Lack of QB Progression

[awbuzz]

Pass blocking for JT has been "subpar" this year... makes last year almost look like the NFL Bronco's passpro.

 

[yellojello]

Don't you have some dishes to wash

NM

 

[yellojello]

Learn to block the trolls.

I watched Georgia Southern platoon QB's as well. I think in this offense it most likely a necessity to do that, but CPJ is stubborn. It would also help to put JT in the gun more, & I know some of the players agree that would help JT out but Paul's not gonna do it, even despite gun plays being in his playbook.

I don't know how much of the passing game is worked on by coach and if it's made a priority for him enough to make it a consistent part of the game plan even when the run is working. IMO the passing game needs to work on getting skill players in space more but that's deaf ear thoughts.

Good point. Done!

 

[forensicbuzz]

Only the coaches know what's appropriate. That wasn't an option, so I'm not voting.

 

[Declinometer]

https://gtswarm.com/threads/jimmys-and-joes.8085/page-3#post-183916

Who was the first to see and say it.

 

[wvGT11]

Lack of progression or regression goes hand and hand with the O-line performance especially with this offense. The thing that I have noticed compared to last year though is leadership, JT felt like a leader last year and this year with so much confusion on the line, it seems like he has lost some of those qualities

 

[B Lifsey]

JT felt like a leader last year and this year with so much confusion on the line, it seems like he has lost some of those qualities

I think JT was more the example of a winner to follow last year than leader. A big problem this year is the true leaders have moved on - Days, Shaq and Smelter.

 

[Skeptic]

Like winning the shortest midget contest. JN threw better

Now I like a joke as well as the next guy. Until TW started throwing fluttering butterflies, Nesbitt was the worst passer since, well, anybody. The quintessential throw-it-through-a-battleship ... but couldn't hit the battleship.

 

[Skeptic]

I don't think it is fair to say running the midline isn't JT's thing. Getting yards after contact may not be JT's thing, but the midline has a lot to do with a speedy guard that can get out and open a lane. Bring Shaq back, and JT would look good running the midline . Just like he did vs Mississippi State.

I have to admit I don't get it it either, given past success, and given that Navy's QB has made a career of the midline, all the way to a TD record.

 

[Skeptic]

Learn to block the trolls.

I watched Georgia Southern platoon QB's as well. I think in this offense it most likely a necessity to do that, but CPJ is stubborn. It would also help to put JT in the gun more, & I know some of the players agree that would help JT out but Paul's not gonna do it, even despite gun plays being in his playbook.

I don't know how much of the passing game is worked on by coach and if it's made a priority for him enough to make it a consistent part of the game plan even when the run is working. IMO the passing game needs to work on getting skill players in space more but that's deaf ear thoughts.

Getting skilled players into space more? Why has Johnson never thought of that? If that is a problem, it is, then the problem really is that our skilled players can't create any space. At this level one seldom gets the uncontested completion and needs to use his arms and body to create some room. Waller got good at it. Smelter was a master at it. Ditto D. Thomas. Hill just used his sprinter's speed to create it. Then forgot to catch it too often, but nobody's perfect.

 

[GTJake]

I thought after last year JT was Heisman Trophy caliber good, he's not and I am not willing to give him a free pass because of the OL.
Sure the lack of blocking has contributed, but IMO his footwork and passing accuracy is terrible.
I think some (maybe most) of his success last year was contributed to our skill position players.
I also think, though I really don't have anything to back this up, he may have been paying to much attention to his press clippings ???

 

[Mechaniik]

Lol, seriously, JT has played fine this year, he definitely isn't the problem. It's also amazing how people show less 'leadership' when the players around them are less talented and/or younger.

 

[daBuzz]

Lol, seriously, JT has played fine this year, he definitely isn't the problem. It's also amazing how people show less 'leadership' when the players around them are less talented and/or younger.

Actually, JT is indeed part of the problem. Not only has CPJ said so, but a buddy of mine who's on the coaching staff said so as well.

He said that JT is trying to do too much...said he wasn't sure if it was a product of reading press clippings or just feeling the weight of making plays on his shoulders too much. He also said that Justin is supremely confident in his abilities and sometimes that gets him in trouble. Now, he stressed that Justin was not the primary problem...that falls on the blocking of both the offensive line and the A- and B-backs.

But he said that sometimes a player or players will break through and instead of just throwing the ball away, he'll try to scramble and evade the rush. While that's an admirable trait, when it is inevitable that he's likely to go down (2 or 3 players have a direct bead on him), the smarter play is to throw the ball away out of bounds. Even if that means we have to punt. But when he takes a sack and we lose 10 or 15 yards, that puts the offense in a hole that is very difficult to get out of...often leading to us being forced to pass even more...and the defense knows that a pass is more likely.

 

[IronJacket7]

Time will tell if we get that guy. What we need is someone who can run the mid-line and get tough yards on the interior like Nesbitt, have a great 7 step drop passing and see over the line like Vad Lee, make reads like Washington, and have breakaway speed, elusiveness, and passing accuracy like JT. That isn't too much to ask, is it?

I'm thinking we are headed in the right direction. Most of our QBs coming up are in the 6'2 range. I feel like the prototype on our board should be in the 6'1" - 6'2" range and in the 210-220lbs. That would be ideal imo.

 

[B Lifsey]

But he said that sometimes a player or players will break through and instead of just throwing the ball away, he'll try to scramble and evade the rush.

Sometimes is being nice

 

[00Burdell]

I have no idea why people think JT is not a good passer. In my book he is far and away the best passing QB we have had at GT in the CPJ era. Who would you put ahead of him?

I'll probably get laughed off the board for this but I thought Vad was CPJ's best pure passer at Tech. I just think we didn't have the right coach or the right offense to develop his talent nor did he have the right disposition for it.

 

[GaTech4ever]

I'm thinking we are headed in the right direction. Most of our QBs coming up are in the 6'2 range. I feel like the prototype on our board should be in the 6'1" - 6'2" range and in the 210-220lbs. That would be ideal imo.

Last year some of us were praising how JTs height actually gave him an advantage in the mesh. Guess it's never as good or as bad as it seems.

 

[IronJacket7]

Last year some of us were praising how JTs height actually gave him an advantage in the mesh. Guess it's never as good or as bad as it seems.

Hmmm... I have never praised JT for his height. He is a great QB and athlete however.

 

[forensicbuzz]

My thought, watching all season, has been that JT has tried to take too much on to his own shoulders. Where he looked comfortable and let the play come to him last year, he seems to press more this year. With the cast of experience around him, it's understandable. I think the experience around JT last year let him focus on being a distributor rather than the whole show. It doesn't look to me like JT has full confidence in those around him. I think he's being coached to "rely on others" and he has forced himself to "give" the ball away, when he might not want to. I think his lack of confidence in his teammates and a conscious effort to include his teammates has led to poor reads.

I'm sure there's much more to it than this, and this may have been covered before (I tend to skip much of the ranting, and good discussion, when we're losing), but this is just my opinion based on my observations. I noticed it first with the ND game, and it's not gotten better.

 

[Skeptic]

Actually, JT is indeed part of the problem. Not only has CPJ said so, but a buddy of mine who's on the coaching staff said so as well.

He said that JT is trying to do too much...said he wasn't sure if it was a product of reading press clippings or just feeling the weight of making plays on his shoulders too much. He also said that Justin is supremely confident in his abilities and sometimes that gets him in trouble. Now, he stressed that Justin was not the primary problem...that falls on the blocking of both the offensive line and the A- and B-backs.

But he said that sometimes a player or players will break through and instead of just throwing the ball away, he'll try to scramble and evade the rush. While that's an admirable trait, when it is inevitable that he's likely to go down (2 or 3 players have a direct bead on him), the smarter play is to throw the ball away out of bounds. Even if that means we have to punt. But when he takes a sack and we lose 10 or 15 yards, that puts the offense in a hole that is very difficult to get out of...often leading to us being forced to pass even more...and the defense knows that a pass is more likely.

No question that this is part, a piece, of the problem, but the major pieces are the inexperienced receivers and Abacks, and the often abysmal blocking up front. Whether our guys are too slow, too confused, too inexperienced, I don't know. But every game we have played since the first two the middle linebacker has been running around like a center fielder, a good one, and everybody else is running the bulls ... at Thomas. Last season even when blocking broke down Thomas was able to slither away, sometimes crazily deep behind the LOS, and either throw it away or make a play. But now he is retreating far behind his blockers and the DEs and LBs are teeing off, sealing him off, and if they don't get him, he is nailed by the MLB up the middle. Not pretty. I don't have an answer but Johnson and crew know they have to come up with it before next season because -- and I say this as a Johnson supporter -- another one approaching '15 and it is all over. I don't think the AD would have any choice. I'd hate it, but there it is.