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
George Stein
April 23rd, 2012
1:49 pm
Huh. So y’all are gonna be watching the hoops recruit and we’ll be watching the VT presser, Lex?
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
1:50 pm
Nate…
We’ve played the SEC the last 4 years…and our record was 4-4. Not great, but not what you make it seem either…
Delbert D.
April 23rd, 2012
1:50 pm
Google says that Frank Beamer visited Danville Community College. I guess Arkansas has to look elsewhere. Great pickup by Danville, if they get Beamer. Recruits will be beating the door down.
JM
April 23rd, 2012
1:51 pm
We’ve been the the spring game the last 3 years and 4 of the last 5. Only missed onece because of a work schedule.
We really enjoyed Friday. It was a great time. We especially enjoyed seeing friends. We talked about the new players, saw a great bunch of recruits and their families. They filled an entire section in the Lower East, it was a great crowd. The HS coaches we talked to that attended said they thought it was a good time slot and thought other universities would be trying it soon.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
1:51 pm
Has anyone considered that BEamer might be announcing his retirement after this next 2012 season and they’ll name Bud Foster the coach-in-waiting?
DawginLex
April 23rd, 2012
1:52 pm
george
I guess. It is weird. lots of speculation but no links to anything substantial
Probably nothing to do with Beamer or foster or it would have gotten out don’t you think?
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
1:53 pm
dwagfan, obviously your reading comprehension skills are not too high. You took that one particular phrase out of my sentence, and used it to accuse me of calling what I said a fact. I guess I should have been a little clearer for someone as ignorant as you apparently are. Let me rephrase that one sentence then…..
dwagfan, all I am saying is that with all the NEGATIVE recruiting AGAINST Tech that UGA has ALWAYS done, IF IT WERE A FACT that a well-known former UGA FB player is saying good things about Tech THEN IT could very easily make some kids take notice.
I thought that was implicit in what I typed, but since you only read the actual words, and not what they mean, I’m happy to clear it up for you.
Delbert D.
April 23rd, 2012
1:53 pm
“14-12 the past two seasons against weak competition. That says it all. If you played in the sec, the record would be 9-17″
Using similar logic, I guess if Georgia played only top 25 opponents, their record would be 0-24.
dawgfan
April 23rd, 2012
1:54 pm
And you’re right after Florida completes it’s yearly drubbing of Georgia in Jacksonville…because according to your logic, that would make “Georgia Football=JOKE”
Techie, you don’t have to remind me how many teams we’ve lost to the past few years. It appears that I need to remind you which team is not on that list. Here’s a hint: They play in a sissy league, have an ugly pile of dog crap campus on North Avenue, and their fans are whiny little cry babies that ride the coattails of teams that can actually beat the UGA Bulldogs.
Take a guess Techie. I’ll give you a couple of stabs at it.
George Stein
April 23rd, 2012
1:54 pm
It’s a good question. There’s a part of me that thinks that if had anything to do with them, it would have less of a chance of getting out. But who knows.
George Stein
April 23rd, 2012
1:55 pm
Lots of anger (and subjectivity) in your comment, dawgfan. I’d suggest an antidepressant.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
1:55 pm
” They play in a sissy league, have an ugly pile of dog crap campus on North Avenue, and their fans are whiny little cry babies that ride the coattails of teams that can actually beat the UGA Bulldogs”
As opposed to having a pile of HUMAN crap on campus, and riding the coattails of the teams in its conference that actually win meaningful championship games?
CJGaTechalumnus
April 23rd, 2012
1:56 pm
I could have sworn I typed “the d line needs(plural, not “need” singular) another Rock Perdoni”. That is how I meant it to appear. As a Tech grad, I never would intentionally communicate “the d line need another Rock Perdoni”, never, never, never.
Nate dawg
April 23rd, 2012
1:56 pm
Duh Supersize $$$$
5150 UOAD
April 23rd, 2012
1:57 pm
Bi Cri there is an Oxford USofA it is the Junior College of Emory out in the sticks of Georgaia LOL
dWagfan…….Yes it is a FACT Mo Mass has had a great time at Tech and is really impressed with everything TECH has.
Al Bundy
April 23rd, 2012
1:58 pm
It sounds like there is some reason to believe the team is improving, but there are a lot of question marks. Hopefully the players will make good use of their time this summer in the weight room.
Where the heck is WnE? I expected him to dominate the negative posts.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
1:58 pm
If UGA ever actually played an SEC SCHEDULE, you might have something to talk about. Hell, we would have had the same record last year that the dwags had against that competition. We would have lost to Boise and USC and beat all the other teams the dwags played and beat…..Ole Miss??? Miss State??? Vandy??? KY??? Coastal Carolina??? NM State??? Auburn had nothing, and Florida didn’t have much. Pretty damn sissy schedule for an SEC team in my book.
5150 UOAD
April 23rd, 2012
1:59 pm
Could it be Frank Beamer’s SON? I think it is Foster.
dawgfan
April 23rd, 2012
1:59 pm
i broke up with WnE this weekend, that’s why you haven’t seen him on here…he wants me to give up my job as CMR’s official poo inspector
GTBob
April 23rd, 2012
2:00 pm
If Frank Beamer left Va Tech for Arkansas it would be possibly the strangest coaching move in the history of college football.
dawgfan
April 23rd, 2012
2:01 pm
“As opposed to having a pile of HUMAN crap on campus”
LOL. ??????????????????????
“and riding the coattails of the teams in its conference that actually win meaningful championship games?”
We don’t “ride their coattails.” We actually have to play them. Its real easy to talk tough about not beating Florida when you know your sissy little program will never have to play them. I’d love to see the Joke By Coke go down to Jacksonville and we’d see if you big mouths could do any better. You can’t even win at freaking VIRGINIA and you want to run your fat Techie mouth about losing to Florida. Unbelievable.
Georgia Tech=JOKE.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:02 pm
If Foster goes to Ark, the Jacket’s Labor Day task might be marginally easier
Nate dawg
April 23rd, 2012
2:03 pm
You played miss state and vandy. Give me a break.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:03 pm
@ dwagfan, I repeat…..when UGA plays a REAL SEC SCHEDULE, then you MIGHT have something to talk about. Move along now, little girl
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
2:04 pm
“As opposed to having a pile of HUMAN crap on campus”
LOL. ??????????????????????”
Care to have President Adams refresh you on the Gameday cleanup on the Athens campus?
“We actually have to play them”
Not this year you didn’t…until the SECCG
dawgfan
April 23rd, 2012
2:04 pm
“Ole Miss??? Miss State??? Vandy??? KY??? Coastal Carolina??? NM State??? Auburn had nothing, and Florida didn’t have much. Pretty damn sissy schedule for an SEC team in my book.”
Supersize, you forgot a team. What about that team we beat by two touchdowns the last game of the season? Remember them? They ran some joke gimmick offense and their QB throws a football like somebody broke his arm. 79 yards of offense and 2 INTs in the 2nd half. LMAO. They were a total joke. We fell in the polls after we beat them. Do you remember that team Supersize?!?!?!
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
2:05 pm
“You played miss state and vandy. Give me a break.”
That’s right Nate. 3-0 against MSU and Vandy, 1-4 against UGA and LSU. So middle of the pack.
5150 UOAD
April 23rd, 2012
2:05 pm
dWagfan………..this is what was POSTED about the guys at TECH. Others that talked to the players while they were working out Mo Mass really liked TECH.
Before going to visit the New York Jets last week, Hill was keeping some pretty good NFL company. To get ready for his individual sessions with NFL teams, he prepared at Tech with Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson, Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi. Johnson and Thomas played at Tech and Massaquoi at Georgia.
DawginLex
April 23rd, 2012
2:06 pm
supersize
I was thinking the same thing about foster
RE:UGA schedule
You do realize the SEC office does that?
You do realize we beat Tech, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee for the 1st time in the same season since 1982?
I don’t care if they all went 0-12. there have been plenty of years where we were better and didn’t do it.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
2:06 pm
“What about that team we beat by two touchdowns the last game of the season?”
dwagfan…
What about that team YOU’VE ONLY BEATEN 4 TIMES SINCE THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION?
Delbert D.
April 23rd, 2012
2:07 pm
Foster and Beamer have been at VT for the same duration, 25 years. Beamer’s a former VT player, though. I can’t see him making any move; not to Notre Dame, not to Alabama, not to Texas, not to Southern Cal, not to the Patriots, nowhere. Plus, he’s my age, and we’re sort of settled in.
dawgfan
April 23rd, 2012
2:08 pm
“@ dwagfan, I repeat…..when UGA plays a REAL SEC SCHEDULE, then you MIGHT have something to talk about. Move along now, little girl”
I’m pretty sure playing the #1 team in the country in the SECCG would qualify as a “REAL SEC SCHEDULE.” Obviously it didn’t go that well for us, but I would love for you to explain to me how the mighty Yellow Jackets could have done any better. I seem to recall us making an absolute mockery of your joke pizz ant football program only a week earlier, but you think you’ve could have done better against LSU big mouths??? Please explain.
Unbelievable.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:08 pm
dwagfan, you’re just showing your stupidity again. I am comparing the rest of our respective schedules. It’s obvious that beating Tech was the one QUALITY win you had last year. We were definitely better than any of the other teams you played, although I know you will never admit that.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:10 pm
dwagfan…..GIVE ME A BREAK. You only played the #1 team in the country in the SECCG because you played such a SISSY regular season SEC schedule. Hell, if USC had had the UGA schedule, they would have been playing in that game, but USC actually played a REAL SEC schedule.
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
2:10 pm
” mockery of your joke pizz ant football program only a week earlier”
17-10 at half time…some mockery
DawginLex
April 23rd, 2012
2:10 pm
i feel like I’m directing traffic in downtown NYC with one of those little stop signs you hold up in the air at a school crosswalk
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:10 pm
I think maybe we should just start calling dwagfan…..SISSYfan
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:11 pm
First, we have to put up with gollum, and now we have to put up with his girlfriend SISSYfan. SHEESH
DawginLex
April 23rd, 2012
2:12 pm
SC lost to auburn who we destroyed 6:15
Spurrier played the drunk and paid the price
Delbert D.
April 23rd, 2012
2:12 pm
“Georgia Tech=JOKE.”
dawgfan=dog fan.
Set to music, it goes like this: When you say, “dog – fan”, you’ve said it all!
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
2:12 pm
DawginLex…
Lots of professional haterz on here who spend significant amounts of time telling us how insignificant our football program is…haha
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:14 pm
@ Lex, that’s true but the loss to Ark, whom UGA did NOT play, was what took them out of the SECCG
DawginLex
April 23rd, 2012
2:14 pm
i’m just trying to find someone who knows a hokie who can tell me what the presser is about
DawginLex
April 23rd, 2012
2:15 pm
I’d blame the auburn game more.
They were not better than Ark
They were a lot better than Auburn
spurrier being loyal to the drunk QB and giving him 5 chances cost him the trip to ATL
Supersize that order, mutt
April 23rd, 2012
2:16 pm
Well, I’m outta here for a bit. FLJ and Delbert, I’ll leave it all in the hands or you two guys, and I’m sure you can do a good job
Just call him SISSYfan once in a while; that will really get him going. lol
FL Jacket
April 23rd, 2012
2:17 pm
See ya SS
5150 UOAD
April 23rd, 2012
2:18 pm
the Dwags couldn’t beat EVERY TEAM in the East but were East Champs? That is just WRONG. All the dwags were MAD Bama got a shot in the BCS CG and didn’t win their division. UGa shouldn’t win their division if they don’t beat all the other EAST TEAMS. LOL
Delbert D.
April 23rd, 2012
2:18 pm
Super, I’m out of here as well. I’m starting to misbehave, and that’s not good.
dawgfan
April 23rd, 2012
2:19 pm
“We were definitely better than any of the other teams you played, although I know you will never admit that.”
LOL. Florida, Vandy, Kentucky and Ole Miss all put a better fight than the Joke By Coke. We actually had to run the ball to beat those teams and Aaron Murray probably even broke a sweat at one point.
Georgia Tech=JOKE.
CJGaTechalumnus
April 23rd, 2012
2:21 pm
What I would like to see is a uni change back to school colors. O’leary had closer Tech school colors on the Central Florida team last year than Tech wore with the black socks and stockings. Central Florida’s was white socks. Tech can field a team wearing white pants with solid black side stripes, or black jerseys, or those powder puff pink socks. Black is 50% of Georgia’s colors, and should be relegated to pinstripes if Tech wants black. O’leary knows how to field a team that wears hardly any such color. Tech needs to GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER. I’d like a return to old gold, not lite gold, jerseys, and to white helmets for some, if not all games, adding complexity to the team’s image. At this time the gold helmets are boring to watch year after year, as is the global warming lite vegas gold. Such reference to global warming conjures up the worst conditions for the outdoors.