Jefferson, Tarrant chime in on draft
Spoke with Brad Jefferson and Jerrard Tarrant leading up to the draft.
A couple quotes from the interviews, first Jefferson:
“I’m pretty confident (about playing in the NFL). I know what I can do. It’s just trying to get them to know I can do it. Either way it goes, you’ve just got to prove yourself. Even if you’re a first-rounder, you have to prove yourself.”
Jefferson said he’s 12 hours shy of his degree.
“That’s all my parents talk about, going back and getting that degree, no matter what happens.”
On where he thinks he might go in the draft:
“It’s pretty much up in the air right now. They’ll tell you things, but you’ve just got to wait. You won’t know anything until it happens.”
Jefferson will be waiting for his name to be called this weekend.
Tarrant on an opponent he thinks deserves a shot in the NFL.
“The running back from Miami, Graig Cooper. I think if he never would have gotten injured last year, he would have been a high pick. … He’s real physical. He runs hard, he goes 100 percent every play.”
On Tech’s season in 2010:
“We lost our leader in Josh Nesbitt, which hurt a lot. It was our first year running the 3-4. I think at the end of the year, we got a lot better at it. I think it was mainly those two (reasons).”
The type of team he’d like to be drafted by:
“(There are) a few teams I feel good about, teams that do a lot of zone blitzing and stuff that allow me to move around and make plays, and teams that need somebody on special teams, a return man.”
Draft coverage of rounds 2-3 begins Friday 6 p.m. on ESPN. Rounds 4-7 begin Saturday at noon.
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71 comments Add your comment
Old Blind Dawg
April 30th, 2011
8:28 am
Women can’t do math – LOL – but Reggie Ball 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 could.
Emory huh – how did GT enter the equation?
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
8:34 am
Been a fan since I was a kid…people don’t pick allegiances only once they attend school, do they?
Besides, Emory doesn’t have a football school.
Just for the record, I don’t understand why Bulldog fans always insult Reggie Ball as if it will hurt Tech fans’ feelings. Believe me, we dislike him more than you ever will.
Jacket Man
April 30th, 2011
8:46 am
Good grief…here we are, supposed to be talking about the NFL draft, and most of you are pulling down your shorts and mooning each other. My Grandfather and I went to GA Tech. My wife and my Father went to UGA. We all get along; life goes on.
Instead of enjoying the NFL Draft, you guys are still wasting time with each other – These 20-22 year old kids are a heck of a lot more mature than you are, and I can assure you, they’re having a heck of a lot more fun, unless, of course, they’re sitting on the other side of the telephone, waiting for the call from a Head Football Coach or GM telling them they’ve just been drafted…
I’ve got a great idea. AJC, why don’t you set up a special blog for these guys to carry on all of their stupid antics and leave the serious blogs to sports fans like most of us that try to enjoy your site. You’re running a lot of us away and eventually you’ll start to see a hit on your visits and your advertisers will take notice. There are a lot of other sites we visit where can catch up with local sports, including telecast news, which includes several videos.
SC Tech fan
April 30th, 2011
9:20 am
Dogfan has to be and idiot, why bring that up about Tarrant. You are one dumb sob!
Old Blind Dawg
April 30th, 2011
9:48 am
Hey Jacket Man lighten up – we are having a civil and amusing discussion no one is forcing you to read or comment.
Ramble we are in similar boats. I didn’t attend UGA but became a fan while in high school. My college didn’t have football either.
Back on subject GT will likely always have far fewer players in the draft – not a bad thing just a fact. Now that CPJ is running the show your NFL stock will continue to slip – also not a bad thing just the truth.
CPJ has re-energized the program and made GT somewhat relevant again – also a good thing. CPJ has succeeded in rejuvenating the UGA / GT rivalry – another good thing. The dominance UGA had over GT was really taking a lot out of the rivalry – hard to get excited when you whup ass all the time.
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
10:09 am
“Old Blind Dawg,”
We will have to agre to disagree on some points.
PJ will not lower the amount of players drafted at Tech in my opinion.
QBs will not often get drafted, I agree, but we have never had QBs drafted. Joe Hamilton is the last QB we had drafted (someone correct me if I’m wrong) and he was taken in the 7th round.
The running backs have a chance to get drafted if they have the talent. The hard truth, though, as we are seeing now is that running backs are just not highly valued in the NFL anymore.
The wide receivers likewise will get drafted if they have the talent. Demaryius Thomas proved that last year.
The offensive linemen PJ has been bringing in are more talented than those of his predecessor. They are only more likely to be drafted than previous Tech O-linemen.
PJ has brought in considerably more talented more defensive players since he’s been here.
If he recovers from last year’s slump, we should see that to continue.
This year is obviously a bad year for Tech players in the draft…but there are some talented players on the horizon.
dawgfan
April 30th, 2011
10:21 am
A Techie made up a big lie about a UGA player only getting a half game suspension for a rape charge. Richt suspended a player for half a SEASON for a DUI charge.
Not only are Techies big fat hypocrites, they are also big fat LIARS. 99% of what they have to say about UGA is a lie and they know its a lie. They say it anyway because they have no integrity and we own their sad bitter souls.
What irks Tech fans so much about the smack talk directed at them is that they know its true. Its just a really sad situation with these clowns.
Thanks.
dawgfan
April 30th, 2011
10:27 am
RambleOn84, the running backs in your offense do not pass block and never catch any passes out of the backfield. This hampers their develpment for the NFL. Don’t think for a second that this isn’t used against you in recruiting. It definitely is. And no Techies, its not cheating so please don’t go run to mommy you effing whiners. Your coaches do stuff like that too.
Thanks.
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
10:29 am
Hey “dawgfan,”
You didn’t tell us you made the papers. Just goes to show you, if you work hard and treat people right, you can accomplish anything. Congratulations “dawgfan,” your family must be so proud.
http://www.ajc.com/news/cops-south-georgia-man-684465.html
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
10:37 am
I kow it’s hard to believe, but Paul Johnson actually has integrity.
dawgfan
April 30th, 2011
11:03 am
What you have to say about your o-lineman and defense are total homer crap too.
Let’s start with your O-linemen. Johnson has said himself that he prefers smaller more agile linemen to block for his offense. In other words, they don’t have a chance in hell in the NFL. Hell, half the stuff that Johnson has them do would probably draw them thousands of dollars worth of fines anyway.
As for your defense, you are entering year 4 of the Paul Johnson regime and your defense remains a joke. He’s bringing in better defensive players Techie? Where are the results? Paul Johnson knows absolute zilch about defense and has never had a good one anywhere he has been. He is not a complete coach and will never hack it at an elite level.
So Paul Johnson doesn’t point out the weaknesses of other programs in recruiting? First of all, I hope to God that’s true because that would make him a complete moron and we will continue to own your sorry arses on the field. Second, its not true, you live in Techie la la land, and need to stop talking about college football because you know nothing about it.
Good day.
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
11:18 am
Johnson said that himself? Source, please…and no, your cousin’s hairdresser doesn’t count.
The defenders he’s brought in are better…check the recruiting sites. The defenses haven’t been good because Chan left behind scraps outside of a couple of really good players. Young inexperienced guys coupled with a new system (last year) equals struggles.
Not that any of this matters…you’re just a blind, ignorant hater. Don’t know why I bother.
GDBurdell
April 30th, 2011
12:09 pm
Rambleon84-tard:
“We have Charlie Sheen endorsing us. They don’t. We are obviously the classier of the bunch.”
WTF!??? Sheen = class?
Are you literally retarded?
GDBurdell
April 30th, 2011
12:12 pm
dawgfan, YES +1 billion
GDBurdell
April 30th, 2011
12:16 pm
RambleOn84
“Been a fan since I was a kid…people don’t pick allegiances only once they attend school, do they?”
Wow, well I guess that explains you-
So are you 84 yrs old then?
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
12:17 pm
Had I written that comment, I would defend it.
Unfortunately, the AJC allows anyone to write any name they want to when posting, so anyone can pretend to be me any time they please. And one of your very clever friends does so often.
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
12:19 pm
I was born in 1984…but nice try at being witty. Keep trying.
Gatorman
April 30th, 2011
1:45 pm
During the Gailey years most of us clamored for his job, but lost in his stay here was the caliber of many of his recruits (very high). I don’t feel warm and fuzzy that PJohnson is capable of getting that same quality. His system may give the school a chance a mid-level bowls, but the school may become Navy south, with few players draft-able (even if they didn’t have the six year hitch). His approach seems to be that any physical body can be used in the system because he’s the brains. We’ll see in the next two draft years if this is true.
RambleOn84
April 30th, 2011
1:52 pm
“Gatorman,”
Check the draft sites. Gailey had ONE GOOD YEAR, and even that year it was only a handful of very good recruits surrounded by the usual 1- and 2-star recruits.
Outside of that one year, Gailey was an AWFUL recruiter.
Johnson has brought in consistently better talent, and performed better with them on the field.
That Gailey was a good recruiter is a huge myth.
realfan
April 30th, 2011
2:22 pm
No one CPJ has recruited has been drafted into the pros. All draftees were previous Gailey recruits. And there will be no CPJ recruits drafted this year. Now next year will be the test as well as last year and this year results were mainly with CPJ recruits plus Nesbitt, Allen and Tarrant.
GDBurdell
May 1st, 2011
11:21 am
I’ve seen my share of tek girls…they are ALL nasties, every single one of them is not hot at all. Woman just don’t like being a dangerous downtown ghetto-school for a wanna be engineering degree.