Media Selects GT to Win Coastal; JT Picked 3rd for Preseason MVP

[CuseJacket]

http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072115aac.html

Clemson and Deshaun Watson are the media darlings to start the year.

 

[Techster]

JeT should feel disrespected and have a MONSTER year carrying GT to the ACC Championship title. GT and JeT should have been voted #1 in all those polls, including winning the Atlantic division.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

JeT should feel disrespected and have a MONSTER year carrying GT to the ACC Championship title. GT and JeT should have been voted #1 in all those polls, including winning the Atlantic division.

JT only received 13 votes for mvp out of 128 voters. Last year he had some motivational stuff scrawled on his wrist tape, probably some shoulder chip stuff. This year all he needs is the number 13.

 

[Eli]

I just don't understand the love fest with Clemson. I must be missing something

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I just don't understand the love fest with Clemson. I must be missing something

Clemson is set up for a big fall. They could crash and burn hard. On the other hand, they reload talent so who knows.

(The following observation is not directed at you, but has just come to mind so I'll put it here)
It's funny how some of the same guys who dismiss our personnel turnover in the offensive skill positions point to Clemson's losses as crippling.

 

[Boomergump]

Justin was probably the most important player in the ACC, LAST season. It is just that the nature of what we do camoflages his impact a little. We ran, quite possibly, the most dominant offense in the last quarter century of CFB. There is no way that happens without JeT pulling the trigger. If you are lazy and all you do is look at stat sheets, then you will overlook a guy like JeT. There is no "assist" category in CFB that I am aware of (like CBB). Just like an amazing point guard who not only scores a lot himself, but dishes out assists in record numbers, JeT was the pulse and the producer.

I don't expect that kind of recognition for JeT and I don't care. You have to watch him every game to "get it". The talking heads aren't going to do that. Personally, I hope JeT uses other means for his personal motivation rather than a fawning or indifferent press corps.

 

[a5ehren]

I just don't understand the love fest with Clemson. I must be missing something

They have a ton of talent all over the field and (when healthy) the single best player in the conference. They're a safe pick if you think FSU is going to be down a bit.

They still have two big questions, though:
1) Can Watson stay healthy?
2) Can the new guys in the front 7 on D step up to fill the shoes of last year's group?

 

[Boss Ross]

Clemson and dumbo will lose FOUR games

 

[Sean311]

They have a ton of talent all over the field and (when healthy) the single best player in the conference. They're a safe pick if you think FSU is going to be down a bit.

They still have two big questions, though:
1) Can Watson stay healthy?
2) Can the new guys in the front 7 on D step up to fill the shoes of last year's group?

This. Clemson is good...very good. Deshaun Watson might be the top pick in the draft soon.

 

[Eli]

They have a ton of talent all over the field and (when healthy) the single best player in the conference. They're a safe pick if you think FSU is going to be down a bit.

They still have two big questions, though:
1) Can Watson stay healthy?
2) Can the new guys in the front 7 on D step up to fill the shoes of last year's group?

That's a bold statement calling him the best player in the conference. I would rather have several players over him. Kendall Fuller, James Conner, Tyler Boyd, Dadi Nicholas and Justin Thomas. You could even go as far as to say Jabari could be the number one pick in an up coming draft "based off of potential."

 

[GTJake]

It's the same old story, the football factories get all the blue chip 5* recruits so they always get the benefit of the doubt.

I'll take a 3* athlete with heart, attitude and team chemistry over a 5* prima donna every day of the week and twice on Sundays ...

 

[redmule]

The good news is that all the world will get to see Watson and Thomas on the same field. Going to be a great game, but I think (hope) Clemson lost too much on defense and the best OC they had for a while. Will probably be like the 2009 ACC Championship: no punts, lots of long plays, death marches, whoever has the ball last, everybody in the stands dying slow deaths until finally some get happy the last few seconds. But we are very good at beating Clemson.

 

[potatohead]

Justin was probably the most important player in the ACC, LAST season. It is just that the nature of what we do camoflages his impact a little. We ran, quite possibly, the most dominant offense in the last quarter century of CFB. There is no way that happens without JeT pulling the trigger. If you are lazy and all you do is look at stat sheets, then you will overlook a guy like JeT. There is no "assist" category in CFB that I am aware of (like CBB). Just like an amazing point guard who not only scores a lot himself, but dishes out assists in record numbers, JeT was the pulse and the producer.

I don't expect that kind of recognition for JeT and I don't care. You have to watch him every game to "get it". The talking heads aren't going to do that. Personally, I hope JeT uses other means for his personal motivation rather than a fawning or indifferent press corps.

some of us were talking about our offense this past weekend. by the end of the year we had the best offense in the country hands down. i don't think lots of tech fans, and certainly not the media, realize how good our offense played. i hope and pray we get there this year.

 

[Legal Jacket]

I just don't understand the love fest with Clemson. I must be missing something

Here's the rub - Clemson has had ridiculous talent coming in over the years. No. 4 class for 2015 per Rivals, #13 in 2014, #14 in 2013, #14 in 2012, #8 in 2011. Not putting too much stock in recruiting rankings, but they've had a better class than us every single year. So its relatively easy to point to them and say they reload, rather than rebuild.

I've posted on other threads - Clemson is filling most of their vacant roster spots from last season with talented upper classmen. I'm by no means an expert on their roster, but they slide a Junior (Germone Hopper) into the single vacant WR position. They've got a Senior (Joe Gore, top 30 DE recruit) going into a vacant tackle position, and a Sophomore (Tyone Crowder, four star top 5/10 guard) and Senior (Eric Lain, four star top 10 TE) competing for their open guard slot (there may be more than one, not sure). Most of those guys we would be going crazy for coming in as freshmen, which those guys aren't.

Their new defensive linemen are basically Juniors (Carlos Watkins, four star top 10 DT, and Shaq Lawson, not a great recruit, but has proved his talent on the field) and Seniors (DJ Reader, three star top 20 G). Their new LBs are the same (Kellen Jones, Sr., top 10/15 MLB transfer from Oklahoma, and Ben Boulware, Jr, 4 star top 10-15 MLB). They return a lot of their talented secondary, minus TJ Green, who is a Junior (3 star, not a great recruit).

For better or for worse, we don't get those kinds of recruits. We've got Skov or Allen who will start at BB. I have no idea who will be our other AB to start the year besides Snoddy. Our WRs haven't done much, either.

I love the guys we have returning, but we have a lot of questions marks. Unlike Clemson, we don't have obvious answers at any of those vacant positions (and, its not like people don't like us, they picked us to win the division).

 

[Eli]

Here's the rub - Clemson has had ridiculous talent coming in over the years. No. 4 class for 2015 per Rivals, #13 in 2014, #14 in 2013, #14 in 2012, #8 in 2011. Not putting too much stock in recruiting rankings, but they've had a better class than us every single year. So its relatively easy to point to them and say they reload, rather than rebuild.

I've posted on other threads - Clemson is filling most of their vacant roster spots from last season with talented upper classmen. I'm by no means an expert on their roster, but they slide a Junior (Germone Hopper) into the single vacant WR position. They've got a Senior (Joe Gore, top 30 DE recruit) going into a vacant tackle position, and a Sophomore (Tyone Crowder, four star top 5/10 guard) and Senior (Eric Lain, four star top 10 TE) competing for their open guard slot (there may be more than one, not sure). Most of those guys we would be going crazy for coming in as freshmen, which those guys aren't.

Their new defensive linemen are basically Juniors (Carlos Watkins, four star top 10 DT, and Shaq Lawson, not a great recruit, but has proved his talent on the field) and Seniors (DJ Reader, three star top 20 G). Their new LBs are the same (Kellen Jones, Sr., top 10/15 MLB transfer from Oklahoma, and Ben Boulware, Jr, 4 star top 10-15 MLB). They return a lot of their talented secondary, minus TJ Green, who is a Junior (3 star, not a great recruit).

For better or for worse, we don't get those kinds of recruits. We've got Skov or Allen who will start at BB. I have no idea who will be our other AB to start the year besides Snoddy. Our WRs haven't done much, either.

I love the guys we have returning, but we have a lot of questions marks. Unlike Clemson, we don't have obvious answers at any of those vacant positions (and, its not like people don't like us, they picked us to win the division).

I just question whether they will be able to replace Morris with such ease.

 

[Legal Jacket]

I just question whether they will be able to replace Morris with such ease.

I didn't say it would be easy; just that they have a lot of upperclassmen talent replacing what they lost. Most of our returning guys are nowhere near the recruits that theirs were. And, even setting recruiting aside, they have a more experienced depth at many, if not all, of their vacant positions (as compared to ours). Now, we both know that isn't determinative - but from the media's perspective that would be a reason to rank Clemson ahead of us.

 

[jwsavhGT]

 

[MacJacket]

There's no doubt that Clemson has top 15 talent on it's roster. However, how big will the loss of Chad Morris be? Swinney now has Co-Offensive Coordinators as opposed to one guy making the calls.

I think it will be a really tough game like the majority of our recent games against them.

 

[UgaBlows]

Clemson is set up for a big fall. They could crash and burn hard. On the other hand, they reload talent so who knows.

(The following observation is not directed at you, but has just come to mind so I'll put it here)
It's funny how some of the same guys who dismiss our personnel turnover in the offensive skill positions point to Clemson's losses as crippling.

Thats apples to oranges, Clemson lost their whole defense and most of their O-line, plus their o-coord. It's 100% based on Deshaun Watson hype.

 

[UgaBlows]

Here's the rub - Clemson has had ridiculous talent coming in over the years. No. 4 class for 2015 per Rivals, #13 in 2014, #14 in 2013, #14 in 2012, #8 in 2011. Not putting too much stock in recruiting rankings, but they've had a better class than us every single year. So its relatively easy to point to them and say they reload, rather than rebuild.

I've posted on other threads - Clemson is filling most of their vacant roster spots from last season with talented upper classmen. I'm by no means an expert on their roster, but they slide a Junior (Germone Hopper) into the single vacant WR position. They've got a Senior (Joe Gore, top 30 DE recruit) going into a vacant tackle position, and a Sophomore (Tyone Crowder, four star top 5/10 guard) and Senior (Eric Lain, four star top 10 TE) competing for their open guard slot (there may be more than one, not sure). Most of those guys we would be going crazy for coming in as freshmen, which those guys aren't.

Their new defensive linemen are basically Juniors (Carlos Watkins, four star top 10 DT, and Shaq Lawson, not a great recruit, but has proved his talent on the field) and Seniors (DJ Reader, three star top 20 G). Their new LBs are the same (Kellen Jones, Sr., top 10/15 MLB transfer from Oklahoma, and Ben Boulware, Jr, 4 star top 10-15 MLB). They return a lot of their talented secondary, minus TJ Green, who is a Junior (3 star, not a great recruit).

For better or for worse, we don't get those kinds of recruits. We've got Skov or Allen who will start at BB. I have no idea who will be our other AB to start the year besides Snoddy. Our WRs haven't done much, either.

I love the guys we have returning, but we have a lot of questions marks. Unlike Clemson, we don't have obvious answers at any of those vacant positions (and, its not like people don't like us, they picked us to win the division).

They have always had more talent on paper than us, thats nothing new. Our coaches utilize our talent better than them, always have.