Practice #12 err 13

[JacketFromUGA]

All valid points Legal Jacket thats why the current hope is the defense takes a step forward this year and allows us to stay in and/or win games that we wouldn't with last years offense (like UNC)

 

[PBR549]

Cheese,
You are right.PJ does need to be a EVEN a LITLE more patient with the questions.He continually acts like it everybody already knows all about the team and he wants to shorten this exercise as quickly as possible.
It would be different if we were selling out the stadium but a bit less attitude might mean a few more would not be turned off to GT fball.--just the truth.

Bill Lewis was a media darling and he really packed them in. We have the best chance to be consistently good under the CPJ regime than we've had since Dodd and some of y'all want to knit pick about the way he answers media questions. We're up to our rear ends in alligators and you're swatting mosquitoes. Let's get behind these guys and not worry about telling them what they "should do." He doesn't come to you're job and throw rocks at you while you're mowing. Don't get mad I'm just trying to use humor to make my point.

 

[deeeznutz]

It's a nice way of spinning it, but no matter what you say we returned a lot of game experience on offense last year. Our "QB that has never started a game" was the best QB recruit CPJ has ever had. And while we lost our "only productive AB" and "our starter at BB," the fact is we returned 4 SENIORS at AB, 3 SENIORS at BB, and 2 SENIORS at WR. This year we got Snoddy as the ONLY Senior at any of those positions.

Every team may lose talent - but show me another one that doesn't return a single start at RB or WR - and its not like we have experienced backups returning like last year. Aside from Snoddy, Andrews was the #6 AB on the depth chart last year. Leggett hasn't even played a college snap. I'm not trying to be negative, but there is a very real chance the offense could come nowhere close next year to how it was last year. Even if the offense was the same, we probably lose another game or two because of the tougher schedule.

Your comment about returning no starts at RB & WR is wrong...Summers has started a handful of games in his time here and has a whole lot of game experience

 

[Bruce Wayne]

CPJ is also talking here to the print media right after practice. When you read Ken or Winklejohn's usage of quotes from these sessions how does CPJ come off or get described?

 

[dressedcheeseside]

And while we lost our "only productive AB" and "our starter at BB," the fact is we returned 4 SENIORS at AB, 3 SENIORS at BB, and 2 SENIORS at WR.

I generally agree with your sentiment but to pick a nit, Synjyn wasn't a Bback yet.

 

[Legal Jacket]

Your comment about returning no starts at RB & WR is wrong...Summers has started a handful of games in his time here and has a whole lot of game experience

Fair enough, I'll give you Summers. He's got some big shoes to fill though; the real point is that we graduated 94 of our 106 receptions. I get that blocking is important too, and Summers is good at it, but he's relatively small for our WRs and isn't as good a blocker as other WRs we have had recently.

 

[Legal Jacket]

I generally agree with your sentiment but to pick a nit, Synjyn wasn't a Bback yet.

True, with Synjyn the point was more that he had a lot of experience in the system. Yeah he needed to work on things like the mesh, but he had years of working out in college, plus the knowledge that came with playing QB and AB for a number of years (in other words, he wasn't starting from scratch).

 

[Legal Jacket]

All valid points Legal Jacket thats why the current hope is the defense takes a step forward this year and allows us to stay in and/or win games that we wouldn't with last years offense (like UNC)

Yeah man. I think Cheese is right - we've got a chance to be solid on the D Line if things come together. We may have to be for a decent season.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Yeah man. I think Cheese is right - we've got a chance to be solid on the D Line if things come together. We may have to be for a decent season.

I'd say one thing in particular!

 

[Northeast Stinger]

All the goodwill in the world shown to the press won't cause them to hesitate, for a single second, from sharpening their knives again the second things go poorly.

I think this is right on. Press can act friendly but they are all about the business of making news. They would skewer CPJ in a minute if there were news worthy opportunities to do so. CPJ's attitude seems to be let's get through this conference; you are not my friend so there is no need for me to pretend to be your friend. You have a job to do; I have a job to do. If you need someone to make your feel good about your job then maybe you are in the wrong job.

Having said that, he is never disrespectful to the press and he does tell the truth to them. I have never seen him go out of his way to make a reporter feel stupid even when the reporter asked a stupid question. And those reporters who "get him" actually like him.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

It's a nice way of spinning it, but no matter what you say we returned a lot of game experience on offense last year. Our "QB that has never started a game" was the best QB recruit CPJ has ever had

This sounds argumentative to me. Last year's concerns were real. We had lost many of our proven performers. Justin has proven himself to be a great quarterback but that is with 20/20 hindsight. Before the season started various "experts" were looking at multiple question marks on both sides of the ball. That is not spin, brother, that is fact. We all resented that Tech was picked 7th in the ACC but there was a reason for that. I suspect there is also a reason Tech is picked as one of the top three teams this year in the ACC.

But this is not to say you haven't raised some legitimate concerns. You have. I just have a problem with our acting like Tech was expected to have answers for all the players we lost before last season. That strikes me as revisionist history. This year we have similar concerns going into the season. Those who are feeling optimistic are simply choosing to see how well CPJ was able to come up with answers in the past.

 

[Legal Jacket]

This sounds argumentative to me. Last year's concerns were real. We had lost many of our proven performers. Justin has proven himself to be a great quarterback but that is with 20/20 hindsight. Before the season started various "experts" were looking at multiple question marks on both sides of the ball. That is not spin, brother, that is fact. We all resented that Tech was picked 7th in the ACC but there was a reason for that. I suspect there is also a reason Tech is picked as one of the top three teams this year in the ACC.

But this is not to say you haven't raised some legitimate concerns. You have. I just have a problem with our acting like Tech was expected to have answers for all the players we lost before last season. That strikes me as revisionist history. This year we have similar concerns going into the season. Those who are feeling optimistic are simply choosing to see how well CPJ was able to come up with answers in the past.

Maybe I was in the minority, but the only offensive player who I thought we'd miss going into last year was Godhigh. I was expecting JT to be a lot better than Vad (it would be hard to be worse at running our offense). To be fair, I'd been pretty high on JT ever since he came here and was excited to see what he could do. I was also REALLY high on Smelter and thought Waller was a great complement, especially in the red zone (I was pissed when Waller was ruled out for the first few games).

But even losing Godhigh, I was also excited by the prospect of Perkins (who'd been hyped ever since he got here and was finally appearing to "get it"), the speed of Snoddy, and Zenon and Hill who I'd always thought were pretty solid players. You can call it "revisionist" history, but it didn't take much to look at our AB depth chart last year and see the returning experience. I've never thought as highly of Andrews as any of those players - not that there is anything wrong with him and I'm glad we have him with our thin depth, but I saw things in practice (e.g. Zenon's "shiftiness") that I haven't seen repeated with Andrews.

I can't say that I was excited by Laskey at BB. I don't remember exactly when Days moved to BB, but I'd been high on him for a while (ever since a practice 2 or so years ago when, while playing QB, Days took the ball downfield about 4 times in a row and looked very similar to his long run in the orange bowl). Regardless of what position he played (and as the others at that practice I'm sure can understand), I really thought Days was going to have a big year. I also wasn't very concerned about replacing Sims. He was serviceable, but to me he was never a great BB. Going into this year I was expecting pretty much the same thing from Laskey (you act like Laskey was somehow a step down from Sims, but the truth is that Laskey already had 217 career carries for 1182 yards going into last season (5.45 YPC), while Sims had 277 carries for 1368 yards going into his senior season (4.94 YPC). They really just weren't that different in my mind, its just that Sims had more attempts in 2013 (in fact, Laskey had a better year in 2012 and more YPC in 2013). It wasn't like losing Dwyer or Allen - I just wasn't that concerned at BB.

I was somewhat concerned with our OL (it definitely ended up better than I expected), but by no means is it comparable to my concerns at AB, BB, and WR going into this year. We returned an all ACC player in Mason (where is the all ACC AB, BB, or WR that we return?). Trey Braun was returning. I didn't know whether we could replace Will Jackson or find a center, but I thought we had at least some good candidates to choose from (similar to our WRs this year). That said, we had substantially more depth and returning experience last year on OL than we do this year at AB, BB, and WR.

So for me, I was much more comfortable going into last year, with at least a good deal of upperclassmen throughout the lineup, as opposed to this year, where we have little veteran presence at AB and BB, and may have a hard time finding a standout WR.

And question marks aren't that big of a deal either. Questions can have answers. Last year you could easily find those answers. This year its much tougher to do that. I don't have the answer for "who will our standout WR be." I don't have the answer to "who will our starting BB" be. And while I can guess who our 2nd string ABs will be, I don't think I've ever seen them play football live.

Where I was concerned about losing players last year was on defense - especially Attaochu. That proved to be right as we had no pass rush.

 

[AE 87]

Maybe I was in the minority, but the only offensive player who I thought we'd miss going into last year was Godhigh. I was expecting JT to be a lot better than Vad (it would be hard to be worse at running our offense). To be fair, I'd been pretty high on JT ever since he came here and was excited to see what he could do. I was also REALLY high on Smelter and thought Waller was a great complement, especially in the red zone (I was pissed when Waller was ruled out for the first few games).

But even losing Godhigh, I was also excited by the prospect of Perkins (who'd been hyped ever since he got here and was finally appearing to "get it"), the speed of Snoddy, and Zenon and Hill who I'd always thought were pretty solid players. You can call it "revisionist" history, but it didn't take much to look at our AB depth chart last year and see the returning experience. I've never thought as highly of Andrews as any of those players - not that there is anything wrong with him and I'm glad we have him with our thin depth, but I saw things in practice (e.g. Zenon's "shiftiness") that I haven't seen repeated with Andrews.

I can't say that I was excited by Laskey at BB. I don't remember exactly when Days moved to BB, but I'd been high on him for a while (ever since a practice 2 or so years ago when, while playing QB, Days took the ball downfield about 4 times in a row and looked very similar to his long run in the orange bowl). Regardless of what position he played (and as the others at that practice I'm sure can understand), I really thought Days was going to have a big year. I also wasn't very concerned about replacing Sims. He was serviceable, but to me he was never a great BB. Going into this year I was expecting pretty much the same thing from Laskey (you act like Laskey was somehow a step down from Sims, but the truth is that Laskey already had 217 career carries for 1182 yards going into last season (5.45 YPC), while Sims had 277 carries for 1368 yards going into his senior season (4.94 YPC). They really just weren't that different in my mind, its just that Sims had more attempts in 2013 (in fact, Laskey had a better year in 2012 and more YPC in 2013). It wasn't like losing Dwyer or Allen - I just wasn't that concerned at BB.

I was somewhat concerned with our OL (it definitely ended up better than I expected), but by no means is it comparable to my concerns at AB, BB, and WR going into this year. We returned an all ACC player in Mason (where is the all ACC AB, BB, or WR that we return?). Trey Braun was returning. I didn't know whether we could replace Will Jackson or find a center, but I thought we had at least some good candidates to choose from (similar to our WRs this year). That said, we had substantially more depth and returning experience last year on OL than we do this year at AB, BB, and WR.

So for me, I was much more comfortable going into last year, with at least a good deal of upperclassmen throughout the lineup, as opposed to this year, where we have little veteran presence at AB and BB, and may have a hard time finding a standout WR.

And question marks aren't that big of a deal either. Questions can have answers. Last year you could easily find those answers. This year its much tougher to do that. I don't have the answer for "who will our standout WR be." I don't have the answer to "who will our starting BB" be. And while I can guess who our 2nd string ABs will be, I don't think I've ever seen them play football live.

Where I was concerned about losing players last year was on defense - especially Attaochu. That proved to be right as we had no pass rush.

Yeah, I was more optimistic going into last year too. However, I also expected our defense to be much better than it was. I thought our offense would be fine, top 15, top 20, in OFEI and our Defense to be top 40 in DFEI. We ended the year, #1 and #51.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Maybe I was in the minority, but the only offensive player who I thought we'd miss going into last year was Godhigh. I was expecting JT to be a lot better than Vad (it would be hard to be worse at running our offense). To be fair, I'd been pretty high on JT ever since he came here and was excited to see what he could do. I was also REALLY high on Smelter and thought Waller was a great complement, especially in the red zone (I was pissed when Waller was ruled out for the first few games).

But even losing Godhigh, I was also excited by the prospect of Perkins (who'd been hyped ever since he got here and was finally appearing to "get it"), the speed of Snoddy, and Zenon and Hill who I'd always thought were pretty solid players. You can call it "revisionist" history, but it didn't take much to look at our AB depth chart last year and see the returning experience. I've never thought as highly of Andrews as any of those players - not that there is anything wrong with him and I'm glad we have him with our thin depth, but I saw things in practice (e.g. Zenon's "shiftiness") that I haven't seen repeated with Andrews.

I can't say that I was excited by Laskey at BB. I don't remember exactly when Days moved to BB, but I'd been high on him for a while (ever since a practice 2 or so years ago when, while playing QB, Days took the ball downfield about 4 times in a row and looked very similar to his long run in the orange bowl). Regardless of what position he played (and as the others at that practice I'm sure can understand), I really thought Days was going to have a big year. I also wasn't very concerned about replacing Sims. He was serviceable, but to me he was never a great BB. Going into this year I was expecting pretty much the same thing from Laskey (you act like Laskey was somehow a step down from Sims, but the truth is that Laskey already had 217 career carries for 1182 yards going into last season (5.45 YPC), while Sims had 277 carries for 1368 yards going into his senior season (4.94 YPC). They really just weren't that different in my mind, its just that Sims had more attempts in 2013 (in fact, Laskey had a better year in 2012 and more YPC in 2013). It wasn't like losing Dwyer or Allen - I just wasn't that concerned at BB.

I was somewhat concerned with our OL (it definitely ended up better than I expected), but by no means is it comparable to my concerns at AB, BB, and WR going into this year. We returned an all ACC player in Mason (where is the all ACC AB, BB, or WR that we return?). Trey Braun was returning. I didn't know whether we could replace Will Jackson or find a center, but I thought we had at least some good candidates to choose from (similar to our WRs this year). That said, we had substantially more depth and returning experience last year on OL than we do this year at AB, BB, and WR.

So for me, I was much more comfortable going into last year, with at least a good deal of upperclassmen throughout the lineup, as opposed to this year, where we have little veteran presence at AB and BB, and may have a hard time finding a standout WR.

And question marks aren't that big of a deal either. Questions can have answers. Last year you could easily find those answers. This year its much tougher to do that. I don't have the answer for "who will our standout WR be." I don't have the answer to "who will our starting BB" be. And while I can guess who our 2nd string ABs will be, I don't think I've ever seen them play football live.

Where I was concerned about losing players last year was on defense - especially Attaochu. That proved to be right as we had no pass rush.

Believe it or not I was more optimistic than most before last season, though I probably had a few more concerns than you. The short hand way of putting it would be to say that Tech had "question marks" in multiple areas. The most pessimistic among us said those question marks included quarterback, offensive line, B-back, A-back, WR, defensive line, linebacker and special teams. I did not share that level of pessimism but I understood those who said we have an unproven starter at quarterback because, truth is, he had not shown anything at that point in game situations. I felt differently because I heard what the players said about him in practice. And, like you, I was not a Vad Lee fan. Still, I don't think anyone, even CPJ, would have predicted him to play like the leader he has become.

I could go name all the reasons why people had question marks for all the other positions but I was only really concerned with four areas, the offensive line, which was a disaster the previous year, the defensive line which lost most of its depth over the summer and wasn't that good to begin with, B-back because it had not been the strength it needed to be for the team in several years, and A-back because none of the returning players had ever lived up to their promise. With A-back in particular even though I had liked all of those players when they were recruited, each one had been a disappointment. Perkins, partly due to injuries, did not show his potential until his senior year. Snoddy, like Perkins, had moved around a lot, gotten buried on the depth chart and was someone you would not have been surprised to see leave the team. Zenon had never fulfilled his promise and the list goes on.

Anyway, I understand your position and you were perhaps smarter than most of us for seeing promise where others had grave concerns. This year I am no more concerned than I was last year except that last year taught me that CPJ knows how to build depth into the system and bring players along right at the time we need them. Knowing that the quarterback position is nailed down by an historically good Tech quarterback makes me feel like the other areas will have time to develop.

 

[Legal Jacket]

Believe it or not I was more optimistic than most before last season, though I probably had a few more concerns than you. The short hand way of putting it would be to say that Tech had "question marks" in multiple areas. The most pessimistic among us said those question marks included quarterback, offensive line, B-back, A-back, WR, defensive line, linebacker and special teams. I did not share that level of pessimism but I understood those who said we have an unproven starter at quarterback because, truth is, he had not shown anything at that point in game situations. I felt differently because I heard what the players said about him in practice. And, like you, I was not a Vad Lee fan. Still, I don't think anyone, even CPJ, would have predicted him to play like the leader he has become.

I could go name all the reasons why people had question marks for all the other positions but I was only really concerned with four areas, the offensive line, which was a disaster the previous year, the defensive line which lost most of its depth over the summer and wasn't that good to begin with, B-back because it had not been the strength it needed to be for the team in several years, and A-back because none of the returning players had ever lived up to their promise. With A-back in particular even though I had liked all of those players when they were recruited, each one had been a disappointment. Perkins, partly due to injuries, did not show his potential until his senior year. Snoddy, like Perkins, had moved around a lot, gotten buried on the depth chart and was someone you would not have been surprised to see leave the team. Zenon had never fulfilled his promise and the list goes on.

Anyway, I understand your position and you were perhaps smarter than most of us for seeing promise where others had grave concerns. This year I am no more concerned than I was last year except that last year taught me that CPJ knows how to build depth into the system and bring players along right at the time we need them. Knowing that the quarterback position is nailed down by an historically good Tech quarterback makes me feel like the other areas will have time to develop.

Let me be the first to say I hope you are right and I am wrong about this year.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Let me be the first to say I hope you are right and I am wrong about this year.

Me too.

I do have concerns. I perhaps am something of a nervous nellie about a few things. In no particular order:
I am still holding my breath on Snoddy's recovery.
I am not convinced the offensive line is out of the woods.
We still do not know for sure if 3 defensive linemen will be able to play or be able to play as well as we need them to.
Not having Smelter and Waller means we are starting over with our QB & WR chemistry.
B-back is up in the air.

 

[mqpayne]

Out of the box thought for comments. What about Chris Milton at BB.

 

[AE 87]

Out of the box thought for comments. What about Chris Milton at BB.

You don't want comments imo.

 

[mqpayne]

He played RB and QB in HS. Ran a 4.4. His TD run of interception last year looked good. We need BB with experience and he is a RS. Why not move him we are deep at DB.

 

[Blumpkin Souffle]

Out of the box thought for comments. What about Chris Milton at BB.