Johnson stunned that Dwyer hasn’t been picked — updated
That Jonathan Dwyer has yet to be drafted stuns Paul Johnson, his former coach at Georgia Tech.
At one time projected to be a first-round pick when he announced in January he was leaving school after three seasons, Dwyer was finally selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth rounds
Twelve running backs were selected ahead of him.
“Someone is going to get a heck of a football player,” Johnson said after Saturday’s T-Day game at Bobby Dodd Stadium. “If there are 90 guys better than him I haven’t seen them.
“It’s unbelievable.”
After rushing for 1,395 yards as a sophomore to earn ACC player of the year honors, he rushed for 1,395 more as a junior last season in helping the Yellow Jackets win the ACC.
When he announced he was turning pro, draft analysts questioned Dwyer’s weight, ability to catch the ball, blocking and pass-catching skills. He played at around 240 pounds in Tech’s spread-option, where he wasn’t asked to pass-block or catch, though he did snag a few passes, notably against FSU and against Iowa in the Orange Bowl
A toe injury sustained in the bowl game hampered his training and conditioning in the weeks leading up to the NFL Combine. As a result, he ran a relatively slow 40 time and weighed 229 pounds, four more than his target weight. But the toe healed and a slimmer Dwyer (225 pounds) bounced back at Tech’s pro day a month later to run a 4.52, seven-thousandths faster than his time at the Combine and within the top-10 times posted in Indianapolis.
Analysts also wondered whether Dwyer could transition from lining up close to the line of scrimmage, as he did in Tech’s spread-option, to the deeper start required in a pro-style offense. Dwyer pointed out after Tech’s pro day that he was used in that formation during his freshman season at Tech when Chan Gailey was coach.
Dwyer is the fourth Yellow Jacket taken in this year’s draft, following defensive end Derrick Morgan to Tennessee with the 16th pick, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to Denver with the 22nd pick, and safety Morgan Burnett to Green Bay in the third round (71st overall) on Friday.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
106 comments Add your comment
Matt B.
April 24th, 2010
2:24 pm
Like I said. Congratulations, Keith. I mean it sincerely. I have much more in life than being a Tech fan. I’m happy for you.
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:24 pm
Unreliable HS recruiting is? Do me a favor WreckHorn, go look at your 2007 recruiting class, then look at how each player was ranked. Who were your top rated players? Thomas, Morgan, Burnette, JN, Dwyer… all 4 stars. Yeah, those HS recruiting rankings are so unreliable…
son_sir
April 24th, 2010
2:26 pm
TOB, Oh really ? Ask D. Ellerbe about that.
Just to refresh your memory… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuLwz-I2QOE
HugoStiglitz
April 24th, 2010
2:27 pm
Actually Triple Option, Thomas was a 3 star player and wasnt even part of the 2007 class. So maybe you should go look at it.
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:27 pm
Poor Kooth and Tob. That you have no sense of history is not surprising. That you found your way onto a Tech blog is not even surprising, since so many doggies would rather post here than on their own sites. That neither of your mommies is home to catch you on their computers is a little surprising, since Waffle House waitresses and crack ho’s wouldn’t seem to be the types to work on a Sat. afternoon.
mowreck
April 24th, 2010
2:29 pm
I am with BUZZBUTT … Stay in school boys! Burnette would probably have been the #1 safety next year. Dyer surely would have went in the 1st or 2nd next year.
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:29 pm
TOBy boy: For unreliable H.S. recruiting I would refer you to UGA and Richt’s stellar recruiting classes and pathetic inability to capture championships from lower-rated opponents.
son_sir
April 24th, 2010
2:29 pm
DWYER IS A STEELER !!
Matt B.
April 24th, 2010
2:30 pm
I also couldn’t be happier for all UGA fans to run this state. My bulldawg wife had enough sense to marry a Tech fan and it keps her happy that the Dawgs do well. I’m going to enjoy my time next year in my gay high school stadium watching my team run a middle school offense. Hopefully we’ll have a good season and the game with the Dawgs will be a good one. If we lose, you can all crow about running the state some more. If we win, you will let us know that you lead the seies and have won 8 of 10. Either way, yo come off looking like an idiot as you spew at Tech people about being gay, nerdy and occupying an urban area that has crime. Good thing no one ver gets robbed in Athens.
Maybe just maybe the Falcons will take Dwyer
April 24th, 2010
2:30 pm
Hey, here is a thought: Maybe the Fal Coons will take Dwyer. He could sell Beer!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:31 pm
Hugo… ok, Thomas wasn’t. How about the other guys? I got 4 out 5 right. How did Calvin the 5 star turn out? Gosh, those damn recruiting rankings are so unreliable!
Technophobia
April 24th, 2010
2:31 pm
The Steelers just picked him
groundfog
April 24th, 2010
2:31 pm
I thought the Steelers would take him here damit now i have to root again.
HugoStiglitz
April 24th, 2010
2:31 pm
Dwyer is gonna tear things up for Pittsburgh. They got a late steal.
KnightInATL
April 24th, 2010
2:31 pm
Good situation for Dwyer….he won’t get paid, but he’ll get a chance to prove himself.
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:32 pm
It will be 9 out of 10, not 8 out of 10.
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:32 pm
Sorry TOB and Kooth, but I have to go now, having a life and all that as I do. Oh, I’m sorry, all you have is UGA football and gay sex with masocts, dead or alive….that’s really a shame. I guess it does give your mothers, fathers, and sisters a rest, though. Have fun boys, you only have about four months left before you can go back and trash your own campus as usual.
APD and the blue lights and sirens
April 24th, 2010
2:32 pm
What is with all the squad cars around tech lately? Maybe the NBA’s Crittendon is lecturing on gun safety. Maybe tech ’s # 37 is out on a double date with R Houston.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA 30-24 and it will keep on keeping on
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:33 pm
“TOBy boy: For unreliable H.S. recruiting I would refer you to UGA and Richt’s stellar recruiting classes and pathetic inability to capture championships from lower-rated opponents.”
He’s won 2 SEC championships and gone 8 out of 9 against his in state rival. I’d say his recruiting classes are working out…
Rich from the Sports Buffet
April 24th, 2010
2:33 pm
Just got drafted by the Steelers.
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:34 pm
WreckHorn… you are pretty obsessed w/ gay sex and incest.
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:35 pm
Good, now Dwyer can run over Hines “Cheap-shot” Ward all summer in practice.
Hines Ward can train him
April 24th, 2010
2:35 pm
Dwyer will be in the right spot in PIttsburg with choir boy QB Ben Roth burger or whatever.
Hines Ward will teach Dwyer to be and act like a man. Ward being a UGA grad and all.
Is Dwyer a grad yet?? Hmmmmmmm?
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:35 pm
TOB: I just call’em like you do ‘em.
Matt B.
April 24th, 2010
2:36 pm
Good situation in Pitt with Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore in front of him. He’ll get Falcons-Snelling level carries until Moore is out in the next year or two. Mendenhall has some injury history, so he may ahve a chance to play more sooner.
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:37 pm
Hines Ward plays on offense… not defense…
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:37 pm
WreckHorn, I thought you had to go? Why are you still posting?
Matt B.
April 24th, 2010
2:38 pm
HE was still voted “dirtiest” player by his peers thanks to his crackback blocks.
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:39 pm
HWCTM: a little late there, boy. If taking cheap shots and being loathed (vs. being envied or respected) by most everyone in the league is being a man, I think that is a lesson Dwyer can skip. Ward showed his true color last year when he shot off his mouth about his QB rather than support him. Like most doggies, he takes cheap shots on and off the field and is a hero only to UGA grads and few beer-bellied union workers in Pittsburgh.
Rodney Dangerfield
April 24th, 2010
2:39 pm
Dwyer just got picked up by the Steelers, not a bad team to go to as a RB.
Grant Field to tower
April 24th, 2010
2:39 pm
Maybe Dwyer could join up with the 2 DEMOTED Navy flyers now pumping gas in Afghanistan, if he gets CUT by the Steelers.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
Rodney Dangerfield
April 24th, 2010
2:39 pm
Congrats Jonathan Dwyer.
Hines bad mouthed the Steeler QB???
April 24th, 2010
2:41 pm
Why the Steeler QB is a wonderful NFL role model. Why would Hines bad mouth him?
Now, we KNOW why ………you moron.
Go Dogs.
WreckHorn
April 24th, 2010
2:41 pm
I know you are anxious for me to go TOB, since you have all the wit of a …a…a UGA fan…..(sorry, amoeba, that’s a dig on you). Now that my Ole Miss-grad wife is finally finished preening, I am ready to go at last. The question isn’t why am I still posting, it’s WHY ARE YOU POSTING ON A TECH BLOG IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:44 pm
Just returning the favor for all of your Tech friends who post on UGA blogs. Plus, I love the fact that there is an entire blog going about the fact that Dwyer wasn’t drafted until Round 6. I can’t resist. I just don’t like you guys. So I like to get you fired up. Oops, just gave away my game plan. And I love the fact that you are defending a QB who has been accused of rape twice. I also like that you are attempting to brag about an Ole Miss wife… who is probably ugly as sin.
Athens/CC PD
April 24th, 2010
2:44 pm
If you really knew Hines Ward, you’d know he was much worse than B.R. is now….he just didn’t get caught by the wrong cops. Take a taxi next time you are in Athens, dog fans, with some big drunk UGA athletes and wannabes. I look forward to writing all of you up for littering, parking tickets, and drunk in public next season.
gtpete
April 24th, 2010
2:47 pm
So Dwyer is too small and too slow, yet after playing 2 years in Tech’s offense, he’s projected as a first round pick…..doesn’t that suggest that the offense helped him? It looks like he couldn’t back it up at the combine and post-season workouts, but the offense seems to have boosted his stock.
Besides, if the “Tech’s offense won’t help you get to the NFL” argument were true, wouldn’t it apply even more so to wide receivers? Bebe Thomas spent all of last season blocking downfield and running fly patterns…and he’s a 1st round pick.
Athens/CC PD
April 24th, 2010
2:48 pm
Trips: I’m a Dawg fan, actually, but not a fan of the undisciplined ones tarnishing the program these days. But you are dead wrong about any girl from Ole Miss. UGA girls are hot, but Ole Miss girls have us beat….if we’re lucky. And I do know the apprehension history of Mr. Ward and most UGA players from the last 20 years. I say “apprehension” because we seldom arrest them, which you would know if you were an objective observer instead of a blind loyalist.
Keith E.
April 24th, 2010
2:51 pm
Ole Miss women “ugly as sin”? Man, you just lost all credibility with that one. Ole Miss put the “hottie” in “hotty toddy.” More Miss America’s per capita than any other university, by double. In Oxford they turn away anything less than a 9.5 and detour them on down to Starkville.
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:53 pm
So are you really trying to convince us that you are from the ACC PD? If so, how did you not know about the report that the alleged taxi cab incident only involved one UGA football player (not multiple) and that player was actually acting to help the situation?
imperialistrunningdog
April 24th, 2010
2:54 pm
triple option back: i love the dawgs, but they are, after all, called ‘dawgs’. ole miss women are the class of the SEC and best in the country. go dawgs, sic’em. go ole miss girls, suc’em.
Triple Option Back
April 24th, 2010
2:54 pm
I’ve been to Ole Miss, and I know they are good looking. But I really doubt that WreckHorn’s wife is. That is all.
imperialistrunningdawg
April 24th, 2010
2:55 pm
triple option back: i love the dawgs, but they are, after all, called ‘dawgs’. ole miss women are the class of the SEC and best in the country. go dawgs, sic’em. go ole miss girls, suc’em.
GA Tech Fan
April 24th, 2010
3:05 pm
Ahhhhhh, the typical UGA fans as usual. Not worth my time to argue. Congrats Dwyer and the rest of the guys.
Paul in RDU
April 24th, 2010
3:07 pm
Certainly a long wait for Dwyer to get drafted but he has ended up in a good spot.
Three years from now there are going to be a number of NFL teams who regret passing up Dwyer for other backs – beginning with Cleveland (Hardisty from UT???)
GA Tech Fan
April 24th, 2010
3:09 pm
Hey Keith,
It was lighting severly! I don’t think anyone in their right mind would want to be struck by lighting.
Tech87
April 24th, 2010
3:24 pm
So, according the “experts” from Athens, Dwyer’s drop is proof that CPJ’s offense will hurt recruiting RB’s, but Thomas’ 1st round selection means nothing. It was Chan’s expert recruiting. Right.
Kay
April 24th, 2010
5:41 pm
Does anyone know who the 2 fellows were who stayed with
Coach Johnson on the field during the T-Day game?
Sam
April 24th, 2010
5:46 pm
Paul Johnson isn’t exactly an authority on NFL talent.
Sam
April 24th, 2010
6:00 pm
You nailed it Tech87. What perception!