6 Tech spring practice observations
Greetings-
Hope you were able to make the spring game Friday night. It was a strong turnout and it wouldn’t surprise me if the GTAA stays with Friday, or at least re-visits it, in years to come. Some thoughts from spring practice.
1. No change at quarterback spot
It was a much anticipated competition between Synjyn Days and Vad Lee, but it doesn’t appear that much changed in the pecking order. Both improved over the course of the spring and shrunk their flaws, but neither made an unimpeachable case to be the No. 2 behind Tevin Washington, let alone a challenger to the top spot.
“The other guys are both very talented and good at certain things,” coach Paul Johnson said. “As I said, they’ve got to get better at what their weak spots are.”
In this offense, and probably any other, limiting mistakes and turnovers is crucial, no matter what a quarterback’s big-play potential is. That is where Washington’s advantage is, developed over four years in the system, a season and a half of starts and tireless work to hone his game.
After the spring game, Johnson said that if the season started today, Washington would be the starter and saw Lee and Days as situational-type quarterbacks.
“The goal is to make them not situational players and to be able to do the whole thing,” he said.
2. Defense should be better
As with all projections, it’s hard to know for certain until the fall, but tweaks to the scheme and the development of the defensive line should make this unit better. Ends Izaan Cross, Euclid Cummings and Emmanuel Dieke look capable and nose tackle T.J. Barnes may be ready to realize his potential in his final season. Perhaps the biggest question of the summer, literally and figurative, will be how much conditioning work Barnes and backup Shawn Green put in in order to be ready for the season.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” defensive line coach Andy McCollum said. “We’ve got to have a great offseason. We’ve got to have a great summer. T.J. has done some things that we hadn’t done in the past that I’m excited about.”
(Note: You’ve probably heard all of that before. For whatever it’s worth, and I’ve written this before, Al Groh’s defense made a much bigger statistical jump Year 2 to Year 3 at Virginia than Year 1 to Year 2.)
3. The secondary is a strength
This looks like the best unit on the team. Four of the top five players back, with Fred Holton returning from injury. Further, cornerback Jamal Golden made more than his share of plays in the spring. There is the matter that the secondary spent the spring lined up against one of the least experienced units on the team, so it was easier to stand out, but the talent in this group is hard to deny.
“I think those guys are a lot hungrier this year, more physical with our receivers,” Washington said. “They come out and just compete every day, try to make plays on the ball, put the defense in a position where they feel like nobody can come out and thrown on them.”
4. Special teams still wobbly
I would guess that new special-teams coordinator Dave Walkosky will make a difference on the return teams most quickly. Where he’ll earn his money is his development of punter Sean Poole and kicker Justin Moore into consistent performers. As I think I’ve written before (and will probably write again), both have the capability but the juniors have yet to prove themselves as routinely dependable.
Poole has said the team’s goal is to lead the nation in net punting, which would be quite a leap from 54th last season. That said, he’s got the leg to do it. Doing it each punt is the trick. Walk-on Michael McDonald and signee Ryan Rodwell will give him competition.
5. Wide receivers a waiting game
It didn’t appear that any of the four returners – Jeff Greene, Chris Jackson and Jeremy Moore and Darren Waller – made heads turn this spring. Moore probably made the biggest gain, and I think Johnson likes the group, but wants a little more. I’d say that in the same way that it was tough on Stephen Hill in 2010 to feel a burden to replace Demaryius Thomas, and probably unfair, so the same holds for these four.
That said, the signees – Micheal Summers and Travin Henry and possibly Anthony Autry – will get an opportunity to play this fall.
“You’d like to see some guys make plays on some deep balls,” Johnson said, “but you’ve also got to throw ’em inbounds and give ’em a chance to make a play.”
6. A-backs bear watching
This might be the most intriguing bunch on the team. Orwin Smith is a proven commodity and it appears Robert Godhigh will be dependable and there’s a crop of younger players with playmaking ability but not much experience after that. The A-back rotation usually goes three or four deep, so one or two out of B.J. Bostic, Deon Hill and Tony Zenon will have to prove themselves consistent enough to warrant heavy snaps.
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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948 comments Add your comment
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:19 pm
My hope for the QB situation…
2012 – TW is the starter. Vad Lee win the backup spot. Synjyn Days goes into the A-Back rotation and is the emergency #3 QB. Dennis Andrews is officially the #3 QB but likely redshirts. Justin Thomas redshirts.
2013 – Open competition for starting QB job, with most likely Vad Lee winning the job. Justin Thomas, Dennis Andrews, and Timmy Byerly fight it out for #2…guess that Thomas gets the #2 QB spot, Byerly #3, and Andrews goes into A-Back rotation. Next QB recruit is redshirted (hopefully its Juwaan Williams from Tucker HS). Even if Justin Thomas is #2, he gets lots of playing time in the Pistol formation in designated drives.
2014 – Vad Lee/Justin Thomas again are the 1/2…although an open competition. Justin Thomas cross-trains and plays other positions if not the starter.
Big Crimson 75
April 23rd, 2012
12:20 pm
Found this thumbing through the NY Times this morning.
No wonder GTBob blasts Bobby Ross every chance He gets!!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/01/sports/football-just-like-old-times-at-georgia-tech.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
What the Hell ever happened to Bobby Rodriguez??
GT Lee
April 23rd, 2012
12:21 pm
@ 1 4 GT COMPLETELY agree with you about debunking the myth of no good-looking girls on campus
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:22 pm
@ Augusta Jacket…..I wish I had known you were going to be there; several of us got together before and during the game, and it would have been nice to meet you too. Didn’t you get the email I sent you 2 weeks ago about that?
Robert the Yellow Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:23 pm
BTW, the punt returner got the blame vs Miami but it was likely poor coaching of the special teams.
Just a hunch no one told him not to gamble on picking the ball up off the ground, especially deep in your own territory.
Guess the fan near me should have yelled louder and coached him from the stands since no one else did.
1 4 GT
April 23rd, 2012
12:23 pm
Likely reasons we did not see any shotgun or any other offensive sets. With beat up OL, shotgun was not used. Probably not too smart to maybe show any possible offensives schemes to possible VT scouts that could just walk in.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:25 pm
Robert…
CPJ discussed Zach Laskey’s bonehead move in the Miami game on his radio show. Laskey was coached on where to (and where not to) pick up the ball…but admitted to making a DA play.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:26 pm
Robert, what TW brings to the table is, first of all, experience, but also the fact that he RUNS the offense pretty efficiently, despite not having any one particular outstanding talent (as in runner or passer). But until somebody comes along who can run the offense as well and has additional talents as well, he will be the starter. Anybody who thinks that Vad Lee can step in on the very first game and start and do it all is being way too optimistic. It WILL come, but not that quickly.
jarvis
April 23rd, 2012
12:28 pm
Stephen Hill would be a top 10 team if he’d played elsewhere. PJ cost him millions.
jarvis
April 23rd, 2012
12:28 pm
pick not team….wow!
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:29 pm
@ jarvis, I don’t think Hill is going to be hurting in the money department. What you just posted was just plain stupid.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:30 pm
Wow, jarvis can’t even troll correctly!
GT Lee
April 23rd, 2012
12:31 pm
where’s your proof of that statement, jarvis?
Robert the Yellow Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
Thanks again FL Jacket.
I’d rather find out from questioning.
@Supersize – agreed.
Jmonty
April 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
Tech’s season will depend on the defense. The offense, for the most part, has been consistant. However; scoring 30 points a game does no good when the defense allows 40. As I said in the past. Hiring AGroh was one of the worst things CPJ has done. If there isn’t a huge improvement this year, I seriously hope CPJ tosses AGroh out on on his butt. Until the defense can get to the level it needs to, GT can’t contend for any titles. Much less a win vs. UGA, VT or anyone else. For some reason we can play very well against Clemson, but suck against everyone else. Just my 2 cents worth.
AugustaJacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
@ Supersize: I didn’t know till Friday I was gonna be able to go. We decided last minute and left Augusta about 3:45. By the time we parked and got to the stadium it was already 6:45. I am gonna brag and let everyone know it was me who won the pair of season tickets at the game!
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:34 pm
@ Augusta Jacket…..CONGRATS!!! I didn’t even know they gave away season tickets. So you’ll be going in the Fall now, I guess. PLEASE stay in touch. Several of us started getting together at games late last Fall, as well as last Friday night, and we are hoping to make it a regular thing. Where are the seats that you won, or do you know yet?
5150 UOAD
April 23rd, 2012
12:35 pm
If Caleb King or Washuan Ealey Played at any School but UGa they would have been Heisman Candidates.
Robert the Yellow Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:35 pm
Where did Jarvis go to school?
Asked and answered.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:36 pm
Jmonty…
As Ken stated, the 3rd year is where CAG took Virgina from decent to very good. Given the secondary and LB groups, if the DL can keep the LOS and get QB pressure on its own every now and then we will be in great shape.
We don’t really suck against everyone else. All of the VT games have been close throught CPJ’s 4 years, and all but the most recent UGA game.
5150 UOAD
April 23rd, 2012
12:36 pm
Well that would be correct right Jarvis?
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:36 pm
@ Augusta, I doubt that you even thought about re-checking my email, since you didn’t decide to go till the last minute, but I gave my phone number for anybody coming to contact me. If you didn’t keep that email, let me know and I will re-send my number for future reference.
AugustaJacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:39 pm
@ Supersize: The seats are North and High! LOL Section 215 above the North End Zone. I’ve still got the email so I’ll definitely give you a call in the fall.
George Stein
April 23rd, 2012
12:41 pm
Any proof to substantiate your comment, jarvis?
Jmonty
April 23rd, 2012
12:41 pm
FL, I sure hope you are correct. I am defensive minded… So when I see GT playing and how out of position they are, it drives me crazy. Either the coaching is off or the players don’t listen. The way the 3-4 is ran, is not used to what I am seeing. I never like CAG. I thought he was horrible at UVA and that opinion hasn’t changed. However; I remain hopeful. If CPJ wants to stay out of the hotseat, he better produce more wins and that includes a win over the doggies of UGA… Which, still has a damned good QB and can pick almost any team apart. So, the DB’s better have their A game for that one.
Robert the Yellow Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:42 pm
@Jmonty.
We have had VT nearly beaten twice.
We have not sucked in those games.
Joshua’s injury killed our chances in 2010 and the strange penalty turned the game last year.
GT fan
April 23rd, 2012
12:42 pm
From what I’m reading on here re: Hunt-Days, it appears that JB (very unfortunate way to end a career) or DD (stupid personal decisions) might be JH-D’s “Wally Pip”. Q.Nealy showed us, as true FR, last season, he could develop into a beast at middle LB. Now add JH-D to the mix it appears …
GTBob
April 23rd, 2012
12:45 pm
No wonder GTBob blasts Bobby Ross every chance He gets!!!!
I don’t think Bobby Ross was a bad coach, I just don’t think he is anywhere near the ultimate savior that some make him out to be. People who hate GT like to point to Bobby Ross’s one good year as a reason that we should fire CPJ. Which is obviously pretty stupid.
Robert the Yellow Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:45 pm
We have 4 years maybe of Jabari Hunt Days.
Difficult not to be excited about that.
Got to get his half bro on the field some way too.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:47 pm
@ Augusta…….hey free seats are FREE SEATS. LOL Actually high up in the north upper deck should be great viewing. I don’t think you will be disappointed. And I’m glad you kept that email. Look forward to staying in touch with you.
GT Lee
April 23rd, 2012
12:47 pm
before we throw Al out the door, might I ask; we give a head coach 4 years recruiting to see his results. CAG is bringing a new defensive scheme. Why wouldn’t you also give him 4 years to get his recruits in place to see what he can do?
JacketJoe
April 23rd, 2012
12:48 pm
Ken, I do not believe Tevin Washington will be the starting quaterback for the Virginia Tech game. If you read between the lines of CPJ’s & CBB’s statements after the spring game, Vad Lee will be given every opportunity to win the starting job by the end of fall practice. There is just too much of an upside with Vad at quarterback vs. Tevin at quarterback. If Vad can improve on running the TO, the running and passing games both open up dramatically. Days will more than likely be moved to A-Back.
GT fan
April 23rd, 2012
12:49 pm
Vs. VT in 2010 ……… Jmonty, besides JN’s injury (had he not waited until AA reached the goal line to throw the ball, it’s a easy TD, no injury) the special teams allowed a 90 KO return TD as well.
And wasn’t TW’s game ending INT in the end zone?
IMO, 2011 vs VT boiled down to a single penalty. Take away the PF, and I believe GT would’ve score again, demorilizing VT with a double-digit lead headed to the 4th qtr.
Jmonty
April 23rd, 2012
12:50 pm
@ Robert… Matter of opinion. GT seems to just not that final piece of the puzzle. The defense has got to step up. To be honest, there was no reason why they should of lost to Utah. Given, they were a decent team. But, the defense failed time after time. It’s sad, the offense runs like crazy and even controls the ball for most of the game. However; the defense (or lack of) fails.. When I said “sucks” I was referring to the defense. The offense is one of the top 5 running offenses in the nation. Nothing wrong there. But, the defense is horrible. No sugar coating it. As painful it is to say.
jarvis
April 23rd, 2012
12:52 pm
Really? None of you have read a single analysis on Hill?
His biggest problem is his explosion off the line, and route running.
Cris Collinsworth noted that his 4.3 speed would be more like a 4.7 in game speed because he doesn’t get off the line well because he has little route running experience.
NFL.com: “He ran a very basic route tree at Georgia Tech that didn’t allow him to showcase many skills. Outside of catching jump balls, he struggles to read coverages and understand how to find holes in a zone. Hill looks uncomfortable with the ball in his hands and resembles a lengthy track star on the field instead of a football player.”
Some others:
“Needs to refine his route running, wasn’t asked to run a full route tree at Georgia Tech and needs to be coached up a bit…”
“Does not consistently extend his hands to offer the quarterback a target. Rarely asked to run precise routes in college.”
And then there’s this one which has EIGHT of 10 bulleted negatives at least indirectly related to his college system:
• Lack of production at Georgia Tech (28 catches for 820 yards and 5 touchdowns as a junior)
• Not that experienced (1 year of production)
• Raw route runner
• Limited route tree
• Played in a triple option
• Projection to a Pro Style offense
• Has some trouble with drops
• Never saw tough coverage as defenses were focused on the run
• More of a decoy than anything in college
• Very raw and not NFL ready
Technically Correct
April 23rd, 2012
12:53 pm
Is there another major college football team who holds a spring game, brings in a lot of recruits and gets not one single commitment to end the weekend?
Big Crimson 75
April 23rd, 2012
12:53 pm
According to Forbes — The University of Florida has eliminated their Computer Science Department.
Why, you might ask? To move that $$$ to the Athletic Departments Budget.
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bghrz?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=college-football
This doesn’t make life any easier for the Academic first BCS institution.
The current climate of College Athletics, in particular football, is so far out of control, Computer Science is being clipped in favor of the Sports budget!
It’s simply unfair for the Academic First BCS Institutions such as Alabama, GT, Northwestern, Stanford, Berkeley, Vanderbilt…….to compete anymore.
What Saban has done @ Bama with the Standards in place their is truly remarkable.
I don’t know how He does it year after year!!!!!
AugustaJacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:54 pm
@ Supersize: Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. When the guy from GT Athletics called todayabout the seats he was apologetic about their location. I told him as long as they were inside the stadium I was fine! Gonna take my wife to the Miami/BYU games and my kids will take turns going with me to the rest.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:55 pm
jarvis…
move along…
Jmonty
April 23rd, 2012
12:56 pm
Correct me if I wrong… But, if you control the clock for 55-60% of the game. Run up 300+ yards on the ground and score 30+ points, you should win. However; due to poor coaching, poor tackling and poor play big plays are allowed. You look at the stats of a lot of games in the last few years and you’d think GT whipped whoever they played. But, the final scores show different. Special teams and missed tackles. 2 biggest issues going into this year.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
12:57 pm
@ Augusta………sounds great, and I don’t think you will be disappointed in that seat location. Like I said, I didn’t even know they were giving away tickets. Where did you register for them?
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
12:58 pm
Jmonty…
Not having a reliable FG kicker cost us 2 wins last year (UVA, Utah)…point taken. That’s why I think CPJ signs Harrison Butker from Westminster in Atlanta and carries 2 kickers in 2013.
George Stein
April 23rd, 2012
1:02 pm
I think the bigger frustration with the defense is that they were inconsistent last year. They played very well against Virginia (gave up a net of 17 points), Miami (17 again), and Clemson. Then they stunk out loud against VT and Duke. Most games, if they can hold the other team to 21 points, the offense will score 22.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
1:03 pm
Technically Correct, since CPJ tells players if they COMMIT to Tech, then he wants them to BE COMMITTED, meaning not visit any other schools after that point in time, then it is not surprising that there are so few early commitments. CPJ encourages kids to look around BEFORE they commit, not afterwards. If we lose some possible recruits doing it that way, then so be it, but we know that the ones who do commit mean what they say. Tech only has 14 scholarships to give this year, so I don’t see why anyone should be concerned that we haven’t filled up that list yet.
George Stein
April 23rd, 2012
1:04 pm
That’s about as simplistic (and stupid) scouting report as I’ve ever read, jarvis. Plus, if playing in a pro-style system were the key to early success, please let me know what happened to Kris Durham.
Jmonty
April 23rd, 2012
1:05 pm
FL, agree with that. However; Utah should of never came back or racked up the points like they did. I still fault the D on that one.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
1:05 pm
GS…or Charles Rogers…or David Terrell…or Travis Taylor.
crackbaby
April 23rd, 2012
1:08 pm
Ken – Thanks for the writeup summarizing spring practice.
Plenty for the team and fans to look forward to with the VA Tech opener.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
1:08 pm
“FL, agree with that. However; Utah should of never came back or racked up the points like they did. I still fault the D on that one.”
Fair enough. Utah’s QB wasn’t by any means a stud, and we gave them plenty of space to work and missed tackles. Then the offense tried keeping it up the middle and run clock (which worked against Clemson int he 4th quarter) and the offense didn’t execute this time.
We significantly ease the pressure on out defense by hitting at least 1 of those FGs though…
Uh, Big Crimson...
April 23rd, 2012
1:08 pm
…nowhere in the article does it say that the savings will be going into the athletics dept. budget – yes, there is an inference that this is being done when they talk about the athletic budget being increased by $2mil, but that is just an coincidence – it does say that the $1.7mil savings will be put into various “other” programs – and, the football program does not depend upon the university’s money for support, so this supposition is basically false, but it is a rallying point for non-athletic enthusiests (sp).
And, when you tried to compare AL with the rest of the “academics” to which you alluded in that paragraph – good one!