Expectations for the 2021 season

[mtodd30]

5 is my bare minimum, with very and I mean VERY close games on the other toss ups, as well as more competitive games with the big boys. 6 I will be satisfied, 7+ be very happy

 

[takethepoints]

I previously stated Gibbs is the only true NFL prospect on our roster right now so he isn’t included in any discussion.

I'm going to risk a big flameout with this.

When you look at Gibbs, who does he remind you of? I've heard a lot of answers to this one, but mine is … wait for it … Calvin Ridley. He's as talented as any of the recent crop of Bama WRs, arguably the best in the country in the last decade. Given that we already have an RB who delivers 100 ypg every time you give him 20 - 25 carries - Mason, of course - I think we should move Gibbs to WR. He's already the best WR on the team; he's actually more effective in terms of yards produced when he catches the ball (you can check). If he's out there and targeted for 10 - 15 touches a game, I'm guessing he: a) draws double coverage on almost every down and beats it most of the time; he can outrun any DB I saw last year b) delivers over 120 ypg and at least 2 TDs and c) makes the rest of the passing game work like a charm due largely to a above and making it a lot easier for Sims to run through his progressions ("Gibbs open? Here you go."). We lose explosiveness at RB, but Smith can provide some of that in relief.

Admittedly, he's working on being a great RB as well. But I think he's potentially much more dangerous outside. Problem = I'm sure he wouldn't like position change, even if it made him a better NFL prospect. (And, imho, it would.)

 

[DieselTeeth]

My predictions for the season:

NIU W
KSU W (but probably a closer game than we’d like)
Climpsun L
UNC Probable L
Pitt Tossup
Dook W
UVA Tossup
VPISU Tossup
miami Probable L
Boston College Tossup
Notre Dame L
u[sic]ga L

My predictions for the season:

NIU W
KSU W
Climpsun L
UNC W
Pitt W
Dook W
UVA Tossup
VPISU Tossup
miami L
Boston College Tossup
Notre Dame L
u[sic]ga L

 

[wesgt123]

I'm going to risk a big flameout with this.

When you look at Gibbs, who does he remind you of? I've heard a lot of answers to this one, but mine is … wait for it … Calvin Ridley. He's as talented as any of the recent crop of Bama WRs, arguably the best in the country in the last decade. Given that we already have an RB who delivers 100 ypg every time you give him 20 - 25 carries - Mason, of course - I think we should move Gibbs to WR. He's already the best WR on the team; he's actually more effective in terms of yards produced when he catches the ball (you can check). If he's out there and targeted for 10 - 15 touches a game, I'm guessing he: a) draws double coverage on almost every down and beats it most of the time; he can outrun any DB I saw last year b) delivers over 120 ypg and at least 2 TDs and c) makes the rest of the passing game work like a charm due largely to a above and making it a lot easier for Sims to run through his progressions ("Gibbs open? Here you go."). We lose explosiveness at RB, but Smith can provide some of that in relief.

Admittedly, he's working on being a great RB as well. But I think he's potentially much more dangerous outside. Problem = I'm sure he wouldn't like position change, even if it made him a better NFL prospect. (And, imho, it would.)

What are you smoking sir

 

[DieselTeeth]

Some of you vastly under rate our opponents. Saying things like “we should blow them off the field” as if we are Bama or Clemson. We are a tier 3 program right now with an unproven coach, unproven QB, and question marks all over the field. Quite honestly, we have one player that anyone outside of GT circles would even acknowledge as legit and that’s Gibbs and one position group we know right now we can count on - RB’s. I think all that changes within the next 2 seasons but to have the mindset that we are better than anyone right now is ridiculous. Predicting wins is impossible because we have no clue what we’ll get from the QB position. If he plays well we could win 7-8. If he plays poorly we could win 3-4. If he plays like last year with serious inconsistency we’ll be in the 4-5 win area. Our opponents have solid coaches and players and if we give them multiple turnovers they’ll take advantage.

Shut the Hell up, your ruining my fantasy this year...

 

[UgaBlows]

I'm going to risk a big flameout with this.

When you look at Gibbs, who does he remind you of? I've heard a lot of answers to this one, but mine is … wait for it … Calvin Ridley. He's as talented as any of the recent crop of Bama WRs, arguably the best in the country in the last decade. Given that we already have an RB who delivers 100 ypg every time you give him 20 - 25 carries - Mason, of course - I think we should move Gibbs to WR. He's already the best WR on the team; he's actually more effective in terms of yards produced when he catches the ball (you can check). If he's out there and targeted for 10 - 15 touches a game, I'm guessing he: a) draws double coverage on almost every down and beats it most of the time; he can outrun any DB I saw last year b) delivers over 120 ypg and at least 2 TDs and c) makes the rest of the passing game work like a charm due largely to a above and making it a lot easier for Sims to run through his progressions ("Gibbs open? Here you go."). We lose explosiveness at RB, but Smith can provide some of that in relief.

Admittedly, he's working on being a great RB as well. But I think he's potentially much more dangerous outside. Problem = I'm sure he wouldn't like position change, even if it made him a better NFL prospect. (And, imho, it would.)

He would prob transfer

 

[GTrob21]

No...Gibbs is RB all the way. I think we are going to shock some people this year, 7 wins possibly 9

 

[Coloradojacket]

I'm going to risk a big flameout with this.

When you look at Gibbs, who does he remind you of? I've heard a lot of answers to this one, but mine is … wait for it … Calvin Ridley. He's as talented as any of the recent crop of Bama WRs, arguably the best in the country in the last decade. Given that we already have an RB who delivers 100 ypg every time you give him 20 - 25 carries - Mason, of course - I think we should move Gibbs to WR. He's already the best WR on the team; he's actually more effective in terms of yards produced when he catches the ball (you can check). If he's out there and targeted for 10 - 15 touches a game, I'm guessing he: a) draws double coverage on almost every down and beats it most of the time; he can outrun any DB I saw last year b) delivers over 120 ypg and at least 2 TDs and c) makes the rest of the passing game work like a charm due largely to a above and making it a lot easier for Sims to run through his progressions ("Gibbs open? Here you go."). We lose explosiveness at RB, but Smith can provide some of that in relief.

Admittedly, he's working on being a great RB as well. But I think he's potentially much more dangerous outside. Problem = I'm sure he wouldn't like position change, even if it made him a better NFL prospect. (And, imho, it would.)

From 1989 until roughly 15 years later, the leading receiver, number of catches for Tech was....Jerry Mays. Running backs are your dump off option and if they get a lot of catches it is a good sign, your QB is going through progressions. For Gibbs, I would like to see him with Mason in the backfield. More two back sets.

 

[Gt2019]

After reading and watching the defense in practices, we could very easily win 7-9 games. Our DE’s are scary and our secondary as well. If sims can cut down on the turnovers then we will get the 7-9 wins.

 

[slugboy]

It’s way too early, but I’m seeing 5-7 wins this year.

On offense, in our read option, the difference between an inferno and an offense that flames out is a combination of an ability to read a defense plus being on the same page as the rest of the offense plus having eleven players who will go all out to execute. Last year, we had blocking issues that showed up against Syracuse. We should be a lot better on the offensive line, but that’s not enough by itself. The wide receiver play is more like it was against FSU instead of how it was against Pitt. Also, Sims has to read better.

Here’s an example from Clemson of Trevor Lawrence reading and breaking down a defense—a good Notre Dame defense. Lawrence and his backup are athletically gifted, but this seems like the difference between the two Clemson-Notre Dame games:


According to Patenaude quotes, Sims hadn’t internalized the reads and progressions even as of last season. That’s a huge loss from missing last Spring practice. Getting decent at blocking, Sims working the offense, and the TE and WRs stretching the defense and making plays is the difference between a #92 offense (2020) and having a top 35 offense. If we can get to a top 50 offense, that’s a massive improvement.

As for Gibbs, he’s a RB, but he’s also a star. You can put him in the slot and have him run or catch there, you can put him in the backfield—just get him the ball. Use him to scare the bejesus out of defenses.

On defense, we were a #88 ranked defense (FEI). There were a couple of main issues—interior defensive line was losing on the point of attack, there were missed or slow reads at LB, the secondary was sometimes on a different page than the front 6, and the secondary was sometimes on a different page than each other.

If you look at 1:50 on this video (and the series) the G-C-G combo is making and holding their blocks against our interior OL. It’s part of why BC was such a blowout


If I could pick anything to improve from last season, it would be execution at the NT/DT spots. Losing battles there is causing problems throughout the defense. I think we have the physical potential there—we’re getting stood up, though.

We’re about 94th in special teams from last season. Depth in the coverage teams should help there, plus improvements in blocking, plus getting in a new placekicker.

There is a LOT to fix from last season. The good news is, if we fix it all to a decent degree, we get much better quickly.

 

[MidtownJacket]

I wonder if you could extrapolate on the difference between a focus on winning vs. development in more concrete terms. Were we putting players on the field with more upside as opposed to current ability? Were we experimenting with the play calling? I understand some players needed developing (as always), but where did the coaches make a conscious decision focusing on development vs. winning? If "winning" and "development" were in a Venn diagram, where did the two areas not overlap last season?

I think it shows up in a few different ways:

1) As many people have mentioned, you can’t serve two different masters. As the year progressed we were doing more and more of the “to be” playbook and less of the “as is” one. It felt, to me at least, like a scrimmage approach where some of the time we were running a play that we just didn’t have the horses to pull off. Especially some of the passing plays we got blown up on because we couldn’t establish a pocket. Lots of us (myself included) clamored for more quick hitting option style runs to the outside or quick crossing routes in the shallow flats but that’s not the style of play we saw. I believe some of that was the staff installing their base stuff regardless of the guys ability to play it because the tailoring would delay the longer term switch into the “new system”.

2) Position groups seemed to be playing from different coverage philosophies. Through out the season last year it looked to me like our back end coverages didn’t mesh with the defensive front. There are way smarter dudes and ladies on this board than me on D scheme but it looked to me like the rooms were working on different things. Not saying this was an intentional approach but more suggesting the coaches were working on improving their rooms myopically and not in the “global system” they talk about having. Again I think this was more due to socially distancing and Covid related lack of time as a group in close proximity as opposed to intentionally being done. The times sometimes dictate the approach, even stuff as simple as blocking for FG or PA suffered from the coaches saying, “we didn’t want to have two lines face to face going at it” or STTE again the CJP phenomenon of protecting against transmission too hard causing a lack of preparedness early on in the season. Problem is when you’re busy scouting another team in the season you can’t stop to working on basic blocking and tackling AND show up prepared so I think that compounded our woes.

3. Player development being viewed longer term. I am not suggesting we fielded guys who were clearly unprepared just for reps in key situations, but I do believe we saw the tie or even close calls, going to the future over what’s best right now, this snap. It’s again akin to people wanting to see less Jose and more KS, to get him reps. Josh chose to stick with winning now, I think Geoff has been shading to what’s better longer term.

Again, this is all one man’s opinion, posted on a message board over the weekend so now offense when people take it with a mound of salt. It is what I am seeing though and why I have cause for cautious optimism as we move forward.

 

[MidtownJacket]

It’s way too early, but I’m seeing 5-7 wins this year.

On offense, in our read option, the difference between an inferno and an offense that flames out is a combination of an ability to read a defense plus being on the same page as the rest of the offense plus having eleven players who will go all out to execute. Last year, we had blocking issues that showed up against Syracuse. We should be a lot better on the offensive line, but that’s not enough by itself. The wide receiver play is more like it was against FSU instead of how it was against Pitt. Also, Sims has to read better.

Here’s an example from Clemson of Trevor Lawrence reading and breaking down a defense—a good Notre Dame defense. Lawrence and his backup are athletically gifted, but this seems like the difference between the two Clemson-Notre Dame games:


According to Patenaude quotes, Sims hadn’t internalized the reads and progressions even as of last season. That’s a huge loss from missing last Spring practice. Getting decent at blocking, Sims working the offense, and the TE and WRs stretching the defense and making plays is the difference between a #92 offense (2020) and having a top 35 offense. If we can get to a top 50 offense, that’s a massive improvement.

As for Gibbs, he’s a RB, but he’s also a star. You can put him in the slot and have him run or catch there, you can put him in the backfield—just get him the ball. Use him to scare the bejesus out of defenses.

On defense, we were a #88 ranked defense (FEI). There were a couple of main issues—interior defensive line was losing on the point of attack, there were missed or slow reads at LB, the secondary was sometimes on a different page than the front 6, and the secondary was sometimes on a different page than each other.

If you look at 1:50 on this video (and the series) the G-C-G combo is making and holding their blocks against our interior OL. It’s part of why BC was such a blowout


If I could pick anything to improve from last season, it would be execution at the NT/DT spots. Losing battles there is causing problems throughout the defense. I think we have the physical potential there—we’re getting stood up, though.

We’re about 94th in special teams from last season. Depth in the coverage teams should help there, plus improvements in blocking, plus getting in a new placekicker.

There is a LOT to fix from last season. The good news is, if we fix it all to a decent degree, we get much better quickly.

Well put with way more specific examples.

 

[takethepoints]

For Gibbs, I would like to see him with Mason in the backfield. More two back sets.

That won't happen. This is one of the reasons I suggested moving Gibbs. We need all of our good players on the field in places where they can contribute.

But … Gibbs won't be moved, even though it would help his NFL prospects. Even if he bulks up another 20 lbs, he won't be the model RB the pros are going with these days.

 

[Scubapro]

There is a LOT to fix from last season. The good news is, if we fix it all to a decent degree, we get much better quickly.

Getting better is great but its relative. Vast improvements just on fundamentals might get us to five wins given the inability of this staff.
It will be great if we can actually kick extra points / field goals. Cover kick offs. This should be a given but it isnt.
Pnut said Sims is in the film room all the time. If Sims isn't 'internalizing' the correct reads them maybe Pnut may needs to find a way to teach it more effectively. Like the issue we had with Groh.
This coaching staff better find a way to win with what they have versus what they would like to have...thats called coaching up players and utilizing them to their strengths. There hasn't been any of this in the past two years.

 

[jacketup]

Getting better is great but its relative. Vast improvements just on fundamentals might get us to five wins given the inability of this staff.

You mean the inability of our head coach, who has been DC at two successful SEC stops and was twice nominated for the Broyles award? Or the inability of our OL coach who came from BAMA? I mean, he should have been able take the offensive line from two years ago that was starting 3 guys with no other P5 offers, one of whom was a walk on, and make them NFL quality. And the DC, who inherited a defense that lost 8 starters from the 2018 team and had a front 7 with several talent deficiencies--but he should have been able to make them as good as Clemson's front 7. And our schedule was so easy last year. It's all this staff's fault.

I get so tired of these comments. This one is underwater alright.

There is a staff inability--the inability of the last staff to recruit at a P5 level. You folks who complain about the staff: 1. Fail to see how little talent we have had; 2. Fail to see that we have a good staff considering what we pay (so open your wallet and close your mouth so that we can have seven figure assistant salaries like Clemson); 3. Fail to acknowledge how little practice time we had last year with a young team and new schemes; 4. Will be eating your words soon.

And the issue with Groh was Johnson. One example is that Johnson would not let him hire even one defensive assistant. He was also forced to play with FCS level talent in places because of poor recruiting. Al Groh was well respected for his knowledge of defense. Groh left in disgust.

Your post demonstrates that you fail to understand that even the best coaches can't turn chicken poop into chicken salad. Especially with limited practice time.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I understand what you are saying about Gibbs. Just get him on the field. Doesn’t matter where like Percy Harvin when he was at UF or Desmond Howard who took handoffs as well in college. Mason is a great college player so he needs to see the field. But the key to it all is having an OLine that can do its job. We have no clue if Sims is legit because he was running for his life so how do we know if he can read progressions or not. If the OLine can be just average and if Sims takes a step forward we should put up a lot of points. But those are two huge “ifs” that every team in America is worried about as well. Even UGA with 5 and 4 stars on offense are asking themselves if their OLine is legit and if their QB can be consistent. Every team is in the same boat.

Defense is an entire different topic. Many of you are way more optimistic than I am. Primarily because I see a lot of the same players will be on the field. I won’t mention names but put it this way, I’m hoping to see a lot of different faces in the secondary this year. I like Thomas and Walton back there but that’s about it. Hopefully the transfers are ready because based on film every offense coordinator has to be salivating to play against our scheme. Last year we made hurry up teams like UCF and Syracuse look like world beaters and we made slow tempo teams look like world beaters (ND, BC, Pitt). Basically, our defense had no clue. Looking back we now realize how pathetic FSU was in game 1.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

You mean the inability of our head coach, who has been DC at two successful SEC stops and was twice nominated for the Broyles award? Or the inability of our OL coach who came from BAMA? I mean, he should have been able take the offensive line from two years ago that was starting 3 guys with no other P5 offers, one of whom was a walk on, and make them NFL quality. And the DC, who inherited a defense that lost 8 starters from the 2018 team and had a front 7 with several talent deficiencies--but he should have been able to make them as good as Clemson's front 7. And our schedule was so easy last year. It's all this staff's fault.

I get so tired of these comments. This one is underwater alright.

There is a staff inability--the inability of the last staff to recruit at a P5 level. You folks who complain about the staff: 1. Fail to see how little talent we have had; 2. Fail to see that we have a good staff considering what we pay (so open your wallet and close your mouth so that we can have seven figure assistant salaries like Clemson); 3. Fail to acknowledge how little practice time we had last year with a young team and new schemes; 4. Will be eating your words soon.

And the issue with Groh was Johnson. One example is that Johnson would not let him hire even one defensive assistant. He was also forced to play with FCS level talent in places because of poor recruiting. Al Groh was well respected for his knowledge of defense. Groh left in disgust.

Your post demonstrates that you fail to understand that even the best coaches can't turn chicken poop into chicken salad. Especially with limited practice time.

I agree about what this staff inherited. I think everyone does. But as much as we all know the talent was low and fully realize that it will take years to build it up, you can hold this staff accountable for running schemes that weren’t working game after game. UCF and Syracuse were the exact same game for 8 quarters and we couldn’t even come close to slowing either down. That Pitt game was the worse schemed game I’ve ever seen. We made their nobody RB look like a Heisman contender. I agree that as the talent improves that Collins, Key, and Thacker will look better but that doesn’t give them a free pass for some horrible schemes. I’m telling you now that Kennesaw is going to bring something to Bobby Dodd and if we don’t have a legit plan we could easily be embarrassed.

 

[Wrecked]

6 wins, anymore is gravy. Next year is the year I expect to win the division.

 

[WreckinGT]

You mean the inability of our head coach, who has been DC at two successful SEC stops and was twice nominated for the Broyles award? Or the inability of our OL coach who came from BAMA? I mean, he should have been able take the offensive line from two years ago that was starting 3 guys with no other P5 offers, one of whom was a walk on, and make them NFL quality. And the DC, who inherited a defense that lost 8 starters from the 2018 team and had a front 7 with several talent deficiencies--but he should have been able to make them as good as Clemson's front 7. And our schedule was so easy last year. It's all this staff's fault.

I get so tired of these comments. This one is underwater alright.

There is a staff inability--the inability of the last staff to recruit at a P5 level. You folks who complain about the staff: 1. Fail to see how little talent we have had; 2. Fail to see that we have a good staff considering what we pay (so open your wallet and close your mouth so that we can have seven figure assistant salaries like Clemson); 3. Fail to acknowledge how little practice time we had last year with a young team and new schemes; 4. Will be eating your words soon.

And the issue with Groh was Johnson. One example is that Johnson would not let him hire even one defensive assistant. He was also forced to play with FCS level talent in places because of poor recruiting. Al Groh was well respected for his knowledge of defense. Groh left in disgust.

Your post demonstrates that you fail to understand that even the best coaches can't turn chicken poop into chicken salad. Especially with limited practice time.

If you think Groh was coaching FCS level talent then there isn't really much of a reason to read the rest of your post.

 

[Jacketman99]

That won't happen. This is one of the reasons I suggested moving Gibbs. We need all of our good players on the field in places where they can contribute.

But … Gibbs won't be moved, even though it would help his NFL prospects. Even if he bulks up another 20 lbs, he won't be the model RB the pros are going with these days.

A little confused by the last statement about Gibbs not being the model rb for the NFL. There are plenty of rbs around Gibbs size in the NFL. He will probably gain another 15 lbs at least by the time he is eligible for the NFL. Guys like Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, LeSean Mccoy, Sony Michel are all within about 10 lbs of where Gibbs is today.