Saturday Practice Report

[stinger78]

Got there a little late thanks to the construction traffic jam.

Things that impressed me:

Running backs for the most part all looked good.

1. We scored probably 6-7 TD's in the 1.5 hours I watched. FAR better production than I've ever seen in spring ball. They are simply in a difference universe from last spring.

2. Didn't see JD play. Allen is a beast of a runner - kind of a shiftier JD. Runs very hard. Cox looks like a natural at B-back. Reminds me some of video of Kyle Eckel that I've seen. Preston Lyons has some power and is tough to bring down. Watson is a load x2. We have ourselves a veritable stable of big backs! The last two will see the field this year.

3. Wright is a tough little guy. He's just not afraid of sticking his head in anywhere. He's also got a set of wheels.

WR's looked good, too.

4. Bebe has some nice YAC. TM made a bee-u-tiful one handed TD grab reminiscent of Watkins' Catch in 2000.

Defense will surely be OK this fall.

5. This DL impressed me with the way it gets after it. Anderson was a load, Barnes was, too. Morgan was, well Morgan. He's All-ACC this year, maybe A-A. Peters made a very athletic INT from the DT position. We're really going to be OK there. A couple of times they got driven off the ball, but overall, they remind me of the CJT smallish lines that just penetrated all over the place.

6. DB's were showing some nice 1:1 coverage today. The catch by TM, Peterson (or maybe it was Tarrant) had him covered like a blanket. Sims had a hard time getting free 1:1, and Bebe had difficulty getting loose downfield. Most of his catches were on various short routes.

Things that didn't particularly impress me:

QB is still a work in progress.

7. QB's were mostly good with some areas of clear improvement, but were not as sharp as I'd have liked. each made some nice plays, and each made some clunkers. Jaybo is a tough fellow, but keeps the ball entirely too much. Tevin has the moves, and the athletic ability, but is still behind the others in the way his O moves. Could be because he's got the three's.

OL is also very much under construction.

8. Though this was my impression, all the offenses moved the ball pretty consistently. It wasn't pretty at times, but the ball went down field on all but 3-4 possessions.

Overall, you can just see the potential all over this team. So many young guys out there! This may or may not be our year, but if it's not, then watch out for next year!

 

[law_bee]

The good thing about Jaybo keeping the ball TOO MUCH it is the exact opposite of JN who probably gives it up too much, IMO. So this is a nice change of pace and I think it was why Jaybo seems to have some nice success when he comes in to spell JN.

 

[gt23eric]

Very nice! Thanks.

 

[ncjacket]

The good thing about Jaybo keeping the ball TOO MUCH it is the exact opposite of JN who probably gives it up too much, IMO. So this is a nice change of pace and I think it was why Jaybo seems to have some nice success when he comes in to spell JN.

?? Just when did Jaybo have success spelling Josh?

I totally disagree law. Josh did a pretty good job of taking the correct option last year, especially towards the end of the year. Jaybo does keep it too much, which is not what you want when you can get it to Dwyer or Jones.

 

[GTLiebs]

OL is also very much under construction.

Definitely, but it does help that they can still get things moving at times with so many injured. Also, I think many of the problems the offense faced in the scrimmage, from my view, was due to troubles with the o line.

 

[GTBandit22]

Nice report. I was hungover and couldn't make it.

I thought Josh kept it too much early on last year, and his injury forced him to give it up later in the year. When it spelled an arse-whooping of Miami, Josh could see he didn't have to do it alone and started trusting the backs.
I think Jaybo is keeping it more because PJ told him to guard the damn football.

 

[GTSaxophone]

Nice report. I was hungover and couldn't make it.

I thought Josh kept it too much early on last year, and his injury forced him to give it up later in the year. When it spelled an arse-whooping of Miami, Josh could see he didn't have to do it alone and started trusting the backs.
I think Jaybo is keeping it more because PJ told him to guard the damn football.

Though I doubt that much of it would show in practice, I think that if Jaybo were to come in to spell Nesbitt, the opposing defense would pick him as their poison, and cheat to the backs on the option. He hasn't shown the ability to truly make defenses pay for this. There was a play in the ugay game where he kept it, had a nice hole, but the DLman had time to reach out and grab him, stopping a potential big run.

 

[Yaller Jacket]

Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

It's beginning to sound like the defensive line is gonna be alright after all. Is that your impression?

Also sounds like Sed and Brad are playing much faster than last year.

Who the heck is Lyons? Is he a walkon? I don't know the name but he impressed a lot of practice goers today.

 

[gth816f]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

It's beginning to sound like the defensive line is gonna be alright after all. Is that your impression?

Either that or it's beginning to sound like the offensive line hasn't improved very much.

 

[GTLiebs]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

Either that or it's beginning to sound like the offensive line hasn't improved very much.

Even if true, still think the defensive line shows good abilities a la that defensive tackle jumping for an interception at point blank range in a Michael Johnson-esq way but with a lot more personal baggage so to speak.

 

[BuzzMD]

BTW, stinger, Coley appears to agree with you on alot of the items. Here is his report:

http://www.macon.com/techtalk/?plck...ee-4650-9b81-19482948fb34&sid=pluck.macon.com

Talking to head coach Paul Johnson after the workout, it became apparent that there was a lot more good than bad this week. Last week, however, was defined by a true mixed bag of results as fumbles, botched snaps, and just rough offensive effort combined to give the Yellow Jackets the less-than-successful workout they hoped to see. Now sure, there were some things the Yellow Jackets did Saturday that didn't go quite according to plan, but it is still early in the spring season, and there's still tons of time to correct them.

Where offense struggled last week, it was the defense's turn to have problems, as the Yellow Jackets' defenders didn't tackle or challenge Georgia Tech's offense quite as much as they had the week before. There were a number of missed tackles (I think of A-back Lucas Cox running through LB Kyle Jackson on one occasion, as well as A-back Marcus Wright slipping a tackle, keeping his balance, and falling forward for a 15-yard gain).

There was one bright spot for the defense, however, and it came on one late series, when defensive lineman Jason Peters leapt up to bat down a Josh Nesbitt pass, and instead held on to the hard-thrown ball, and grabbed it for a 4-yard interception return. It was the defense's only interception of the day.

Here are a few other "good" sights from The Flats on Saturday:
~Jaybo Shaw. Was a part of three fumbles and botched snaps last week. This week, zero fumbles, and he was 2-for-2 in leading his team to touchdowns.

~Richard Watson. He rushed 13 times and carried the ball unofficially for nearly 80 yards. He also had a short-yardage touchdown.

~Scoring. Last week, Georgia Tech only scored four times. That includes a 28-yard field goal. This week, the Yellow Jackets only scored via the touchdown, and they got seven of those: Shaw ran for one; Nesbitt passed for about a 17-yard TD to Thomas (OK, so Bay-Bay made me look good, too); Nesbitt also passed to Melton for a 3-yard TD; Watson rushed for one; Preston Lyons rushed for two; and Anthony Allen rushed for one.

~Penalties and fumbles down. Not sure if the refs were holding their whistles, or if this is because Georgia Tech is playing a clean game, but there were only three penalties total called. None were for Holding. One was a Chop-Block (still not sure who it was on, but it was on the right side of the starting unit); there was a false start on o-lineman Cord Howard; and there was a rough facemask by Peters. But that was it. And there were only four fumbles, all of which were the result of bad option pitches.

~Marcus Wright. Started at A-back in place of Lucas Cox on Saturday, and had a slew of strong runs, including that 20-yarder where he broke the tackle. Johnson was very impressed with him after practice.

 

[ncjacket]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

Either that or it's beginning to sound like the offensive line hasn't improved very much.

We're playing short handed on the OL with two starters out and others banged up.

 

[hdtvfan]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

We're playing short handed on the OL with two starters out and others banged up.

Good point, but that really stinks since this unit needs to be able to improve this season, tough to do when all of the guys are not in there who will likely be playing in the fall.

 

[ncjacket]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

Good point, but that really stinks since this unit needs to be able to improve this season, tough to do when all of the guys are not in there who will likely be playing in the fall.

All you can really do is make it a positive and use it to get the younger guys more experience.

 

[Xihix]

There's a lot of in depth talk about Shaw, but how is Nesbitt doing?

 

[BuzzMD]

There's a lot of in depth talk about Shaw, but how is Nesbitt doing?

Did not include the whole article from Coley. Here is more of it.

~Nesbitt broken tackle. QB Josh Nesbitt picked up about a 20-yard run on one option keeper when he burst through a hole by shoving his friend, linebacker Brad Jefferson, off of him.

 

[law_bee]

?? Just when did Jaybo have success spelling Josh?

I totally disagree law. Josh did a pretty good job of taking the correct option last year, especially towards the end of the year. Jaybo does keep it too much, which is not what you want when you can get it to Dwyer or Jones.

miss state game and also ugag game (even though he was snatched back on one play)

I don't think that Jaybo is better than JN however I do think it is slightly a different look.

 

[gmlane]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

Who the heck is Lyons? Is he a walkon? I don't know the name but he impressed a lot of practice goers today.

RS Soph transfer from Colgate, sat out last year.

Played locally at Marist in an option offense.

 

[odw]

Re: Thanks, Stinger! a coupla questions

All you can really do is make it a positive and use it to get the younger guys more experience.

That's the way I'm trying to look at it.

I'm not overly concerned there. If a R-F ends up bypassing one of the guys coming back, CPJ won't have any problem starting him.

 

[Jacket59]

miss state game and also ugag game (even though he was snatched back on one play)

I don't think that Jaybo is better than JN however I do think it is slightly a different look.

MSSt, Duke, JSU, and UNC when CPJ sat Josh to see if Jaybo could have some success. Jaybo, in fact, did have more success than Josh against UNC as he was actually driving us down the field, but then we fumbled after we'd driven about 40 yards or so. That was our downfall more than anything else last year.

I also agree that Josh is clearly the best, but I feel good about Jaybo if he has to play as well. He's a good #2.