Griffin, Devine, Marshall, Brigham, Fromayan

redmule

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I think most of us would have been very happy for much of the the time that CPJ has been here to have these five guys as our starting OL next year. I suspect CPJ would put up some very respectable rushing numbers with these guys in the trenches. No disrespect intended, but these are probably second teamers coming out of Spring Practice. Amazing when you consider just two seasons ago, we were scrambling for any OL depth.

When Laskey came into the second halves of uga and MSU, his fresh legs were obvious. Days goes down against uga, and we maybe got better. What will a fresh Griffin, Devine, Marshall, Brigham, and Fromayan do to a worn down DL late in the third quarter? After a CPJ death march to start the second half on a hot afternoon, we get a three and out, and this 'second string' OL comes into the game; an experienced and talented line that will have had significant time together playing as a unit. Four of these will still be here when we are breaking in a new QB in 2017. We have not had anything like this in my memory. How did this happen? Where did it come from? Somebody deserves a lot of credit. Do you realize what an advantage it gives an offense like ours? I think our offensive numbers are going to be even more impressive. When FSU was so ridiculous in the 90's, it was because their depth meant starters only had to play half the time. That kept everybody rested, healthy, and experienced. Is our offense at that stage?

Nobody, nobody has enough DL depth. It's sorta like pitching in baseball. We constantly complain that we don't have enough to the point that it has become a ritual. It reminds me of "Carthago delende est". Possibly Eric could just default "We need to get more DL" into the opening line of every new post as sooner or later it winds up in almost every thread. If you can't get enough DL of your own, then get enough OL to neutralize the other teams DL. That seems to me to be where we are.

For fifty years, I have watched uga score late or stop us late to win because we ran out of depth. Once or twice a decade, they beat us just on talent. Usually at least once a decade, the refs award the game to uga. The rest of our losses were not because the horses we had were not good, they just had more horses. Do you really think that is going to be the case the next few years? Unless this year's signees really stink, I don't either.

I hope JT wins a Heisman, but I just as much want one of these guys to win an Outland or a Remington.
 

nod

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Good stuff, agree with primary point you are making.
Not sure C Griffin won't be the no 1 right tackle, he was for most part of last year.
 

SidewalkJacket

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This is my biggest reason for optimism going forward under CPJ. It took some time, but the staff finally was able to get a handle on OL recruiting, and land the best road-grading run blockers they could find who otherwise weren't seen as prototypical pass-pro guys.

(By the way, I take full credit for Burden. I turned him into Andres Gallaraga at 1B in middle school. Not sure how that translates to his football success, but I'm sure it was the key...)
 

Northeast Stinger

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Nice post and nice thread. Optimism abounds for the future for this offense due in large part to one of the best offensive lines in the South.
 

alaguy

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We might know if we really have depth through the Sprg game.If we have a ball moving/hi scoring game with Offense LOS dominating on both teams(with all the young backs and WRs) then it might be true.
 

Ibeeballin

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Even though it may shake out this way, the confidence in Gary Brown is extremely high. There is no way,in my opinion, Shamire will be left off 1st team at RG unless he is 400lbs. GB ceiling may be high, but we have seen Devine play at a high level vs. high level players. If so, I wouldn't be surprised if he transfers out
 

iceeater1969

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Can coach dials up some jumbo packages and some speed packages to further complicate the job of the opponents defense? We have dropped in one or two at a time usually in the third quarter.
In past on another site - I heard a lot of " play the first string every play for every game" .
IMO - We may skip a beat by liberal substitutions early in the year, but it pays off in the last 5 games.

It would be so great to see the second team ol go in about midway in the third quarter and then the third string midway in the fourth.The off season is getting to me - I am getting delusional!
 

Eastman

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Hope we see much more of Byerly this year from larger leads earlier in the game due to 1) improved defensive play and 2) offensive (Orange Bowl level) dominance. It also will be nice not to have to cross my fingers for the entire game worrying about injuries, although I will still be crossing them regarding the d-line :)
 

redmule

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I agree that Griffin and Devine should be listed more as 1A than 2. Also, I expect we will see more mix and match rather than two distinct O-lines even though the possibility is there. If I'm the coach, I look more for match ups depending on the DL we're up against. I'll bet the faces of the nine experienced O-Line players are the last thing that flits before CPJ's and Sewak's eyes as they drift off to sleep each night. Probably JT's, too.

To me, CPJ's offense is all about the QB and the OL. With those two pieces in place, RB's and WR's become a commodity. Nice to have good ones, but even just decent ones will be very serviceable. And I do think the RB's and WR's we have in the pipeline can be good ones.

Which gets to the overall point that I've been making in several posts these last few months. Kind of suddenly, we are getting deeper and more talented at most positions in comparison to our history over the last 25 years, and we've had some success in that time. Have a couple more close VT games and three or four of the close uga games where we ran out of gas go our way since 1990, and things look a lot different. We would then be a consistent Top15, uga would have endured at least one more coaching transition, we have been to a couple more Orange Bowls, and we have many more fannies in the stadium. I like where we are, and think we are going to be seeing something on North Avenue that hasn't been seen since us old farts were youngsters. I think an early tell next year will be if our pass defense picks up where it left off with the number of interceptions. That will, I think, be the best indicator of the health of our Defense; whether last year was a fluke or a beginning. Don't forget, we lost Thomas, Attachou, and Watts (our best DB, DL, and LB) to the NFL and got better overall by the end of the season. Interestingly, we lose a DB, DL, and a LB this year also. I mean no disrespect when I say that the losses of the 2013 D were more substantial than the losses off the 2014 edition, so maybe the odds favor continued improvement in the D. I think the offensive talent and depth is a couple of good recruiting years ahead of the defense. We'll have to see if this year's defensive recruits can close that gap.

The last 35 days of the regular season this year, we play FSU, UVA, VT, Miami, and uga. For most of the last 25 years, that would be a Murder's Row given our thin late season depth and their recruiting advantages. And it may yet prove to be our undoing. But this year, I think they will find a more capable Tech team waiting for them in November. Lots of good players with three and four years of experience in the system, fewer nagging injuries, better rested. UVA, VT, and Miami have gotten into the habit of late season collapses. Let's hope it continues, and we ride that momentum into Thanksgiving.
 

Techster

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As with most players with elite talent level (which I consider Devine), the only thing holding Devine back is himself. If he works hard, and does what the coaches want...he's got the highest ceiling of any OL that's stepped foot on GT since...? If he has the career Shaq Mason had, Shamire will be a high round NFL pick.

The OL is the main reason I'm super optimistic about our offense for the next few years. As good as JeT is, and he's VERY good, I don't think he's as good as he was without the OL. Last year was probably the best the OL has looked in both the run and pass game I that I can remember under CPJ. The guys coming off redshirts and coming in may be more talented than some of the starters last year. It was a joy last year to see our OL wear down the other team...and pretty much doing what they want in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Good to finally be on that side of getting physically owned. Now teams have to brace for an even bigger and more athletic OL set from GT.
 

AE 87

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Can coach dials up some jumbo packages and some speed packages to further complicate the job of the opponents defense? We have dropped in one or two at a time usually in the third quarter.
In past on another site - I heard a lot of " play the first string every play for every game" .
IMO - We may skip a beat by liberal substitutions early in the year, but it pays off in the last 5 games.

It would be so great to see the second team ol go in about midway in the third quarter and then the third string midway in the fourth.The off season is getting to me - I am getting delusional!

We already use different packages.
 

iceeater1969

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With some added speed at ab and bb - expect some break away runs in the second half as ol wears out some of the teams with out depth.
 

MidtownJacket

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Hoping this thread is correct.. Assuming we stay healthy through the spring I can see some big time domination coming in the 3rd and 4th Qs of games
 

iopjacket

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We will have four senior members of the OL next year. Three if O'Reily leaves early. With Chambelain, Braun, and Joe gone next year. DeVine, Marshall, Burden, Griffin, and one of Klock, Fromayon, Stickler, or Preddy will start. We need to keep everybody happy next year, because their time to be starters is coming.
 

OldJacketFan

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Not to beat a dead horse but as Eric said, look at the 3rd string linemen and tell me when has Tech ever had such quality top to bottom.? I've watched a helluva lot of Tech teams and I don't ever remember this much quality 1-15! It's like I said on the "speed" thread, when has anyone seen Tech bring in a single class of backs like the '15 class? CPJ leading, the coaching staff stability and the hours, days, weeks and months of the support staff identifying the types of young men who are a fit at Tech all the way around has been wonderful to watch. What I'm, as a fan, are most excited about is the feeling the best is yet to come!
 
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