Pre-Fall Projected Depth Chart

Tundeballer

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If our recruiting under Collins is as good as most of us think, we should see more of those talented young guys win starting jobs over the upperclassmen who have more experience. Especially at positions where the upperclassmen haven't proved themselves like wide receiver.
 
slugboy

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I can’t go position by position. There are just some that are foggy to me.

I’ll start with the obvious bits.

At QB, it’s Jeff Sims until someone shows they’re head and shoulders better.

At RB, Gibbs is the most exciting right now, but our running back lineup is stocked—any of those guys could start and make big numbers.

At center, Minihan is on Rimington watch. Johnson and Williams probably return to start on the right side, and Cochran should have the left tackle spot. Left guard is murky to me.

I don’t know who will be our TE this year. We have brought in a lot of players, but we haven’t generated much offense out of that position in the last two years. We added a bunch of freshmen to the roster, but I’m still doubtful that we’ll see many 2 TE sets.

On defense, Eley seems to be our Mike LB. Brooks is our main NT, and Clayton came back for one year at DE before an NFL tryout. There should be a lot of rotation on the DL.

Will Quez Jackson be our Will LB? Carpenter, Swilling, and Thomas should be 3 out of our 5 DBs. I don’t know who will have Nickel, whether Swilling moves there, and if Watson gets that other CB position.
 

Gtech50

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bobongo said:
Kind of hard to imagine a two-time all MEAC selection and any sort of NFL prospect not to crack the starting lineup on our OL.

Grad transfer Kenneth Kirby brings high ambitions to Georgia Tech (ajc.com)
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Williams and Cochran are also likely future NFL players. Not saying Kirby won’t start but it’s going to be tough competition. I think there’s a good chance he plays at Guard too so we can maximize his time on the field. Regardless, he’s going to play a lot whether he starts or not
 

lv20gt

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bobongo said:
Kind of hard to imagine a two-time all MEAC selection and any sort of NFL prospect not to crack the starting lineup on our OL.
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The issue comes with who does he replace. IMO Minihan and Johnson are basically for sure starters. At tackle it is hard to imagine not starting Williams. He probably wasn't ready to start last year and it showed at times, but after having already gone through those growing pains it doesn't make sense to now have him be a back up. It may be the better move in the short term but it could also be playing with fire a bit. At the other tackle spot Cochran seems similar to Kirby in terms of NFL aspirations but has the more conventional frame. But he did take a year off.

The most obvious opportunity for playing time, to me, would look to be LG instead of Smith. It very well could be that is what the staff have in mind as if he has NFL aspirations showing positional flexibility of the OL could be a good thing.
 
bobongo

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lv20gt said:
The issue comes with who does he replace. IMO Minihan and Johnson are basically for sure starters. At tackle it is hard to imagine not starting Williams. He probably wasn't ready to start last year and it showed at times, but after having already gone through those growing pains it doesn't make sense to now have him be a back up. It may be the better move in the short term but it could also be playing with fire a bit. At the other tackle spot Cochran seems similar to Kirby in terms of NFL aspirations but has the more conventional frame. But he did take a year off.

The most obvious opportunity for playing time, to me, would look to be LG instead of Smith. It very well could be that is what the staff have in mind as if he has NFL aspirations showing positional flexibility of the OL could be a good thing.
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I'm guessing he starts ahead of Johnson.
 
Madison Grant

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I was impressed in the Spring game with how much more Ward looked like a true scholarship TE than our other options. Made a couple of great catches with a defender draped all over him. After a year in the program, I think he'll get most of the PT there although the other guys will have their roles.
 

g0lftime

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I think we now have enough quality linemen to rotate more often and keep them fresher in the hotter day games plus depth with injuries that are bound to happen. Now just clean up the false starts please.
 

JacketOff

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OL don’t get rotated between plays/series/drives. Every team’s dream is to have the same 5 lineman play every snap of every game. Obviously that’s incredibly rare so it’s nice to have quality depth just in case. But guys won’t be rotating in and out of the game just because there is depth now. Unless somebody gets beat out in practice or is underperforming, the 5 that start the year will be the 5 that play.
 

g0lftime

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JacketOff said:
OL don’t get rotated between plays/series/drives. Every team’s dream is to have the same 5 lineman play every snap of every game. Obviously that’s incredibly rare so it’s nice to have quality depth just in case. But guys won’t be rotating in and out of the game just because there is depth now. Unless somebody gets beat out in practice or is underperforming, the 5 that start the year will be the 5 that play.
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So far that has been the plan but always seem to be injuries that require new guys. 2019 was a year of constant churn in the OL and it wasn't pretty. At the least they should get time on extra points and FG's. How many false starts does one get before they should sit for a few?
 

FlatsLander

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slugboy said:
At wide receiver, there are four WRs with single digit numbers: Kyric McGowan, Malachi Carter, Nate McCullum, and Avery Boyd. That should say who the coaches think are standing out this spring.

Our likely kicker, Brent Cimiglia, is listed as a 6’ 210lb offensive lineman on our roster. I assume someone will fix that.
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It could be that the other WRs like Sanders didn't request a single digit too. I'm not sure I would count on single digits implying depth.
 
GTBandit22

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takethepoints said:
I wouldn't be surprised if these are the starting lineups. However, I expect that Mason will get as many carries as Gibbs. The CFN writeup on Tech had some points that I, shall we say, disagreed with, but they were right in saying that Mason will get you 100 yards if he gets 20 carries. Whether he will will depend on how much the OL improves. If he gets the blocks, Gibbs will do the same and maybe more. But … Gibbs doesn't make his own holes; Mason does. So we'll see.
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I think we will see plenty of the other three. It will keep Gibbs fresh for the full season. I also look for him to continue to be a big target in the passing game.

I’m actually excited to see Dontae this season. He already has the tough running down, but I want to see him get better at the zone read game, blocking and out of the backfield.
Choice has done a great job with his progression as a tailback.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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GTBandit22 said:
I think we will see plenty of the other three. It will keep Gibbs fresh for the full season. I also look for him to continue to be a big target in the passing game.

I’m actually excited to see Dontae this season. He already has the tough running down, but I want to see him get better at the zone read game, blocking and out of the backfield.
Choice has done a great job with his progression as a tailback.
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I agree. Smith has all the intangibles. I think he’s as good as any RB we’ve had for a long time outside of Gibbs.
 
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