Justin Thomas 2013 highlights

[OldJacketFan]

You know, the young man is just.......................fast!!!!!!!!

 

[ATL1]

Honest question: Would you you rather he suck so Johnson get fired O?

No. I always want success for GT.
Regardless if it's Johnson or O'Leary are the head coach, I want GT to win the NC.
I may not be the biggest fan of Johnson's offense but if it wins consistently and wins big occasionally I'll be the first to happily eat crow and yell he's the best coach in the history of mankind.

Notice in the film he doesn't throw to his right.

 

[gtg936g]

Kind of makes me wonder if he's coached to do that. I could see it being a coaching point on certain plays or against certain defenses. JT's speed could make it be coached different. He can take away angles of a defender and out flank them with his speed. However, his strength will not be breaking arm tackles from DL, so if he goes straight down the line, the DL has a chance to reach out and grab him. But, if he gets a little depth it gives him the room to beat everyone to the corner.

I may be completely off on that, as I agreed with you when I first saw him do this. It's his consistency in doing this that has me wondering. Stylee, Steebu, Boomer, Bueller?

I think it is more instincts than coaching. I think he knows he can beat them if he can get their shoulders turned one way then foot race to the edge.

A point for thought... How many defenses are deep enough to chase him around for 4 quarters?

 

[AE 87]

I think it is more instincts than coaching. I think he knows he can beat them if he can get their shoulders turned one way then foot race to the edge.

A point for thought... How many defenses are deep enough to chase him around for 4 quarters?

17?

 

[GTNavyNuke]

This video of JT in 2013 reminds me of Vad 2012 videos. We'll see what happens when JT plays 60% of the time. I hope he is the real deal, but most of his big plays were in trash time (like Vad in 2012).

JT had a QB rating of 114 on 17 attempts (brought down largely by 2 being interceptions). This is an awful rating.

What I like about JT is that he is exciting and takes risks. He should do better next year. I love the pitch when he is being hit. JT is exciting and that seems to be something that got beat out of TW and Vad for whatever reason. I know it's important not to make mistakes, but when you play not to lose; you don't win. If JT keeps his mojo, we'll have an entertaining team.

 

[GTonTop88]

Nesbitt was very risky also, but we won when he was here. Maybe thats something weve been missing?? Being conservative in big games against top tier opponents doesnt seem to work out, somebody has to step up and make plays even when they are not there. I think MOMENTUM has been our biggest problem the past four years. We havent been able to capitalize on it, but we have given it up in several games. We have a hard time creating it in most big games.

 

[Old School]

I think the offense is going to look much different with Thomas at the helm. He turns average plays into explosion plays, and potential losses into modest gains. There will be mistakes, but I can live with that. He's going to drive defensive coordinators crazy.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Nesbitt was very risky also, but we won when he was here. Maybe thats something weve been missing?? Being conservative in big games against top tier opponents doesnt seem to work out, somebody has to step up and make plays even when they are not there. I think MOMENTUM has been our biggest problem the past four years. We havent been able to capitalize on it, but we have given it up in several games. We have a hard time creating it in most big games.

The biggest problem that Vad had was he got very timid. He started getting timid incrementally after the UNC game in 2012 where he took a massive hit that wasn't "needed".

I don't know if CPJ selects QBs who are timid*; players became timid because of CPJ's coaching / play calling; or that is just how it has turned out. You have to go back to CPJ's Southern days to find fire eaters who played QB (Tracy Ham). I have missed the excitement that JN brought to the game -- and the big wins.

*(JN doesn't count in my mind since CPJ had NO choice with JN as he was the only reasonable candidate for QB. JN remains my favorite recent GT QB.)

 

[MGTfan]

This video of JT in 2013 reminds me of Vad 2012 videos. We'll see what happens when JT plays 60% of the time. I hope he is the real deal, but most of his big plays were in trash time (like Vad in 2012).

This is where I disagree. Go back to Vad's 2012 highlights and see if you can find a single one where he is running the true triple option. Both of JT's huge TD runs came on the 3O.

 

[Longestday]

Vad had a lot going for him. There was a lot in the film to say he would have a better year. He did show a tendency in 2012 to not trust the system and could not read/call checks. This was the only glaring issue.

I believe the true difference is his drive to play this system. The Vad of 2012 would never slide or let up on a first down run/conversion. There was a difference from the spring of 2013 to the 2013 football season. I believe he spent to much time with other team's QBs and hired coach hearing how he is wasting his time in our system. I don't know this, but I find it conceivable.

So, don't beat yourself up as reading Vad wrong. Vad changed not the film.

 

[GTJason]

Am i the only one who thinks Vad would have been much better this year (in general not than JT?) Had he trusted the system the offense would have opened up to do what he wanted. JT will show that this year IMO. Don't be surprised to see him do a lot of the things we expected out of Vad. Burn people with the 3o and that pass gets a little easier. Vad never trusted in it

 

[GTNavyNuke]

This is where I disagree. Go back to Vad's 2012 highlights and see if you can find a single one where he is running the true triple option. Both of JT's huge TD runs came on the 3O.

True about the TO. When I said the videos looked similar, I was talking mainly about athleticism in the ability to scramble and have a stronger more accurate arm than TW. I assumed (*** out of u and me) that Vad was The One and would get better. Thus, I've been jilted and will wait to see JT on the field.

I like the way Byerly runs the TO the best, he either rides the mesh longer or makes the correct call faster and gets the ball into space when the D has committed and is out of position. But for Byerly, I haven't seen enough of his arm to know what we may have.

As a side note, all the talk about Vad not playing well because he wasn't fully committed is to question CPJ's coaching ability or JT. If you really believe that Vad wasn't committed, then you believe that CPJ didn't see it coming. If CPJ did see Vad being uncommitted, then he didn't think enough of JTs ability to give him more playing time. I think Vad was committed but just needed to work things out in his head.

 

[GTonTop88]

 

[Buzztheirazz]

That td run against Virginia was pretty sick. He is sooooo much faster than anyone we've had at qb in Johnson's tenure. He also has a very quick release on his throws.

Looking forward to seeing him play full time.

He's a lot like mariota at Oregon. We've been needing the pat white type qb to really open up and spread the defenders. I think we'll be gashing people again this year.

 

[vamosjackets]

A youtube video within a youtube video. Does time go slower in this case?

Even then, JT is still fast.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Here's another example of how Justin trumps Vad on the keeper. At 1:28 in the video, we run triple option to the right. The playside Aback, Days I think, whiffs bad on a cut block on the safety. Justin's so fast, he gets by the safety even though he's in relatively good position due to the missed block. Vad goes down in that same situation. JT scores a td. Little things like that make a huge difference.

The biggest problem that Vad had was he got very timid. He started getting timid incrementally after the UNC game in 2012 where he took a massive hit that wasn't "needed".

I don't know if CPJ selects QBs who are timid*; players became timid because of CPJ's coaching / play calling; or that is just how it has turned out. You have to go back to CPJ's Southern days to find fire eaters who played QB (Tracy Ham). I have missed the excitement that JN brought to the game -- and the big wins.

*(JN doesn't count in my mind since CPJ had NO choice with JN as he was the only reasonable candidate for QB. JN remains my favorite recent GT QB.)

TW wasn't timid. He had that innate ability to avoid big hits. Vad didn't.

 

[redmule]

Thomas is no doubt a better fit at qb in the TO than VL. Because of that, he will most likely make the players around him better since they were recruited to play in the TO and have been practicing it for several years. Looking back, I would classify last year as confused. That's sorta how the offense looked to me for most of the year and especially the VT game. A couple of games, it clicked, but otherwise is just wasn't smooth. I expect a more polished TO than what we saw last year but with a higher risk/reward execution. More balls on the ground but with more big plays. In '12 we won 7 games with a confused defense, and in '13 we won 7 games with a confused offense. I hope that less confusion translates into a couple more wins

One other thing I expect to see is more of Byerly and earlier. We are thin at qb now. Thomas gets a sprain, there's Byerly, and there's not much behind him. I would bet we see Days at qb before Jordan. For a number of reasons, Byerly will play more as backup than either JT did last year or VL did the year before I suspect.

We will lay some points on people next year if JT stays healthy, but it's up to the defense to hold up their end if we are going to win the offensive shootouts we will have with Clemson and uga. Is '14 the year that defense wins us a big game or will we have to wait on that until '15? We must ramp up offensive and defensive efficiency in '14. Otherwise we might be looking at a Fukushima type melt down with the schedule that we face in '15.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

He also has a very quick release on his throws.

Yes he does.

 

[Boomergump]

Thomas is no doubt a better fit at qb in the TO than VL. Because of that, he will most likely make the players around him better since they were recruited to play in the TO and have been practicing it for several years. Looking back, I would classify last year as confused. That's sorta how the offense looked to me for most of the year and especially the VT game. A couple of games, it clicked, but otherwise is just wasn't smooth. I expect a more polished TO than what we saw last year but with a higher risk/reward execution. More balls on the ground but with more big plays. In '12 we won 7 games with a confused defense, and in '13 we won 7 games with a confused offense. I hope that less confusion translates into a couple more wins

One other thing I expect to see is more of Byerly and earlier. We are thin at qb now. Thomas gets a sprain, there's Byerly, and there's not much behind him. I would bet we see Days at qb before Jordan. For a number of reasons, Byerly will play more as backup than either JT did last year or VL did the year before I suspect.

We will lay some points on people next year if JT stays healthy, but it's up to the defense to hold up their end if we are going to win the offensive shootouts we will have with Clemson and uga. Is '14 the year that defense wins us a big game or will we have to wait on that until '15? We must ramp up offensive and defensive efficiency in '14. Otherwise we might be looking at a Fukushima type melt down with the schedule that we face in '15.

I like the confused description. It is pretty accurate if you ask me. We never really established an identity on offense. We tried a bunch of stuff that was really only lukewarm in terms of execution and ended up sticking with a watered down fake option scheme.

 

[takethepoints]

Since we're watching films today, let's try this one:



That's Keenan Reynolds. He's about the same size as JT (5' 11", 185). JT may have a half step of speed on him, but they're close. This is what we have to hope we see at Grant Field next year. If JT is 80% of this guy – and I think he very well might be – we will crush some people. I mean, crush them.

Here's hoping I'm right.

ps: You will notice that Reynolds has no problems with the midline. Too fast for the D to get a bead on him.