Looking Ahead - Defensive Line

collegeballfan

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What we have on the DL is what we have. Coaches will need to "coach up" several of these guys. They have bowl practice, spring training and the fall pre-season camp plus the workouts with S & C with Sisk. Pelton has a history with coaching up DL.

Confirming that Akins is up to 295 and Robbins at 260.
 

GT_Inta-neer

Georgia Tech Fan
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Boomer has some of the best posts breaking down the team and games. Thanks Boomer!

When CAG was hired as the DC everybody said it would take a few years for his system to be implemented fully and the players to "get it." Is the same true for Coach Roof? I hope so and we start to see a big jump in the quality of the defensive play. I think we already saw a big jump this year and it would be nice to get that much better again next season. The D-line has been thin for a long time, be great if the red shirts could give a big boost.
 

BainbridgeJacket

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Boomer has some of the best posts breaking down the team and games. Thanks Boomer!

When CAG was hired as the DC everybody said it would take a few years for his system to be implemented fully and the players to "get it." Is the same true for Coach Roof? I hope so and we start to see a big jump in the quality of the defensive play. I think we already saw a big jump this year and it would be nice to get that much better again next season. The D-line has been thin for a long time, be great if the red shirts could give a big boost.

I believe Groh was the one who said that, didn't turn out too well. I don't think the scheme is why we will see improvements in the defense. I think that will come more from changes made in how the players are being coached.
 

CobbTech

Jolly Good Fellow
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286
What's the deal with Menocal? Didn't we steal him from Miami? Never redshirted which rarely happens unless the coaches think you're a stud. I've always heard good things about him at practices and now he's a senior?

We really need a guy or two to step up here. It looks like we'll a bigger line next year with a couple 300 lbs guys. We were really small this year. Would it be possible at all that Gotsis would move to DE? Would he even be a good fit there?
 

AE 87

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Performance must be judged against assignment of coaches not hope of fans . We were 17 against the run at 3.43 yds/carry, right behind Bama at 3.37 ypc allowed. It may be that we're hitting 1st year priorities.
 

augustabuzz

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I believe Groh was the one who said that, didn't turn out too well. I don't think the scheme is why we will see improvements in the defense. I think that will come more from changes made in how the players are being coached.
I'm with you, Bainbridge. The Defense was better at fundamentals this year.
 

Mack

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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.
Agree still HSVE to stop the rush first and our front four to me was too small.Pass rush only good with multiple dog calls.we need bigger and stronger guys to compete....but not so sure we get them
 

Mack

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Yep we are not in Kansas as Dorothy said........only way is recruit everywhere you can.....liberal art schools have such a advante over us.
 

ATL1

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If Gotsis can't put on weight move him to DE. He seemed to have played well at that position this year. Good to see there will be some 300lb guys there to clog the middle.
 
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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!

Hello everyone, this is my first post, thanks to the Admin/owner for creating this outlet for GT Sports fans/alums.

Next year will be CPJ's 7th year on campus, has our DL recruiting been so poor that for 2 straight years that we are forced to move a LB to DE to make up for prior year's recruiting mistakes?

After doing everything the GT way, or the CPJ for what is approaching 7 years shouldn't we have DEs in the pipeline that can play ACC level FB?
 
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154
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.

I read an article in where Williams' younger brother was at the UGA game and he mentioned that GT didn't rotate in DLs enough and that's why we wore down in the 2nd half and in OT.

My question is that if Gamble, Kallon, and Commissiong are good enough that we won't miss Attachou and the other Sr. DLs, then shouldn't they have been good enough to sub into some games that weren't blowouts?

It seemed like our DL wore down in many many games because we didn't rotate enough, and my theory is that we didn't rotate more freely because the Coaches didn't trust the talent level of our back-ups, do we really expect the back-ups to improve that much in 1 year.

I think we're in huge trouble on Defense next year.
 

AE 87

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We did not have a great pass rush, but our DL play was not horrible this year either. 9.75% of our opponent's plays were tackled for loss; compare 8.25% for BYUs D and 10.31% for FSU. We were 22nd in yards/carry D against BCS AQ opponents.
 
Messages
154
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?

Can they run?

Robbins and Akins were 240 pounders when they got to GT last year, if they are going to gain that kind of weight, the question is, did they keep their speed.

That is the critical issue for our defensive front-7 players, is that when they put on weight, do they keep their speed, I know for a fact that Kallon looks nothing like he looked in HS when he was fast, quick, and seemed more flexible and explosive.

In fact the way he looks, it doesn't look like Kallon can play BCS level FB at 303 lbs, at that weight Kallon has been very unimpressive.
 
Messages
154
We did not have a great pass rush, but our DL play was not horrible this year either. 9.75% of our opponent's plays were tackled for loss; compare 8.25% for BYUs D and 10.31% for FSU. We were 22nd in yards/carry D against BCS AQ opponents.

Maybe the opposition thought our secondary was an easier "mark"?
 

Ibeeballin

Im a 3*
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6,046
Can they run?

Robbins and Akins were 240 pounders when they got to GT last year, if they are going to gain that kind of weight, the question is, did they keep their speed.

That is the critical issue for our defensive front-7 players, is that when they put on weight, do they keep their speed, I know for a fact that Kallon looks nothing like he looked in HS when he was fast, quick, and seemed more flexible and explosive.

In fact the way he looks, it doesn't look like Kallon can play BCS level FB at 303 lbs, at that weight Kallon has been very unimpressive.


Wrong question. You should be asking are they quick/ explosive? Attaochu is not fast but his first step is vicious. And if they are not quick, they better have a high motor and great hands
 
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154
Next year's Projected Starting Defense, based on our last depth chart from this season. (add 1 year to the player's class below)

DEs
47 Tyler Stargel 6-3 251 r-Fr.
91 Patrick Gamble 6-5 271 r-Fr
DTs
92 Francis Kallon 6-5 303 r-Fr.
96 ADAM GOTSIS 6-5 277 So.
OLBs
35 Tyler Marcordes 6-4 232 r-So.
54 QUAYSHAWN NEALY 6-1 232 r-Jr.
MLB
32 JABARI HUNT-DAYS 6-3 247 r-So.
CBs
27 Lynn Griffin 6-0 195 r-Fr.
28 D.J. WHITE 5-11 184 So.
Safeties
23 Domonique Noble 6-2 204 r-So
12 DEMOND SMITH 6-0 185 r-So.
or I. Johnson

Does anyone think this defense will lead us to a 10-win season?

I haven't looked at the offense given our losses at B-back & A-Back and on the OL.
 

alaguy

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1,117
One fact is true.JAtt can not be replaced-he is #1 sack man in tech history(of course plays more games but still damn good)).
Gotsis is on track to be a fine player-maybe all-conf some day and a good base at DT.
After these 2 facts things are pretty much in air.There is some talent but '14 will be a "learning" exp for all.Translation-unless something changes mightily we will struggle -AGAIN on passrush and be average at best on run.

I see Truitt at NDame and Lawson at awbern and wonder what might have been.
 
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