Tech secure with A-backs, B-backs
The third in a position group-by-position group breakdown of the 2011 Georgia Tech football team:
A-back Roddy Jones brings his career 7.5 yards-per-carry average back to the Georgia Tech backfield.
Projected starters: BB Preston Lyons (Sr., 6-0, 211), AB Roddy Jones (Sr., 5-9, 202), AB Orwin Smith (Jr., 6-0, 202)
Others to watch: B-back Charles Perkins will challenge Lyons for the starting job. A-backs Embry Peeples and B.J. Bostic backed up Jones and Smith last season and give the Jackets depth at the position. Tony Zenon and Deon Hill are redshirt freshmen who will push to get into the A-back rotation. A-back Marcus Wright is back after missing most of last season due to an injury sustained in a moped accident.
Key losses: B-back Anthony Allen, who ran for nearly 2,000 yards in two seasons at Tech, was selected in the seventh round of the NFL draft. Allen’s backup Lucas Cox, who played 40 games for Tech, graduated.
Key fact: Jones has started all but one game of his career. Jones’ 39 career starts are second most in the ACC among active players behind Virginia Tech wide receiver Danny Coale (40). In Jones and Smith, Tech has two A-backs with experience who are capable of making plays on runs and pass receptions.
Key fact II: The B-back position has produced 1,000 rushing yards or more each season under coach Paul Johnson, going back to his first season at Georgia Southern in 1997. The position doesn’t have the marquee star that it’s had through Johnson’s first three years (Jonathan Dwyer in 2008-09 and Allen in 2010), but Johnson expects production out of the position, and history gives him reason.
Key question: How will the snaps get divided up at B-back? Lyons came into and ended spring practice as the starter, but Perkins improved and will push Lyons for playing time. Behind those two are Richard Watson and David Sims, who help make the B-back position the deepest on the team. Johnson has not been averse to using multiple B-backs. In his final season at Navy, for instance, Eric Kettani ran for 880 yards while Adam Ballard ran for 665.
Key developments: Zenon was one of the most impressive young players in spring practice. Hill also has made considerable progress. Smith has been doing extra strength and conditioning work on his own to improve his speed and explosiveness. Smith thinks the Tech offense failed to hit enough big plays last season.
Outlook: Strong. The B-back is likely the strongest position on the team and A-back may be next. While there are questions about other parts of the offense, the backs have both talent and depth. As noted, the loss of Allen is significant, but Lyons has been a dependable option the past two seasons and Perkins could develop into a breakaway threat.
Your turn: What do you think?
PAST POSITION BREAKDOWNS
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
131 comments Add your comment
T3
July 11th, 2011
12:58 pm
@dawginlex
First: What does Aaron Murray have to do with Remedial Education idot Caleb King
flunking out? Answer: Zero.
Second: Crowell IS a punk.
Just look at all of his twitter posts and pictures that keep showing up on multiple different
college football blogs. EVERY picture with him flippin the bird or some other immature “pose.”
Kid’s an idiot. His own behavior proves it.
Crowell’s gonna get blasted.
RJ Voorhees
July 11th, 2011
1:02 pm
Tech is a joke
Jacket Man
July 11th, 2011
1:16 pm
“Jacket 56;” Regarding Zenon and Snoddy, I was referring to the players I believe will see the field as A-Backs this coming Fall.
cmon man
July 11th, 2011
1:17 pm
@supersize that order,mutt i will admit im not one of those millionaire engineers that you guys from tech brag about but i played a little college football and something you said left me a little confused. you said uga had a “pathetic excuse for a defense” but you then said tech only lost because of turnovers. correct me if im wrong but arent most turnovers caused by plays made by the defense? i dont know what type of football you played but when a team controls the time of possession by a 17 minute margin and run 44 more plays on offense you should never lose. tech averaged 5.6 yds per play while uga averaged 8.9 yds per play. dont blame it on turnovers because they both fumbled 4 times ” men lie women lie numbers dont” according to the numbers uga didnt do a bad job. if you really know about football then you know that 17 extra minutes on offense is huge.
Jacket Man
July 11th, 2011
1:20 pm
“Pull My Finger;” If I was you, I’d concern myself with your own team and spend less time trolling on the GA Tech board.
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
1:24 pm
Supersize………you sound just like the president……er, uh, we’d have won if, er, uh…..excuses, excuses……..the only reason we lost is, er, uh……..don’t worry, though, you still have baseball season to look forward to. 9 OUT OF 10!!!
Jacket Man
July 11th, 2011
1:25 pm
“okeefe;” Hill worked hard to change his body since last Fall to get bigger and stronger and spent a ton of time on his own working with the QB’s on passing drills. He’s dedicated himself to having a productive season and assuming he can get passes in the area, I believe he’ll come through.
DawginLex
July 11th, 2011
1:27 pm
T3
I used Murray as an example of a kid that doesn’t fit the stereotype that some of you Tech morons lay out fo all UGA football players.
Caleb King was never going to make it academically at any college.
You know all about Crowell because of his Facebook page?
And you claim to be smart?
WOW
Our OL has issues with depth but the first team is huge and has good experience and a new coach.
You don’t know how it is going to play out anymore than I do.
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
1:27 pm
Jacket Man,
Wow! That sounds remarkably familiar……you Tech guys just amaze me all the time…just oozing intelligence!! It must be hard to accept losing and be so smart….now get back to looking at pictures of Flag Boy!!
George Stein
July 11th, 2011
1:35 pm
C’mon DawginLex. Don’t get baited by these fools. Everyone with a brain knows Murray looks like solid player for y’all.
You spend a lot of time worrying about that “joke,” Voorhees.
Turnovers are often a product of luck, cmon man. That’s the reason you see so much volatility in the numbers.
Stinger 2
July 11th, 2011
1:40 pm
As a GT fan from 1951 I hate to say this, but we had better be secure with our A and B backs. There sure won`t be much if anything to hang our hats on offensively. CPJ will not get anything new into his offensive scheme.
On another note, the UGA people on this blog are worse than bad today. Must be a slow day for their own blogs.
DawginLex
July 11th, 2011
1:43 pm
george stein
tar and feathers rambled on about the difference between king and dwyer and then generalized all UGA football players as thugs and idiots and the university of georgia as a jail
I was responding in not so kind
cmon man
July 11th, 2011
1:46 pm
@george stein turnovers have more to do with a lapse in fundamentals than luck. if you want to use the luck argument i would say uga got lucky with the missed extra point but not the fumbles.
PerimeterCenterJacket
July 11th, 2011
2:01 pm
How ’bout the truth: Both these teams went a pathetic 6-7 and will not be worth talking about nationally. I’m a Tech fan, but let’s face it – the only thing these teams can do to get on the radar screen involves winning actual games. For Tech it’ll be using our very real shot to go 4-0 to open the season. For UGA it’s as simple as beating Boise State. Only then will any talk of November really scare either team. Right now we’re both looking at each other saying “you went 6-7, and I don’t see how you’ll be any better…it’s our game to lose!” There’s nothing to really say either way until there are rankings and game film to analyze. Then I think we’ll both be looking at the other going “crap, you’re doing better than we thought! Maybe November’s game will actually be WATCHED by anyone this year! Now we REALLY want to win!”
Go Jackets!
George Stein
July 11th, 2011
2:07 pm
Fair enough, Lex.
No one can reasonably dispute thar UGA got lucky on the missed extra point. But the broader issue is that turnovers in general and fumbles in particular are a function of luck. If it was a repeatable skill, you’d see the same people and teams at the top of the turnovers created list.
Just to prove the point, the following teams led the nation in turnover margin last year:
VA Tech
Tulsa
Army
Maryland
Ohio St
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Iowa
Stanford
UGA was 19th nationally
2009
Air Force
Boise St
Banana
Ohio St
Arkansas
Ohio
MTSU
East Carolina
Pitt
UGA was 117th nationally.
The volatility proves that forcing turnovers is not a repeatable skill and is, therefore, luck.
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
2:14 pm
George,
The Dawgs beating Tech is OBVIOUSLY a repeatable skill, and therefore is NOT luck…….it’s nice to hear that in your own words……..pppphhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttttttt!
George Stein
July 11th, 2011
2:17 pm
Try acting like a grownup, Pull. I never suggested that Tech was better than UGA last year.
I do, however, believe Tech was better in 2009. I also think UGA was better in 2008, not to mention most of the past 30 years.
Jacket Man
July 11th, 2011
2:22 pm
“Pull My Finger;” I have no idea what you’re talking about and I could care less what you say or think because it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this blog. If you’d like to have a civil, intelligent discussion about GA Tech football’s A-Backs and B-Backs and how they’ll play an integral part in the offense this coming season, I’d love to hear from you. After all, this is the GA Tech blog talking about that topic, isn’t it?
PerimeterCenterJacket
July 11th, 2011
2:30 pm
So an interesting question to pose is what our offense looks like with great backs, a relatively new QB and an inconsistent O-line. I’m hoping it’s at least as good as 2008. But even if it’s the same as 08 but we get better on defense we could see progress this season. That new attitude thing may also take care of a lot of the personal responsibility issues like ball security, finishing runs, getting off blocks and wrapping up on tackles. The personnel is encouraging, in my opinion.
Go Jackets!
bossman
July 11th, 2011
2:35 pm
Pull my finger – get back to work and quit obsessing over GT blogs!
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
2:42 pm
Jacket Man,
If this is a discussion about GA Tech football’s A-backs and B-backs, why did you post about a half page about Crowell? Is he one of Tech’s backs now?
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
2:43 pm
Yesssirreee, Mr. Bossman!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
2:53 pm
cmon man, sorry, bubba, but the mutt defense didn’t cause Tech’s turnovers last year. Those were totally unforced turnovers, which the majority of Tech’s turnovers have been of late. The mutt defense couldn’t stop the Jacket offense; Tech stopped the Jackets offense. Of course, Tech couldn’t stop the mutt offense either. But that is what I said to begin with…..Tech’s (UNFORCED) turnovers and total lack of defense. I trust that Groh’s 3-4 defense will gel this year, but I don’t think “Choke’s” defense will ever gel, because he’s a lousy overpaid DC.
Blue devil
July 11th, 2011
3:00 pm
Tech replaces Duke in the ACC cellar. Pj bringing the talent level down to our size.
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
3:02 pm
Supersize,
Keep letting the excuses flow……..if you keep working at it, you might just become president.
JM
July 11th, 2011
3:04 pm
I look forward to seeing the production from the running backs this season. It’s going to surprise many of the expert analyst.
Also, I could care less about Georgia and its running backs. Those comments should all be moved to another blog.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:06 pm
Pull, I haven’t made a single excuse. I simply have stated that the FACT that mutts have not, cannot, and will not stop Tech’s offense. We lost the games; that’s a fact, and there are no excuses to be made about it. If you want to look for excuses though, how about all the mutts’ losses that you CONSTANTLY blame on officiating. According to you guys, you never get a break. In fact, you guys are the biggest whiners, excuse makers, and downright liars in the country.
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
3:09 pm
Supersize,
Ask your quarterback if the fumble that Justin Houston returned for a touchdown was an unforced fumble……..good grief.
lol
July 11th, 2011
3:11 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KDrPUcUsFY
DawginLex
July 11th, 2011
3:12 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KDrPUcUsFY
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:14 pm
Pull, to be honest, I do not remember now, but I can’t remember a single FORCED fumble by a Tech player last year in any other game; the fumbles are generally due to sloppy handoffs or bad pitches. The fumbled pitch (or pitches) to Roddy last year in Athens were definitely not forced..
DawginLex
July 11th, 2011
3:15 pm
Oops
double post
Play was typical of JH though. Does anyone remember another great play from him that game?
Nope
that’s why his NFL stock dropped plus he was an idiot to smoke weed right before the combine
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
3:17 pm
Supersize,
Boy, are you delusional…….well, for your benefit, I hope UGA continues to not be able to stop your awesome offense. 9 out of 10!
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
3:19 pm
Super size,
Did you see your quarterback get the crap knocked out of him before he fumbled to Houston? Man, you are a sick person… Have a great day!
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:20 pm
OK, I watched the video, and admittedly Houston was in the right place at the right time, but it was still more of a bad, or certainly ill-advised, pitch from Washington than anything. And Pull, why did you say ask the QB? It’s not like Houston hit him. Like I said Washington made an ill-advised pitch, and Houston was in the right place at the right time. Cudos to him, but it was a play that I guarantee would never have happened with Nesbitt at QB. He knew when to pitch and when not to. But again, I guess you would call that excuse-making.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:23 pm
Pull, I don’t know what video you are watching, but the QB didn’t get hit by anybody, and he didn’t fumble the ball. It looks like number 20, who is Roddy Jones, and he was the one who got hit and fumbled. But like I said before, it was a pitch that should not have been made to begin with.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:24 pm
Like I said before, you guys are just liars. You can’t even watch a video and get the facts right. Do you even know what a quarterback is?
cmon man
July 11th, 2011
3:25 pm
@ supersize i dont know what game you watched last year but are you sure bacarri rambo didnt strip the ball from anthony allen around the 3 yd line, and didnt your rb get blown up on the play when justin houston carried t. washington into the endzone, or what about the play when abry jones made roddy fumble and the ball squirted like 10 yds and was recovered by akeem dent. if those place werent forced fumbles please tell me what a forced fumble is. also dont address me as “bubba”
GT Fan ...
July 11th, 2011
3:26 pm
Read the OL blog … PJ says the OL will be fine. He knows what he’s talking about, so just trust him.
My concerns on O are:
1. WRs – will anyone emerge who can block & catch? Would love to see at least 2 options from that group, but looking back at 2010 even just 1 will be big improvement. It can’t get worse can it?
2. QBs – Reps, Reps, Reps … this position needs game reps learning the job. Yes, the YJs have talent at this position, but someone needs to separate himself as the clear #1
3. B-back – IMO, Lyons is a fine “fill-in” for this positon, not a 1st teamer. Don’t think he has the size/speed to be a 1,000 yarder by himself. From what I’ve read about CPs size/skills, I’m hoping he’s the #1. BB by committee in 2011 will still gain 1,500 – 2,500 yds, but I think CPs is the best bet to mimic JDs & AAs individual #s.
A-back is flat out loaded with talent/speed. Need better WR blocking so these guys can hurt opposing Ds with the breakaway runs.
Nobody in 2008 has a bit of game experience in PJs O and the YJs won 9. 2011, and no season from hear foward will be that way. 2010 was a result of TOs (lost by the O, and NOT recovered/taken advantage of by the D) and Injuries. Limit those 2 things, and GT will be fine in 2011 … 8+ wins.
cmon man
July 11th, 2011
3:28 pm
* plays not places typo
Pull My Finger
July 11th, 2011
3:30 pm
cmon man,
I think Supersize has some serious issues……WOW!!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:32 pm
cmon man, honestly I do not remember individual plays, but I certainly do not remember anybody stripping the ball from Allen at any point last season. Both of Roddy Jones’ fumbles were bad or ill-advised pitches. You can call them forced if you want to, but the point I am trying to make, is that the turnover was as much due to the decision by the QB as the presence or hit by the defender.
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:33 pm
Pull, I have issues??? Hell, you can’t even watch a pretty damn clear video and get the facts straight.
cmon man
July 11th, 2011
3:35 pm
here is a link for you to take a look at http://youtu.be/EBwbZjJG5tg
cmon man
July 11th, 2011
3:38 pm
supersize after you look at the video on the link tell me how those werent forced fumbles
Supersize that order, mutt
July 11th, 2011
3:43 pm
Ok, cmon man. I stand corrected; that was a forced turnover. However, it was not Allen.
George Stein
July 11th, 2011
3:44 pm
AA put the ball on the ground once against Georgia last year but he recovered.
The point about all the fumbles is that UGA was in the right place at the right time and Tech screwed up. If it wasn’t luck, why didn’t they do it on every pitch play?
Jacket Man
July 11th, 2011
3:45 pm
“Pull My Finger;” I posted about the incoming Bulldog freshman RB to contrast what the Jacket class is all about. For the most part, we recruit a different “quality” RB at GA Tech; one who fits our particular offense and one who is serious about why they’re on campus.
I’ll say again that this is a GA Tech blog and if you’d like to have a logical, intelligent, conversation about GA Tech football, I’ll be happy to have one with you.
Rob
July 11th, 2011
3:47 pm
this is going to be a very good year for gt. many naysayers out there but pj teams always break through in year 4 and i expect some unexpected this year. 10-2
Jacket Man
July 11th, 2011
3:53 pm
“GT Fan;” Nice comments. I think the first three games will be pivotal in the development of the Jacket offense for the remaining year. I believe a lot of guys will be getting some game-time reps and we’ll see which QB will rise to take command of the offense. I also think the running back rotation will work itself out in that timeframe.