Improvements desired for 15

[1979jacket]

Obviously the defensive line - I think it will. Nervous at linebacker, somebody needs to step up and replace Nealy and McNair and Harrell are gone. So that is a real concern. But something I really want to see is better throwing mechanics from JT. JT is great but at times he still does not set his feet up right and will deliver off his back foot. Shawn Jones while not a great passer, had pretty good mechanics in the NC year as I have watched replays. JT has the arm strength and yes our offense calls for throwing on the run but he can still settle his feet and throw more accurately. If he can do that, he will be dynamite.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Welcome to the board! On offense, if we can maintain what we did last year, I'd be thrilled to death. On defense, you name it. We need to get better everywhere on D, especially the DL. Good thing is that we stand a good chance of doing just that.

 

[Yaller Jacket]

Pass rush, pass rush, pass rush.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Pass rush, pass rush, pass rush.

If Hunt's eligible, if Hunt's eligible, if Hunt's eligible.

 

[Minawreck]

pass rush.

being able to avoid turnovers when attempting to throw the ball away.

more killer mentality on both sides of the ball

 

[GTJake]

DL and replacing Smelter and Waller.

 

[JorgeJonas]

Interesting topic, because it's not necessarily about where our concerns are, but rather where we want to improve incrementally year over year. My initial response was WR, but we were awesome there last year, so there's probably not a lot of room to improve (tons of room to worry, though). I would agree with the earlier posters that DL is where I think we need to see the biggest incremental improvement. Playing with more than six scholarship players should help.

 

[gtg936g]

IMO the SDE is the area we are need of improvement on. We have guys with speed on the line for 3rd and long, but we have to get them there, and take the run away as a 3rd down option.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Up through the UNC game our defense was atrocious. Anyone who disagrees is looking through gold flavored glasses. This includes all 11 positions. Wee need to play like we did against Clemson every game. You can't out score everyone. Defense wins championships.

 

[BabyJacket1990]

I want to see the whole team improve. From every position to even the coaching staff.

 

[CuseJacket]

ESPN: Defense must improve for Georgia Tech to repeat as Coastal champs

By mid-October last season, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets was 5-0 but its defense had been a sieve. Ted Roof was a realist about the situation, but his players weren't quite so attuned to the slim margin of error they'd left themselves.

"Winning can be a hallucinogen for inexperienced players," Roof said. "It masks the imperfections of performance."

 

[iceeater1969]

Keep improving in defensive backfield so we can rotate help and allow cover back to jump more routes.
- 3 pic 6 by mid season would be great way to go into second half.
This could let the sack attack numbers go vertical - 3 against uga!!!

 

[takethepoints]

As usual, the big concern is the D. With Coach, the big concern is always the D. The O will take care of itself, though I'd be surprised if we are as efficient as we were last year.

In fact, I think we'll see the reverse of what we did in '14: the O will take some time to get its feet under it and the D will do better from the first. At least, that's what I'm hoping and what we'll need early on.

 

[bravejason]

By some measures, the offense was record setting last year. It is unrealistic to expect a repeat of that performance given the losses on the offense. CPJ will now have to call plays other than 'run behind Shaq'. And Smelter isn't here anymore for us to run the 3rd-and-who-cares play. Maybe the guys returning can fill those holes, but that could take time and the schedule gets hard at game 3 and game 2 isn't a pushover either (recall that last years halftime score was 24-21). My opinion is that the team needs a big improvement in the defense to compensate for a drop in offensive performance. The offense won't be bad, mind you, but it will be less effective than last year.

 

[GTonTop88]

More 3 and outs

 

[Eastman]

More than 11 wins.

 

[Skeptic]

Obviously the defensive line - I think it will. Nervous at linebacker, somebody needs to step up and replace Nealy and McNair and Harrell are gone. So that is a real concern. But something I really want to see is better throwing mechanics from JT. JT is great but at times he still does not set his feet up right and will deliver off his back foot. Shawn Jones while not a great passer, had pretty good mechanics in the NC year as I have watched replays. JT has the arm strength and yes our offense calls for throwing on the run but he can still settle his feet and throw more accurately. If he can do that, he will be dynamite.

all that may be true, but frankly I don't care if he throws it out of his ear. If he does as well this year as last, we're in business. He will always have that kind of gunfighter/quick draw motion on his throws, and that helps with the quickness of release. And I think we might be amazed at how much better his mechanics would be with more time to throw on his sprint-outs.

 

[Skeptic]

By some measures, the offense was record setting last year. It is unrealistic to expect a repeat of that performance given the losses on the offense. CPJ will now have to call plays other than 'run behind Shaq'. And Smelter isn't here anymore for us to run the 3rd-and-who-cares play. Maybe the guys returning can fill those holes, but that could take time and the schedule gets hard at game 3 and game 2 isn't a pushover either (recall that last years halftime score was 24-21). My opinion is that the team needs a big improvement in the defense to compensate for a drop in offensive performance. The offense won't be bad, mind you, but it will be less effective than last year.

This might be the year the theory of Johnson's plug-and-play at Aback and WR might be proved or disproved. He has always had guys to step in -- Hill for Thomas, Smelter for Hill, Waller for Smelter at WR and a bunch of guys at Aback -- but never so many at once. For some reason and almost irrationally, I feel really good about all of them. We potentially could have more speed on the field at once than anybody ever dreamed of, running out of an offense of four wide receivers at all times and forcing man-to-man downfield coverage. It could make a great running game even better. Hurry, Alcorn.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

ESPN: Defense must improve for Georgia Tech to repeat as Coastal champs

By mid-October last season, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets was 5-0 but its defense had been a sieve. Ted Roof was a realist about the situation, but his players weren't quite so attuned to the slim margin of error they'd left themselves.

"Winning can be a hallucinogen for inexperienced players," Roof said. "It masks the imperfections of performance."

This quote...." The aggressive play calling Roof was forced to use to get to the quarterback last year can be dialed back, and he's optimistic that will translate into fewer big plays allowed."......will have @33jacket chewing his nails.

 

[AE 87]

I like the article and the fact that CPJ has talked about D statistics and the need to get better in a few interviews.

I agree with ...

By some measures, the offense was record setting last year. It is unrealistic to expect a repeat of that performance given the losses on the offense. CPJ will now have to call plays other than 'run behind Shaq'. And Smelter isn't here anymore for us to run the 3rd-and-who-cares play. Maybe the guys returning can fill those holes, but that could take time and the schedule gets hard at game 3 and game 2 isn't a pushover either (recall that last years halftime score was 24-21). My opinion is that the team needs a big improvement in the defense to compensate for a drop in offensive performance. The offense won't be bad, mind you, but it will be less effective than last year.

except about Tulane.