Notes from Wednesday

[Eric]

- Godhigh was out today...but should be ready to go this weekend.

- Deon and Godhigh will start at A back.

- Smelter will more than likely return punts and kicks.

- Look for Thomas to play this weekend

 

[ToddM]

Eric,

What are your thoughts, if any, on putting a stud on kick return duties ?

I understand the logic, you want a proven ball handler, but I think the gamers are at potential risk.

I would rather see them in the line up the entire game and season than risking injury to some out of control defensive back flying down field trying to impress his coach with a big hit.

Remember Perkins hit in the Elon game ?

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Jemea returned punts for a while last year right? He did good, too.

 

[Eric]

Jemea is also a guy that could return punts.

 

[Sean311]

I'm excited to see if JT steps up and helps this team out. I will also be pleased to see if Vad learned from his mistakes and makes good reads out there..his back is against the wall, lets see if he has some fight in him.

 

[Kcsunshine]

I am ready for JT to get some reps against the Canes. Vad should get the bulk of the reps but I am very intrigued by JT's arm strength and pure speed. I know JT has struggled at times, but you never know how they will respond on the big stage. I want to find out. My experience over the years has shown if a guy is a baller he will show it early. The good ones don't necessarily need a huge learning curve.

 

[Dustman]

I am ready for JT to get some reps against the Canes. Vad should get the bulk of the reps but I am very intrigued by JT's arm strength and pure speed. I know JT has struggled at times, but you never know how they will respond on the big stage. I want to find out. My experience over the years has shown if a guy is a baller he will show it early. The good ones don't necessarily need a huge learning curve.

These boards will light up like a Christmas tree if he gets to the edge on the TO and takes it to the house.

 

[gtg771r]

Like I said on Monday. I sense a change in CPJ's voice. He wants to run HIS system. Both QB's are capable.

It also might be him lighting a fire under Vad. Maybe he needs it..

 

[GTrob21]

I think CPJ is in a bind. I also sense he wants to run "His" system. More option under center. I'm not sure if Vad can do that and I have said this in another thread, but I think Vad is more suited to the pistol, diamond, spread from the gun. It allows him to make adjustments when the plays break down.

I think JT will be able to run Coach's system better, simply because he is faster and has quicker lateral movement.

The problem is that Vad is a leader... if you take Vad or demote him, you risk the locker room.

 

[johncu]

Legitimate question here: why are people saying that Vad is "more suited for the pistol or shotgun?" I've seen this parroted all over the place like it is an assumed fact, but I have no idea where it came from. Is it because that's what he's used to playing in? If so, that doesn't make sense because he's been at GT for 3 years, plenty of time to learn to play under center.

 

[Longestday]

Vad is a 1st year starting QB and people expect him to be a second or third year starting QB.

 

[IronJacket7]

I think CPJ is in a bind. I also sense he wants to run "His" system. More option under center. I'm not sure if Vad can do that and I have said this in another thread, but I think Vad is more suited to the pistol, diamond, spread from the gun. It allows him to make adjustments when the plays break down.

I think JT will be able to run Coach's system better, simply because he is faster and has quicker lateral movement.

The problem is that Vad is a leader... if you take Vad or demote him, you risk the locker room.

+1 to all of this

 

[IronJacket7]

Legitimate question here: why are people saying that Vad is "more suited for the pistol or shotgun?" I've seen this parroted all over the place like it is an assumed fact, but I have no idea where it came from. Is it because that's what he's used to playing in? If so, that doesn't make sense because he's been at GT for 3 years, plenty of time to learn to play under center.

If memory serves correct... Vad's hs offense was a shotgun spread offense. He has been here long enough to learn the flexbone and adjust to being under center. However, it may just never work. Square Peg---Round Hole.

I just hope he can adapt and show everyone how big of an asset he is to our team because CPJ is not going to stop what he has been doing since his GA Southern days.

 

[Eric]

I'm excited for Smelter to get more touches

 

[AE 87]

Like I said on Monday. I sense a change in CPJ's voice. He wants to run HIS system. Both QB's are capable.

It also might be him lighting a fire under Vad. Maybe he needs it..

I'm a bit confused by your point, saying "He wants to run HIS system." Don't all coaches?

 

[kg01]

If memory serves correct... Vad's hs offense was a shotgun spread offense. He has been here long enough to learn the flexbone and adjust to being under center. However, it may just never work. Square Peg---Round Hole.

I just hope he can adapt and show everyone how big of an asset he is to our team because CPJ is not going to stop what he has been doing since his GA Southern days.

I too hope the offense pulls it together. People have to remember we played perhaps the best DLine we'll see all year. They ate our Oline's lunch all night. In addition to the self-inflicted wounds via false starts, I'd venture to say most of the offensive snaps we took ended up with multiple unblocked defenders. Multiple guys completely untouched. No QB succeeds under those conditions so I don't think we should be dumping on Vad (not saying you are IJ7 but some are).

 

[GTrob21]

Legitimate question here: why are people saying that Vad is "more suited for the pistol or shotgun?" I've seen this parroted all over the place like it is an assumed fact, but I have no idea where it came from. Is it because that's what he's used to playing in? If so, that doesn't make sense because he's been at GT for 3 years, plenty of time to learn to play under center.

Three reasons

1) That is his system from Hillside, you can go watch a bunch of film on him from High school and its predominately from the gun. He is more familiar with this

2) Game film from his time at GT, especially this year. It seems that Vad really struggles to read the DE when he is dropping back from being under center. Go watch the VaTech game, and their DE would "fake" crashing down, and then pull back. It really messed with Vad's read. I believe Vad is thinking to much, and because of that, he is struggling. You don't see that same struggle when we are running the pistol or the diamond.

3) Skill set of Vad: we have a decent sample size on Vad and there are things that stick out. He is a great leader, He can pass( I know he had a bad game vs VaTech), and He is a long strider (meaning he is speedy, but it just take him 2 more steps to get to his speed, ala Vince Young). The last one being a long strider, in my opinion, makes him much better suited to run from the gun. It allows him a fraction of a second longer to make adjustments.

Final: All of these make it tougher for him to produce in an offense where reading is the key. It also makes it difficult on footwork when many of the pass plays, involve your feet moving in ways your not accustomed too, especially because it take long for him to move his feet, even more so when our OL have such wide splits and it allows a quick penetration from the DL.

I think JT's skill set which is a very quick football player will simply lead to consistently bigger plays that Vad if they are both under center. I have no clue if JT can make the reads, but if I were the coach, I would put Vad in more situations where we run diamond or pistol. It appears to "fit" him better.

I also think Coach Johnson doesn't want to do this, he wants to prove his system can run and run effectively against the VaTech's, Miami's, Georgia's. He has been told his entire coaching career that this offense wouldn't work at higher levels, I feel like its a personal crusade with Johnson.

 

[IronJacket7]

I too hope the offense pulls it together. People have to remember we played perhaps the best DLine we'll see all year. They ate our Oline's lunch all night. In addition to the self-inflicted wounds via false starts, I'd venture to say most of the offensive snaps we took ended up with multiple unblocked defenders. Multiple guys completely untouched. No QB succeeds under those conditions so I don't think we should be dumping on Vad (not saying you are IJ7 but some are).

I agree completely. I am a huge advocate of Vad. I personally think JT will do a good job with his reps but I disagree with the decision to give him reps now. I think it could screw with Vad's head. Jmo

 

[IronJacket7]

I think JT's skill set which is a very quick football player will simply lead to consistently bigger plays that Vad if they are both under center. I have no clue if JT can make the reads, but if I were the coach, I would put Vad in more situations where we run diamond or pistol. It appears to "fit" him better.

I also think Coach Johnson doesn't want to do this, he wants to prove his system can run and run effectively against the VaTech's, Miami's, Georgia's. He has been told his entire coaching career that this offense wouldn't work at higher levels, I feel like its a personal crusade with Johnson.

+1

 

[kg01]

I agree completely. I am a huge advocate of Vad. I personally think JT will do a good job with his reps but I disagree with the decision to give him reps now. I think it could screw with Vad's head. Jmo

Yep. What happens if JT replaces Vad and struggles later? Then we've got two shot QB's on our hands. Incidentally, this is why I wanted Vad to start last year when we could go to an experienced backup when he struggled but that's a whole other dead horse beating story.

This article is apropos here IMHO: http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/georgia-tech/2013/oct/03/tech-tries-fire-interior-run-game/

A litany of mistakes did in the Jackets against the Hokies. Finch said he thought the number of missed assignments (coaches tabulate them on game video) was “an all-time high.”

“It’s really hard to run the option when you’re missing assignments,” he said. “It really makes it hard, especially on the quarterback. He can’t make the right read if we’re not blocking the right people. It’s that simple.”