Article Phil Steele Ranks Georgia Tech's Offensive Line As One of The Nation's 10 Best

Southern psu fan

Southern psu fan

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
398
Location
Temple ga

bke1984

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,443
Did the O line actually improve all that much or did we start running a scheme that played to what they can actually do? It’s also amazing what a good QB can do for a O line (and vice versa). Don’t get me wrong, these guys deserve recognition, but too many reviews look at one portion of the team in a vacuum.
 
Southern psu fan

Southern psu fan

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
398
Location
Temple ga
bke1984 said:
Did the O line actually improve all that much or did we start running a scheme that played to what they can actually do? It’s also amazing what a good QB can do for a O line (and vice versa). Don’t get me wrong, these guys deserve recognition, but too many reviews look at one portion of the team in a vacuum.
Click to expand...
I could see after 3 or 4 games last year that GT had a better OL and QB than Penn St did and i remembers saying it here on this forum. We had a few to get banged up during the game and the backups come in and held their own. The OL is very good brother. Having a good QB does help though.
 
Augusta_Jacket

Augusta_Jacket

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
8,094
Location
Augusta, Georgia
bke1984 said:
Did the O line actually improve all that much or did we start running a scheme that played to what they can actually do? It’s also amazing what a good QB can do for a O line (and vice versa). Don’t get me wrong, these guys deserve recognition, but too many reviews look at one portion of the team in a vacuum.
Click to expand...

Both Is Good Chris Pratt GIF
 
stinger78

stinger78

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,275
bke1984 said:
Did the O line actually improve all that much or did we start running a scheme that played to what they can actually do? It’s also amazing what a good QB can do for a O line (and vice versa). Don’t get me wrong, these guys deserve recognition, but too many reviews look at one portion of the team in a vacuum.
Click to expand...
These are good questions that few, if any, here know the answer to. It could be both - they have improved and play selection is better.
 
slugboy

slugboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,490
TampaBuzz said:
And yet....nobody thinks we can win more than 6 games. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...

Augusta_Jacket said:
That's because the defense hasn't yet proved it isn't a liability...
Click to expand...
And we’re a top 50 team with a top 10 schedule. Out of 12 games, 6 are against teams ranked in the preseason top 25, with two in the top 5, and three more between 10-20. If we win 7, this should be a top 20-25 team.
 
Bogey

Bogey

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,721
I think we are going to be surprised how good our defense plays. We will have better overall LB play and our DL has more talent this year. And this is the first year since 2018 we are not starting the season with CAT as our DC, his replacement selected by Brent Key himself.
 
stinger78

stinger78

Helluva Engineer
Messages
4,275
I think I’m bullish on GT football this year. I’m buying. For many of the reasons stated above, I am quite optimistic. I do accept, however, that two of our wins last season were last second wins that we are unlikely to replicate and that tend to even out over time. I also, though, accept that we flat out gave away 2 games last season. So then, I believe that we truly were a 7-win team last season against a pretty tough schedule.

That brings me to this season. No doubt we will see an improved D. Better coaching, more maturity, and additional talent will yield an improvement. We should see incremental improvement, at least, on O. The second year of any O yields one of the biggest opportunities for improvement. Add in increased maturity for guys like Haynes and Singleton and the OL and you have a recipe for a very good O.

There is no reason to expect less than 7 wins out of this group, IMPO. I would set my sights on 8 and hope for the best.
 

beeteam

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
50
stinger78 said:
I think I’m bullish on GT football this year. I’m buying. For many of the reasons stated above, I am quite optimistic. I do accept, however, that two of our wins last season were last second wins that we are unlikely to replicate and that tend to even out over time. I also, though, accept that we flat out gave away 2 games last season. So then, I believe that we truly were a 7-win team last season against a pretty tough schedule.

That brings me to this season. No doubt we will see an improved D. Better coaching, more maturity, and additional talent will yield an improvement. We should see incremental improvement, at least, on O. The second year of any O yields one of the biggest opportunities for improvement. Add in increased maturity for guys like Haynes and Singleton and the OL and you have a recipe for a very good O.

There is no reason to expect less than 7 wins out of this group, IMPO. I would set my sights on 8 and hope for the best.
Click to expand...
There will be such a huge perception difference between 7 and 8 wins. If we win 8 or more we go from smoking embers to 4 alarm blaze! 7 great...8 look out!
 
Techster

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
18,235
You know this is music to Key's ears:

On the ground, they opened running lanes that helped the Jackets lead the ACC in rushing offense with 197.1 yards per game. Starting running back Jamal Haynes was top-five in the ACC for both yards and yards per carry. Their performance in the ground game was one of the most consistent aspects of the season for the Yellow Jackets. Even against Georgia's defensive line, they were able to open up holes and keep the backs clean. Haynes had 5.4 yards per carry in the game and based on their 2023 performance, the Jackets should be able to run against any defensive line they encounter.

As an "old school tough" type coach, and an O'Leary/Friedgen disciple, you know having an elite ground game where his OL is abusing the DLs is a point of pride for him. He did it in one season with a group that didn't play a lot of games together. One of the things our fanbase feared when CPJ left was our run game. Well, looks like we can put those fears into a boat and send it to sea. Wait until Key gets a group that he's coached from the ground up and has played multiple games. Our offense is going to be REALLY fun this season if we can avoid injuries.

Also, if you followed the UGA game on social media, one of the biggest surprises everyone commented on was how our OL seemed to have UGA's DL on skates. I don't think UGA under Kirby has ever experienced that against us.
 

danny daniel

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,613
I believe the run success was aided a lot by misdirection and effective pulling linemen and TEs. Key was quick to attack those who said our TEs were not very good. He elaborated that the TEs were doing their job well as coached and they were an integral part of our offense success. I liked the misdirection as it seems to freeze the D long enough to get leverage for the blocks. Late in the year we saw a lot of Haynes going one way and King the other, and pulling linemen going one way and the TE going the other. Both the RB and the QB found lanes to run. I likes.

The Ga analysts acknologied that the GT plays were complex and took precision which was extremely hard to do, and when we were precise it was nearly impossible to stop. On two successful plays it only took two blocks to free the runner as other UGA players were taken out of position by pre and post snap movement by GT. The UGA analyists gave us lots of credit for being so "precise".
 
Last edited:
TooTall

TooTall

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,281
Location
Vidalia
slugboy said:
And we’re a top 50 team with a top 10 schedule. Out of 12 games, 6 are against teams ranked in the preseason top 25, with two in the top 5, and three more between 10-20. If we win 7, this should be a top 20-25 team.
Click to expand...
Preseason rankings don't matter.... I've heard that a few times somewhere...
 
Top