Looking at the roster...

[jayparr]

I like you list in the below order.

Defensive line > it all starts here on defense. If we can't fill running lanes(fall off blocks) or generate pressure none of our other position groups are going to succeed.
Offensive Line > I think they are second on the list because my subdued optimism thinks Long can do a slightly better job than CDP did scheming towards weak/strong parts of the line.
Defensive Backs > While the defense starts with the DL, this area is where we have to make the biggest improvement. Collins needs to prove his worth here next year.
Linebackers > I think brining back leader(s) like Elay and Thomas will help push the young-ins to make a big impact in this group. The talent is there.

And those ol man were not good at all! After the ball was snapped they would wonder around in a small area wondering what to do or where do I go now!

 

[Sheboygan]

Yes, they can. Not to say they will, but it's possible that we very well could have a worse OL than last year.

According to my quick count, we only have 5 seniors and 14 juniors. That is a very young team. Young team + new coaching staff + CGC = ?
But if CGC needs an excuse for lack of progress this season, it's a possibility. Worth trying to get another $3 million, amiright ?

 

[bobongo]

According to my quick count, we only have 5 seniors and 14 juniors. That is a very young team. Young team + new coaching staff + CGC = ?
But if CGC needs an excuse for lack of progress this season, it's a possibility. Worth trying to get another $3 million, amiright ?

No excuses in year four. Pottery Barn rules: "You break it, you own it."

 

[JacketFan137]

According to my quick count, we only have 5 seniors and 14 juniors. That is a very young team. Young team + new coaching staff + CGC = ?
But if CGC needs an excuse for lack of progress this season, it's a possibility. Worth trying to get another $3 million, amiright ?

just want to add though the sophomores are third year players due to the covid year

 

[yeti92]

Being young will always be an excuse when you don't retain the players you signed previously. Wasn't Geoff supposed to be an expert at roster management from his time learning under Saban at Bama? Having only 11 OL doesn't sound like very good roster management to me.

 

[cthenrys]

Being young will always be an excuse when you don't retain the players you signed previously. Wasn't Geoff supposed to be an expert at roster management from his time learning under Saban at Bama? Having only 11 OL doesn't sound like very good roster management to me.

Listening to Collins he'll tell you he and Suddes built the Bama roster (he has said that). It's not true of course - he was only there one year.... I just don't get how ADTS bought what he was selling...

 

[stech81]

According to my quick count, we only have 5 seniors and 14 juniors. That is a very young team. Young team + new coaching staff + CGC = ?
But if CGC needs an excuse for lack of progress this season, it's a possibility. Worth trying to get another $3 million, amiright ?

We always seem to be young and have a hard schedule.

 

[stinger 1957]

Listening to Collins he'll tell you he and Suddes built the Bama roster (he has said that). It's not true of course - he was only there one year.... I just don't get how ADTS bought what he was selling...

I thought he said he and Suddes built the roster management "system" for Saban, don't remember him saying he built the roster, lots of difference, but maybe I missed it somewhere.

 

[takethepoints]

sims had turnover issues last year but when he actually had time to throw the ball he did well. i also think he looked better in the hurry up which long wants us running anyway so i think that will help

Yeah, people keep talking about offense as if it was a show with only one person - the QB - responsible for what happens. Let me make this comparison. In 2015 we had a veteran team - albeit with some real losses to graduation - with some talented new comers coming back. Everything looked good. And we had Justin Thomas at QB. Then the tsunami hit and all of a sudden we didn't have enough players anywhere. And, remarkably, despite Thomas's best efforts at QB, we won 3 games. Thomas played as well as he could, but the supporting cast wasn't there. Now move on to 2016. Pretty much the same team with Mills and a year's experience, again with Thomas at QB. And, all of a sudden we win 9 games and curb stomp a favored SEC team (Kentucky and they were favored) in our bowl game,.

Everything in football is a synergy and on both sides of the ball. Every now and then you can win despite problems all over the place on one side of the ball, but not usually. Tech's failure to develop that synergy is perhaps the worst failing of our present staff. You have to be good at something to win, period. Perhaps the new additions - they all have decent careers - can bring that about. But … Sims, on his own, can't.

 

[JacketFan137]

Yeah, people keep talking about offense as if it was a show with only one person - the QB - responsible for what happens. Let me make this comparison. In 2015 we had a veteran team - albeit with some real losses to graduation - with some talented new comers coming back. Everything looked good. And we had Justin Thomas at QB. Then the tsunami hit and all of a sudden we didn't have enough players anywhere. And, remarkably, despite Thomas's best efforts at QB, we won 3 games. Thomas played as well as he could, but the supporting cast wasn't there. Now move on to 2016. Pretty much the same team with Mills and a year's experience, again with Thomas at QB. And, all of a sudden we win 9 games and curb stomp a favored SEC team (Kentucky and they were favored) in our bowl game,.

Everything in football is a synergy and on both sides of the ball. Every now and then you can win despite problems all over the place on one side of the ball, but not usually. Tech's failure to develop that synergy is perhaps the worst failing of our present staff. You have to be good at something to win, period. Perhaps the new additions - they all have decent careers - can bring that about. But … Sims, on his own, can't.

yeah i had never even considered what you said about the 14-15-16 season, and i totally agree.

sims is by no means perfect but i felt like people really showed how little they understood about football when they poured the blame on him and argued for yates to start all season. the o line really hindered the offense far more than qb play

even gibbs who we all know is a superstar had some games he struggled to get much going cause the o line was so bad.

hopefully the new faces step up and i think their play is gonna enable or disable improvement from our QBs, WRs and RBs

 

[cthenrys]

I thought he said he and Suddes built the roster management "system" for Saban, don't remember him saying he built the roster, lots of difference, but maybe I missed it somewhere.

He has said both, although when he has said they "built the roster" I am sure he meant building the roster management system. I also would guess that whatever they "built" is likely not what is being used today - i.e. it's evolved and been updated / changed. Bottom line is that it's highly doubtful that Collins / Suddes were really that impactful to a Saban led program - certainly not to the extent that it has been supposed / suggested.

 

[iceeater1969]

We always seem to be young and have a hard schedule.

There is a young ( to us) gt entrepreneur who has started a beer company.
He sells beer at yellow jacket alley top peters park before the games. .

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Yes, they can. Not to say they will, but it's possible that we very well could have a worse OL than last year.

I wonder, however, if the new OC will do a better job of calling plays that help cover up deficiencies in the OL?

In the past some complained about CPJ’s stubbornness in calling certain plays over and over. My take is that he recognized when his OL was overmatched and he did not want to give into the defense by calling plays that were going to end disastrously. It required patience and nerves but running a play that gets two yards is better than running a play that ends with a 12 yard loss or a turnover.

Anyway, last year it felt like the OL was being asked to do too much. I would rather them be good at a few things and only stretch themselves beyond that when we are playing well. If that makes sense.

 

[JacketFan137]

I wonder, however, if the new OC will do a better job of calling plays that help cover up deficiencies in the OL?

In the past some complained about CPJ’s stubbornness in calling certain plays over and over. My take is that he recognized when his OL was overmatched and he did not want to give into the defense by calling plays that were going to end disastrously. It required patience and nerves but running a play that gets two yards is better than running a play that ends with a 12 yard loss or a turnover.

Anyway, last year it felt like the OL was being asked to do too much. I would rather them be good at a few things and only stretch themselves beyond that when we are playing well. If that makes sense.

our right side of our line was single handedly ruining drives last season by being completely unable to block anything, and patenaude made zero adjustments.

long has already mentioned more TE usage so i’m expecting him to at least have them chip the edge rushers. going fast will also neutralize bigger and faster pass rushers too.

little things like that are why i think there’s a realistic path to more wins. assuming long actually implements the things he’s talking about

 

[Ibeeballin]

Listening to Collins he'll tell you he and Suddes built the Bama roster (he has said that). It's not true of course - he was only there one year.... I just don't get how ADTS bought what he was selling...

We understand you don’t like the guy, but come on this stuff is easily verifiable. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31795157/the-rise-college-football-general-manager

Geoff Collins - Alabama Athletics

Geoff Collins Director of Player Personnel Geoff Collins is in his first season with the Crimson Tide football coaching staff as Director of Player Personnel...

rolltide.com

 

[Ibeeballin]

QB - Sims has missed enough games in his two years that I'm not happy at the prospect of having a true freshman being the only real backup. Hopefully we don't end up pulling a Maryland and having a LB (knight) playing QB for us
RB - we lost our NFL back, can't act like that isn't a step backwards. We've got some serviceable options.
WR - we lose what, imo, was our best receiver. The good thing is Long's scheme doesn't utilize the slot as the primary weapon. I don't see anything from this group that screams P5 quality.
TE - the transfer is a step up here and will be "serviceable"
OL - losing 3 starters, not gonna sugar coat it, this position group is going to be rough.

DE - just depressing to think about
DT - we're basically reliant on true freshmen contributing heavily.
LB - at least we've still got Eley. He graded out really poorly last year, but isn't atrocious.
DB - transfers probably get some run time, that's essentially our best hope.

In all, we look like a roster built of players that other teams passed on for one reason or another and I lack the faith in our coaching staff to bring out the best qualities in the players we have.

Ouch…. Harsh

QB- Zach Gipson is going into his 4th yr. Sims shows the tools to be a star, but as stated he must remain healthy and control the ball

RB- Gibbs leaving hurt, but Smith showed he’s more than capable of hitting the HR and getting tough yards

WR- I think this position gets a bad rap. It is my opinion, that this position benefitted the least under CDP. Scheme didn’t help them get open a lot. I thought the Carter was the best WR, but Sanders was the best playmaker. I’m looking for Rutherford getting a full-time opportunity whether outside or inside the numbers. I think he can be a serious for CCL

TE- Still a question, need these guys to better all around and need them to be Sims safety blanket

OL- whew… Their performance determines the fate of CGC. 11 scholly guys at spring. Some criticized playing Franklin last yr and burning his shirt but that appears to be great move since Minihan is no longer there.

Leftwich, Tchio, Franklin, Quick, Williams doesn’t look bad getting off the bus, but these guys need to play very well. I expect the portal doors to be open

WDE- Kennard can replace Domineck production, but we need KK to step it up and be 7-10 Sack guy. CGCC has screwed up a lot, but rotating players may turn out to be beneficial. Harris, Collins both saw significant

SDE- Ivey is biggest lost imo. I always use the rule of 10 for the front 7 to gauge if they were productive. You TFLs should 10% of your total tackles or higher. Ivey was 32 Tackles & 6TFLs. Thought he would come into his own this yr and be. That high draft pick for us. Sylvain led the team in pressure rate and 4* Josh Robinson showed flashes

DBs- Can this group get any worse? I believe if the scheme fundamentals and communication improve alone this defense can be enough to not lose us games as they did last yr


I very believe this team can 6-8 gms not just because of our roster, but the complete mess of rosters throughout the ACC coastal are and the futility of FSU coming in with no answer at QB along with 4 consecutive losing seasons

 

[Northeast Stinger]

our right side of our line was single handedly ruining drives last season by being completely unable to block anything, and patenaude made zero adjustments.

long has already mentioned more TE usage so i’m expecting him to at least have them chip the edge rushers. going fast will also neutralize bigger and faster pass rushers too.

little things like that are why i think there’s a realistic path to more wins. assuming long actually implements the things he’s talking about

Thanks for fleshing out my answer! Absolutely thought last year the OL was put in positions to fail rather than putting them in a position to win.

 

[LargeFO]

Can we play some safeties at safety this year as opposed to outside linebackers? That's all I'm asking.

 

[cthenrys]

We understand you don’t like the guy, but come on this stuff is easily verifiable. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31795157/the-rise-college-football-general-manager

Geoff Collins - Alabama Athletics

Geoff Collins Director of Player Personnel Geoff Collins is in his first season with the Crimson Tide football coaching staff as Director of Player Personnel...

rolltide.com

You're right. I don't, but this was a good read. Thanks.

 

[cthenrys]

Ouch…. Harsh

QB- Zach Gipson is going into his 4th yr. Sims shows the tools to be a star, but as stated he must remain healthy and control the ball

RB- Gibbs leaving hurt, but Smith showed he’s more than capable of hitting the HR and getting tough yards

WR- I think this position gets a bad rap. It is my opinion, that this position benefitted the least under CDP. Scheme didn’t help them get open a lot. I thought the Carter was the best WR, but Sanders was the best playmaker. I’m looking for Rutherford getting a full-time opportunity whether outside or inside the numbers. I think he can be a serious for CCL

TE- Still a question, need these guys to better all around and need them to be Sims safety blanket

OL- whew… Their performance determines the fate of CGC. 11 scholly guys at spring. Some criticized playing Franklin last yr and burning his shirt but that appears to be great move since Minihan is no longer there.

Leftwich, Tchio, Franklin, Quick, Williams doesn’t look bad getting off the bus, but these guys need to play very well. I expect the portal doors to be open

WDE- Kennard can replace Domineck production, but we need KK to step it up and be 7-10 Sack guy. CGCC has screwed up a lot, but rotating players may turn out to be beneficial. Harris, Collins both saw significant

SDE- Ivey is biggest lost imo. I always use the rule of 10 for the front 7 to gauge if they were productive. You TFLs should 10% of your total tackles or higher. Ivey was 32 Tackles & 6TFLs. Thought he would come into his own this yr and be. That high draft pick for us. Sylvain led the team in pressure rate and 4* Josh Robinson showed flashes

DBs- Can this group get any worse? I believe if the scheme fundamentals and communication improve alone this defense can be enough to not lose us games as they did last yr


I very believe this team can 6-8 gms not just because of our roster, but the complete mess of rosters throughout the ACC coastal are and the futility of FSU coming in with no answer at QB along with 4 consecutive losing seasons

I don't see it, myself, but I really enjoyed your breakdown and gladfully acknowledge there's a whole lot more behind your review than mine. Thanks. Agree that the OL is everything