what real blue collar leadership is and means!

[cuttysark]

@AE 87:

Very well put. I was quite surprised at the ability of Marcus Allen in the spring game and the pass he caught was not an easy grab. While the sample size is quite small in conjunction with his 4 days of practice at the B-Back position, I liked what I saw of his all around performance.

This program is in a much different place currently, and 2015 will go a long way in showing the negative Nancy's just how far GT Football has progressed under CPJ.

 

[InsideLB]

Allen came in as a BB and later went to LB to try and get on the field faster. So he's had more than 4 days practicing at BB. In fact he said in an interview he feels like the position is making more sense to him this time 'round.

As for the ongoing discussion I actually have liked posts on both sides. For me an increased ability to plug and play exists and losing experience is also of concern. I like our C-G-C and QB though, and Allen, Skov, Quaide and or MLD suggest BB will be OK. Our O will be tough up the middle again and that puts a lot of pressure on Ds. It will soften the blows at AB an WR by slowing down inside pursuit.

Plus JT is a threat throwing and that will continue to mess with DBs minds.

We'll be fine but sure there will likely be some drop off...particularly early in the season on tbe perimeter if teams are handling the dive. Then the D must step up and guys on the perimeter will have to learn fast.

The one caveat is injuries. We got lucky (and some credit to Coach Sisk) with very few injuries on the DL last year. We'd like to see AB & WR stay healthy. We did get quality and quantity prospects at those positions so those guys may be called to grow up fast.

 

[jayparr]

Let me pursue a different texture of this whole thing. As I acknowledged earlier, leadership takes many forms. Some of them are quieter, some are louder. Some are less obvious, some of them impossible to miss. Some will lead by example, while by necessity some leadership needs to have words at the right moments.

I want to observe that there is a difference in being an all-star caliber player and being an overt, commanding leader. There have been some gutsy, 100% effort players who weren't always the best leaders. By their example, they obviously did lead in a certain way. But, the vacuum of what they could have said or caused others around them to do went unfilled by them.

Good teams have a variety of players in all the necessary leadership roles. That's what we seemed to have last year. Time will tell if we have that again.

A little late; but a real way it is. Thanks for this reply!

 

[jayparr]

Fwiw, I'm not sure we're that far off in our opinions about next year. It may be a glass half-full (me) or half-empty (you) scenario. However, I suspect that I still fall into the category of posters whom you think "aren't the least bit concerned" with our losses at skill positions. So, let me try and explain where I'm coming from so that it's not so mind-boggling.

After being a bit concerned with the departure of Orwin, and then a little less concerned with the departure of Robbie, I've decided that our coaching staff has earned the trust that they can get the next guys up and ready to go at that position. As I've said before, not only do we have Snoddy back, but we have two scholarship guys in Lynch and Searcy who've got as much time in the position as Allen and Smith had before their break-out years. CPJ has also said he feels good about these guys. Ike has put in even more years training at this position. We also have excellent true freshmen coming in.

As far as B-Back is concerned, Marcus Allen showed a lot of capability during the Spring game, and we have a 5th year running fullback coming in from Stanford. We also have two guys in Marcus Marshall and MLD who seem possibly ready to compete in this position as well. After seeing how Marcus ran the dive, blocked in the passing game, and even caught a screen pass during the Spring game, I think we'll be fine.

As far as WR goes, we have Michael Summers who's played and started games for us over the last two years, and we have two guys who've been in the system for two years already as well as some talented true freshmen. We've had the experience of Stephen Hill and Jeff Greene coming in and being able to contribute as true freshmen.

Also, much of the success of our offense hinges on the OL and the QB which we get back to large measure.

Finally, as @jayparr has pointed out in this thread, a lot of credit for our success goes to our QB's leadership style. The team trusts him and wants to match him in competitiveness and competence. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the QB buying in to what the team is doing is that it enables the team to buy-in to what the QB is doing. I suspect that we also have this kind of leadership from Jamal and DJ on D. We'll probably miss Synjyn's positive and loose attitude some, but I expect someone else will step up.

So, while I admit that I'd be more confident if we had more returning starters and contributors in the skill positions on O, I still don't get why we should be overly concerned.

Also, fwiw, my comment about "fundamental misunderstanding" did not refer to you personally but referred to how your statement struck me, and I explained why. You were certainly free to clarify what you meant.

Great to get back to this post after reading your reply! thanks!

 

[jayparr]

Allen came in as a BB and later went to LB to try and get on the field faster. So he's had more than 4 days practicing at BB. In fact he said in an interview he feels like the position is making more sense to him this time 'round.

As for the ongoing discussion I actually have liked posts on both sides. For me an increased ability to plug and play exists and losing experience is also of concern. I like our C-G-C and QB though, and Allen, Skov, Quaide and or MLD suggest BB will be OK. Our O will be tough up the middle again and that puts a lot of pressure on Ds. It will soften the blows at AB an WR by slowing down inside pursuit.

Plus JT is a threat throwing and that will continue to mess with DBs minds.

We'll be fine but sure there will likely be some drop off...particularly early in the season on tbe perimeter if teams are handling the dive. Then the D must step up and guys on the perimeter will have to learn fast.

The one caveat is injuries. We got lucky (and some credit to Coach Sisk) with very few injuries on the DL last year. We'd like to see AB & WR stay healthy. We did get quality and quantity prospects at those positions so those guys may be called to grow up fast.

Good reply! thanks for that!