Looking Ahead - Defensive Line

Boomergump

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Every year at this time I like to look ahead and analyze the roster a little, taking an in depth look at each position group. I don't comment on recruits because, until they sign, it isn't worth the effort. I also leave out walk-ons unless they have gotten significant snaps on offense or defense.

At DE:
GONE: are Jeremiah Attaochu and Emmanuel Dieke. Attaochu, despite probably playing out of position for his last two years will go down as one of TECH's best ever pass rushers. At times it looked like he was all alone getting pressure. His career is full of huge plays and one single huge penalty. Nearly every game he played in, he left some kind of substantial mark. He will most likely play at 3-4 OLB in the NFL. Dieke, while having a prototype body for the position, never really made an impact. He lacked the explosiveness off the ball and agility to give anybody trouble. He was rarely doubled and yet was silent most of the time. The vast majority of plays he made were steered into him rather than him whipping somebody and making a play. Of the two, JA will be the tough one to replace without having a drop off.

RETURNING WITH PLAYING TIME: are Anthony Williams (R-SR) 6-4, 237, Patrick Gamble (R-SO)6-5, 271 and Tyler Stargell (R-SO) 6-3, 251. Williams has been a big disappointment in terms of earning any meaningful playing time despite plenty of time in the system. He appeared to have the quicks if not the strength to have an impact on the edge. I thought the move to a 4-3 would help him a lot, but it never materialized. He is set to graduate and I would not be surprised if he packs it in and moves on with his life. Gamble is a bit of a tweener. He is a little light in his pants for DT and maybe not quite quick enough to make a huge impact at DE. Having seen him on film this season, it is hard to imagine him being substantially more effective than Dieke. On the other hand Stargell is all DE. He saw limited action as a sub this season with mixed results. He looks to have potential, but never really left a huge imprint on any game he played in.

OTHER RETURNERS: are Nick Menocal (SR) 6-3, 248, Roderick Chungong (R-SO)6-3, 263, and Kevin Robbins (R-FR)6-4, 230. To this point Menocal has been mostly a STs player and it hard to see that changing. I have no real observations of either Chungong or Robbins.

Needless to say, I am concerned about taking a step back at this position. Barring a surprising step up from somebody, we may be in some trouble.

At DT:

GONE: is Euclid Cummings. Euclid steadily improved over the course of his tenure on the flats but he never became a force that the opposition needed to plan for. He rarely faced double teams or made huge plays. I would characterize him as an average DT for this level of play. Replacing him without a drop off will not be as difficult as it will be for Attaochu.

RETURNING WITH PLAYING TIME: are Shawn Green (R-SR) 6-0, 280, Jimmy Kitchens (R-JR)6-3, 279, Adam Gotsis (JR) 6-5, 277 and Francis Kallon (R-SO) 6-5, 303. Green has been an oft injured sub player for us recently. He is a solid situational type player who is adept at getting low, firing off the ball, and knifing into gaps. 3rd and 4th and short are his specialty, where he struggles in the pass rush. He will be valuable to us even if not as a full time starter. Kitchens got a lot of time as a sub and was pretty much on even terms production wise with Cummings. He has some potential to be a major contributor, but he will need to get serious about his strength and conditioning in the off season. At this point he has yet to prove that he is the heir apparent. Gotsis has been a starter as a true sophomore all season. The progress he has made has been remarkable over that time. However, he needs to improve his upper body strength and general football playing acumen. If he continues to improve at the rate he has, we may be looking at an all conference type player before he is done. All signs point up with him. Kallon pretty much came to GT as a football virgin. Of all the guys in this position group, he has the prototype body and athletic ability. He has just been unable to master the techniques required to successfully battle in the trenches. Word from the coaches is that he is starting to "get it". If this is true, we may be seeing a huge step forward at DT next season. IMHO, there is no more important person on defense that needs to make that kind of jump.

OTHER RETURNERS: are Justin Akins (R-FR) 6-4, 240 and Darius Commishiong (R-FR) 6-3, 305. Both kids have good reps. It will be interesting to see if they can step up and have a meaningful role.

IN SUMMARY: The most likely outcome is that we improve some on the interior. Gotsis will most likely be better and the potential for others to step up is there. However, on the outside, it will be a lot more difficult to avoid taking a step back. So, the personality of the DL should change some, but I anticipate having this remain the weak point of the defense in 2014.
 

OldJacketFan

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Nice write up, Boomer. Gotsis is just ready to explode and let's hope the light comes on for the very physically gifted Kallon. Both Akins and Robbins have huge upsides and as I posted earlier I would not be surprised at all to see both on the 2 deep. Tech may be deeper with talent that it's been in a long time on the D Line, some of it is young but its hard to deny the talent level.
 

bat_082994

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So what do you think in terms of starters on the dline next year? Gamble/Kallon/Gotsis/Stargel?
Also, do you think Gamble bulks up some more and slides inside?
 

BainbridgeJacket

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If we get Kendarius Whitehead, we could take a step forward next year. I think we'll improve drastically at DT as Pelton gets more time with Gotsis and everything I've heard points to Commissiong being a contributor.
 

kg01

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Super write-up. Really appreciate the effort.

Hope your bleak outlook on the DE's is wrong although I tend to agree with you. Hope the JUCO kid sees the opportunity and gets past the Hill. Per the 247 article, sounds like he really likes GT.
 

pinglett

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If we get Kendarius Whitehead, we could take a step forward next year. I think we'll improve drastically at DT as Pelton gets more time with Gotsis and everything I've heard points to Commissiong being a contributor.
I agree, getting Whitehead would be awesome, and if I recall correctly, both Pelton and Roof were extremely high on Commissiong. Almost burned his redshirt.
 

Jerry the Jacket

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I think we will be forced to move one of our existing LB's to DE to try and address the concern for lack of a pass rush. I think Jabari best represents the size, speed and physical strength needed to play that position. I think with Harrell returning and hopefully Beau Hankins and PJ Davis being better we can handle the LB position w/o Jabari. We might look at some others to move to DE as well. Perhaps Marcodes if he bulks up and Travis if he commits to getting stronger.

Go Jackets!
 

AE 87

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Reasons for concern:
- inconsistency in pass rush outside of JA
- no obvious replacement of JA's production
- little/ no trusted depth vs georgie

Reasons for optimism:
- improved rush D this past year
- team concept D
-Pelton and Roof
 

Stonewall

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we seriously need to quit whiffing on the stud, close call recruits who flirt like hell with us but we can't land. i love seeing the "under the radar" types like gotsis come into their own. but, we need some "oven-ready" recruits that aren't projects to get us where we need to be.
 

OldJacketFan

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we seriously need to quit whiffing on the stud, close call recruits who flirt like hell with us but we can't land. i love seeing the "under the radar" types like gotsis come into their own. but, we need some "oven-ready" recruits that aren't projects to get us where we need to be.

I agree but my question remains. How does Tech improve closing on these "oven-ready" recruits? Not trying to be a smart a** but I see this kind of statement posted but I never see anyone state how to improve. This is not an issue endemic to Tech alone, it probably applies to all but the top 5-10 programs in college football.
 

Stonewall

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Not trying to be a smart a** but I see this kind of statement posted but I never see anyone state how to improve.

you, i, nor anyone else "armchair recruiting" on the web aren't paid $2 million + a year to land these recruits. that expertise is supposed to lie with those who make the bucks--and, the decisions--on how/when/where to recruit. as for posters across various forums not giving their $.02 on this topic, i disagree. it's been discussed in many a "dead horse" thread on the various incarnations of the old bbuzzoff for years. been some great discussions on the "stanford model" or recruiting, if one wants to give it a name.

i do agree recruiting ain't easy. but, at the same time we don't have to land 4-5 big fish every class on D. at least 1 or 2 isn't beyond the rainbow.
 

OldJacketFan

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The Stanford model? Does that consist of being able to offer 118 degree programs and being in one of the prettiest areas of CA and offering it's SAs a ongoing list of the easiest classes to take and who had absolutely minimal excellence in their football program until they did so? That Stanford model? ;)
 

babuka

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DLine is far and away the biggest personnel issue in the CPJ era. It has been poor every year but his first. I like what Pelton is doing and think if he and Roof had been here the whole time some players would have been developed better. I sure hope the freshman and incoming talent will be good. DLine was probably Gaileys best recruited position. It can be done. DLine is very important in college football.
 

ATL1

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Great Write Up

- Coaches from what I've read really like Gamble. I haven't seen it on the field but they from what I understand they really like the kid.
- Maybe one of the hopeful incoming freshman can make an impact on the field.
- These weights have to be updated.
 

OldJacketFan

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Per Eric's RS update Commissiong is a 300lb, Robbins at 270lb and Akins at 260lb. I would suspect the others are getting bigger/stronger as well :) Maybe Merriwether or Preddy can step up as true freshmen at the WDE position?
 

GTrob21

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Love the write up Boomer,

I will add, I am really not concerned with the DL from all the rumblings from the coaches and people who are around the team. Yes we loose sneezy, but Gamble, Commissiong and Kallon I think will more than make up for the loss of Sneezy and Cummings.

Also I agree with you about Williams, I think he is going to to leave Tech with his degree in hand.
 

CornerBlitz

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Great write up and thanks for the insight.

Gostis seemed to get stronger each game; however, we seem very average beyond him. I sure hope the light bulb clicks on for Kallon.

Maybe some of the folks that keep up with recruiting can let us know if our redshirts or commits look promising.
 
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