Nate McCollom to UNC

[GoldZ]

We will miss his production some, but I think the biggest pain to losing him will be his game experience. I think he made a smart decision on his part. I'm sure the NIL didn't hurt, but I agree with others that this decision was based more on the offense he's going into and the guy who is going to be throwing him the ball. I think he actually will benefit more from a draft standpoint than Gibbs. I think Gibbs left to go try and win a championship and make some money along the way. Nate will have a chance to improve his status in my opinion because he will get many more opportunities. The role he is filling almost caught 100 passes and went for over 1000 yards.

That being said, I think we will be okay. I've been impressed with Rutherford every time I've seen him play. He honestly seems more shifty and explosive than McCullom. I think Nate is more put together physically, but believe Rutherford can fill in nicely. Blackburn seemed to be able to get the most separation of any WR not named Nate last year and will hopefully be fully healthy going into the year as well.

We will have guys to catch passes. Whether we are successful on O next year will still depend on how the OL plays. Hopefully they continue to gel as they mature.

Yep, the OL isn't young anymore come September, especially scored by pre-Covid classifications.

 

[JacketFan137]

LOL! So, anyone who disagrees with you and isn't convinced by your argument becomes a troll. Got it. I"ll just not engage with you. In my opinion, you can't say someone who averages 5 touches a game is your best offensive player. No one asked you to agree with me.

Who's the best player? I already commented on that. I'd say that based on our final 2 games, when we had decent play calling, Gibson probably was. Without Gibson's performance, we lose to UNC and are blown out by uga. Without Nate that might or might not have happened.

I'm not sure why you're getting hung up on this. Nate's gone. He was probably our most effective receiver. He will be missed. But, he isn't irreplaceable, the same way Brown wasn't irreplaceable. Jenkins had as many touchdowns and almost half Nate's total yards in less than 1/3 of his receptions. Next man up. (this is not a criticism of Nate. I really like him and will miss his game)

i never said he was irreplaceable but it’s really not even close to a debate who our best player on offense was over the past season lol

then you say gibson who didn’t start most of the season, as well as playing maybe the worst game we’ve ever seen from a qb against uva, was our best player on offense. so 5 touches per game is not enough to be the best player on offense but a qb who started like 1/3rd of the season is enough?

you cannot be serious saying these things haha mccollum had our most scrimmage yards on the team and was easily our best playmaker. even scored against the best defense we played all season in athens.

i don’t think this is a death blow to the program and not anywhere close to the impact as gibbs but it’s a pretty major blow and kind of concerning that this is a second year in a row we have lost our best offensive player. if anyone on our offense was as good as nate they too would have seen a cushy NIL deal and darted or they’d be considered real draft prospects

 

[Blue&Gold1034]

Maybe so. But in Gibbs' case his supporting cast was a lot better, especially on OL. 5.2 per carry behind Tech's line is more impressive to me than 6.3 ypc behind Alabama's. And I don't think their schedule was tougher, either.

Of course his supporting cast was better, but that's not always what scouts look at. If that were the case, guys like Tua wouldn't have been drafted above guys like Justin Herbert. Having a better team around Gibbs allowed him to showcase his skills on a bigger stage than when he was at Tech and that will end up raising his stock. I dont think it should be the case, but that's the reality of scouting a lot of times.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Luke Benson?? Our Tight End?? He caught four passes for 38 yards after Collins was fired. And one catch for nine yards in the final three games.

I’m truly confused with your statement and am assuming you meant another player. Because Benson wasn’t targeted the final two games and only played 40 out of 211 offensive snaps over the final three games.

Yeah, I screwed up. Meant to say Gibson.

 

[forensicbuzz]

i never said he was irreplaceable but it’s really not even close to a debate who our best player on offense was over the past season lol <--BOLD EMPHASIS MINE: This is an opinion, not fact.

then you say gibson who didn’t start most of the season, as well as playing maybe the worst game we’ve ever seen from a qb against uva, was our best player on offense. so 5 touches per game is not enough to be the best player on offense but a qb who started like 1/3rd of the season is enough?

you cannot be serious saying these things haha mccollum had our most scrimmage yards on the team and was easily our best playmaker. even scored against the best defense we played all season in athens.

i don’t think this is a death blow to the program and not anywhere close to the impact as gibbs but it’s a pretty major blow and kind of concerning that this is a second year in a row we have lost our best offensive player. if anyone on our offense was as good as nate they too would have seen a cushy NIL deal and darted or they’d be considered real draft prospects

I'm not so sure why you're all caught up on someone else's opinion. I like Nate. I'll miss Nate. But in my opinion, he wasn't the best offensive player we had. I'm not debating with you about this anymore. Seems you're just looking to argue and ridicule someone else's opinion and push your opinion as fact. I'm not interested. You can move on or I can put you on "ignore" and it won't matter anymore. Don't really want to do that, but stating the same thing over and over trying to convince me isn't going to work and it's tiresome to me (and probably everyone else).

 

[slugboy]

Of course his supporting cast was better, but that's not always what scouts look at. If that were the case, guys like Tua wouldn't have been drafted above guys like Justin Herbert. Having a better team around Gibbs allowed him to showcase his skills on a bigger stage than when he was at Tech and that will end up raising his stock. I dont think it should be the case, but that's the reality of scouting a lot of times.

Another factor isn’t just what scouts look at, but how often they are there to look. Tua had a lot of extra impressions because the scouts were going to be there anyway. Yeah, they’d come there just for him, but if you can stay all day and look at a bunch of players, that’s a better use of your time. All of Bama’s players got extra looks because of that.

It’s like why bait shops sell beer and other stuff—it’s a lot easier to stop at one place than three, and if you can get everything you need at one stop you go to that one.

 

[NewEnglandTransplant]

wish he wasn't going to a GT opponent. I guess the UNC offense with a phenom freshman QB made the diffeGood p

Good point, I agree. I suspect the uncertainty at QB for GT and the residue left over from the past regime contributed to his desire for a fresh start, including Maye.

 

[NewEnglandTransplant]

Good luck to N8

CAN The wr coach pull a rabbit out of the hat ?
Perhaps Key/ Watson have been making some contacts before the public announcment.

I want one athletic TE with huge catch radius and large hands.

a TE capable of actually catching the ball is an upgrade.........

 

[LongforDodd]

nate will have a better shot at showcasing what he can do with the ball in his hands at unc. they will scheme him open a lot more than we had so i do think he could see a slight bump in his production and draft stock

How much more does Nate have to show that might be an enhancement to his skills resume?

 

[awbuzz]

This is an easy one. It had to be our center - they gave him the ball every single play.

Well.. at least on offense

 

[JacketFan137]

How much more does Nate have to show that might be an enhancement to his skills resume?

i think he can show a lot more in an offense with a better qb. we were very inconsistent with the deep ball and could go long stretches not getting the ball in the hands of our playmakers in space. i think unc’s offense will give him more of both of those things

 

[Ibeeballin]

I’m curious of the fit for both Nate & Maye in Chip Lindsey offense

 

[7979]

Nate was our best offensive player in 2022.
He made the Play of the Year against UCF when he ran down fumble return at the 1....... starting 30 yards behind and on the opposite hash mark. I believe it was greatest "hustle play" I have ever seen. Had we won that game, it would be remembered among top 10 plays in GT history.
But..... WR is easiest of all 25 positions to reload (22 + K, P, LS).
2023 GT football success or failure will not be a function of Nate's absence.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Losing a WR is not that worrisome. They are a dime a dozen, even McCollum. Any receiver who gets consistent snaps from the slot will produce. We’ve seen it every year with Brown, then McGowan the McCollum. There are plenty of fast short dudes willing to put their body at risk. We’ll be fine at that position.

 

[LargeFO]

Losing a WR is not that worrisome. They are a dime a dozen, even McCollum. Any receiver who gets consistent snaps from the slot will produce. We’ve seen it every year with Brown, then McGowan the McCollum. There are plenty of fast short dudes willing to put their body at risk. We’ll be fine at that position.

I tend to agree here. I think Lane will be a suitable replacement on McCollum.

 

[iceeater1969]

I tend to agree here. I think Lane will be a suitable replacement on McCollum.

Will be 100% open competition.
Trust Key to select the best player.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Nate was our best offensive player in 2022.
He made the Play of the Year against UCF when he ran down fumble return at the 1....... starting 30 yards behind and on the opposite hash mark. I believe it was greatest "hustle play" I have ever seen. Had we won that game, it would be remembered among top 10 plays in GT history.
But..... WR is easiest of all 25 positions to reload (22 + K, P, LS).
2023 GT football success or failure will not be a function of Nate's absence.

Maybe he was our best defensive player in 2022?

 

[SandySpringsJacket]

Nate was our best offensive player in 2022.
He made the Play of the Year against UCF when he ran down fumble return at the 1....... starting 30 yards behind and on the opposite hash mark. I believe it was greatest "hustle play" I have ever seen. Had we won that game, it would be remembered among top 10 plays in GT history.
But..... WR is easiest of all 25 positions to reload (22 + K, P, LS).
2023 GT football success or failure will not be a function of Nate's absence.

That play against UCF was one of the best I have ever seen. Took a ton of heart to make that play. Losing Nate hurts, but we have to move on. Go Tech!

 

[JacketFan137]

Nate was our best offensive player in 2022.
He made the Play of the Year against UCF when he ran down fumble return at the 1....... starting 30 yards behind and on the opposite hash mark. I believe it was greatest "hustle play" I have ever seen. Had we won that game, it would be remembered among top 10 plays in GT history.
But..... WR is easiest of all 25 positions to reload (22 + K, P, LS).
2023 GT football success or failure will not be a function of Nate's absence.

this is really not true

 

[forensicbuzz]

this is really not true

Really? So what is? Punter? Place Kicker? Long Snapper? It's certainly not QB or either of the lines. Pretty sure it's not LB or RB. That leaves WR and Safety and Corners.

Love Nate, but 5 touches a game. That's 5 plays a game. How many plays in a game?

(Actually, I think they're all equally important)