the plugged in pieces help us in the trenches on both sides of the ball and cam our guy Sims make the next step in his progression. We will have an actual spring and fall camp this time to establish his reps but also bring along a backup which should help considerably.

3. Throw in the kicking situation getting better with more big dudes for the line, and a kicker with a high trajectory/quicker launch and hope springs eternal.

The scheme questions for me start this year. On Paper, we have what we should need to be able to dictate more the pace and direction of the game. Yes we have a hard schedule, but again that is why for me it is more important to see tangible improvement in what the staff tries to get the guys to do, and how well the players execute it. I am still optimistic we should be able to get to 6 or 7 wins and go bowling.

A 7-8 win season while not barn burning would be on pace with the development I expect we should see.

If we can find a way to get to 8 or 9 regular season wins, I will be cooking crow to order and come looking for some of our esteemed colleagues who I am sure will be more than happy to feast on their well deserved meal.
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I agree and here is how I see it:

1. DLine- We have depth when you add in two transfers DE White & Scott. White has started so he brings leadership and experiance. TK and Clayton back healthy we should see progress. I am also excited to see how the coaches develop this group.

2. OLine- With Cochran coming in after sitting becuase of covid along with Kirby and Pendley and Johnson returning I am excited to see who plays center (Kirby or Pendley) and I am excited to see Sophmore Williams in year 2. I am also excited to see how the coaches develop this group.

3. Kicking- With Cimaglia transfering in I am hoping he shores up the kicking problems, even if it’s just for one season.

For me it is not so much about scheme as much as coaching & developing the boys up! I think there is alot to like about this program, very talented the recruiting is paying off. Geoff Collins is showing everyone that you can recruit at Georgia Tech. Its time fro Coach Collins and staff to start to show everyone his culture which is great for recruiting is also solid for coaching (Player Development, Offseason, Practice, Gameday planning and coaching)
 
slugboy

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RichardFrazier said:
I agree and here is how I see it:

1. DLine- We have depth when you add in two transfers DE White & Scott. White has started so he brings leadership and experiance. TK and Clayton back healthy we should see progress. I am also excited to see how the coaches develop this group.

2. OLine- With Cochran coming in after sitting becuase of covid along with Kirby and Pendley and Johnson returning I am excited to see who plays center (Kirby or Pendley) and I am excited to see Sophmore Williams in year 2. I am also excited to see how the coaches develop this group.

3. Kicking- With Cimaglia transfering in I am hoping he shores up the kicking problems, even if it’s just for one season.

For me it is not so much about scheme as much as coaching & developing the boys up! I think there is alot to like about this program, very talented the recruiting is paying off. Geoff Collins is showing everyone that you can recruit at Georgia Tech. Its time fro Coach Collins and staff to start to show everyone his culture which is great for recruiting is also solid for coaching (Player Development, Offseason, Practice, Gameday planning and coaching)
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I thought Minihan had a strong hold on center, and Pendley was at LG and Kirby was at RT
 
UgaBlows

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LongforDodd said:
Is this guy coming close to saying Georgia and Miami are relatively on par with each other
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I’m not sure how anyone who pays attention to ACC fb can chalk Duh U as an automatic loss? During their tenure in the ACC they have been incredibly talented and even more incredibly inconsistent
 
slugboy

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Here’s the start of the Hale thread. This guy has to make a living trying to have an informed opinion about the ACC. Not everyone will do this as professionally as he does. Wes Durham could also ramble off lists like this, and David Archer would do a fantastic job at this.


Our story at QB is “potential”. Most of the time you hear that word, it is paired with “unrealized”. QB coaching will make a massive difference, and it’s mechanics, decision making, having a poker face, and being on the same page as your teammates. Patenaude has a lot to accomplish this summer.
 
slugboy

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I should probably put this in the “analyst” thread, but more of the preseason preview by Hale. Not a rosy opinion of our LB corps:


His only comment about our LBs is that “we need to make impact plays”:



I’m not saying he’s wrong, just that it’s not a deep analysis. Since we swapped out our main LB, I’m not sure how deep he’d get there.
 
7979

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ncjacket79 said:
We were 60/40 run/pass last year. Just how much do you want to run the ball?
D has to improve.
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Running the ball protects your defense by running clock, limiting opposition's possessions. Incomplete passes take 15 secs of clock...runs up middle for no gain, 45 secs off...
The best 4 skill guys on our team are the three RBs and Sims...
I would never throw it...unless I dumped it to one of the RBs.... LOL!
Seriously 80/20.... and mostly on 2nd and <5 .....never on 3rd and 10+
 

billga99

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Folks we are not going back to the 3O no matter how many of you want to. I think 60/40 is okay but it needs to be mixed up more and much less predictable in terms of which down they do runs and passes. We also need more accuracy in the passing game which hopefully comes with experience from the players and the system.
 

jgtengineer

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billga99 said:
Folks we are not going back to the 3O no matter how many of you want to. I think 60/40 is okay but it needs to be mixed up more and much less predictable in terms of which down they do runs and passes. We also need more accuracy in the passing game which hopefully comes with experience from the players and the system.
Click to expand...

You don't have to be running an option to run 75 percent of the time, look at any of nick saban's teams before joey freshwater.
 
Coloradojacket

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7979 said:
Running the ball protects your defense by running clock, limiting opposition's possessions. Incomplete passes take 15 secs of clock...runs up middle for no gain, 45 secs off...
The best 4 skill guys on our team are the three RBs and Sims...
I would never throw it...unless I dumped it to one of the RBs.... LOL!
Seriously 80/20.... and mostly on 2nd and <5 .....never on 3rd and 10+
Click to expand...
I would say 65/35 but lots of two back sets and some Wing. Shotgun Spread means single back...not much guessing for the defense.
 
Ibeeballin

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jgtengineer said:
You don't have to be running an option to run 75 percent of the time, look at any of nick saban's teams before joey freshwater.
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lol what?

College Football Stats - College FB Team Passing Play Percentage | TeamRankings.com

College Football passing play percentage, by team.
www.teamrankings.com www.teamrankings.com

Y’all just be talking here.
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