Jerry the Jacket
Jolly Good Fellow
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 1,641
Today was my first trip down to watch a practice. I really did not make the effort to go earlier since the team was not in full pads and generally it is just routine stuff like position drills and such that does not tell you too much. I guess when it comes to practice I am somewhat of a fair weather fan. It’s just been too hot to go stand on the hill in the broiling Georgia sun and size up the different guys. I went to a lot of the spring practices and the spring game so I had a pretty good feel for where we were at going into this fall already. Going today confirmed that I made a good call for me personally for the heat was tough and it always amazes me how these young men can go for as long as they have to go in full pads under such brutal conditions. It’s a wonder they don’t drop over from pure exhaustion but they say what does not kill you will make you stronger. The Georgia heat is one of those things that will test your endurance and today hopefully it made us stronger. It sure had a few tempers running hot out there and you could see it boil over a few times.
To be honest I spent more time socializing with some of my fellow Tech fans than really locking in on as much of the action as I normally like to do. So I have just a few observations to pass along from today’s practice session. As usual, I was impressed by the pure physical size of a lot of our players. They looked in pretty good shape. You can really see the separation in size when you compare the guys that have been in the program for a while vs. the newcomers. Some of the freshmen look like they are ready from a pure size standpoint, Lanier, Watts, Sims and Drummond in particular. Others have the swagger but need some more size, I would put our incoming freshmen offensive linemen, Finch, Beno, Foster and Jackson as most likely to redshirt. We appear to have enough quality good sized O linemen to keep them on the sideline this year. Most of our defensive backs appear to be in that category as well, Sweeting and Miles in particular. Richardson and Thomas are good size and may be able to help this year. Cross looked pretty good but I did not see too much out of Crenshaw or Cummings. Orwin Smith and Julian Burnett have good size but I am not sure they will be battle ready just yet. Luallen looks the part but I’m not sure he can get on the field this year unless we have a rash of injuries ahead of him. Moore needs to gain some size but has good hands and Hill is very smooth but again he may need to eat some beans and cornbread. With all of these guys it is still too early to really tell but those were my general impressions.
Offensively we look pretty good and two deep at every O Line position. The guys that impressed me in drills today were Phil Smith, Brad Sellers, Nick Claytor and Sean Bedford. They had a drill where the offensive line matched up against the defensive line and the coaches had one d lineman really rush hard against his opposing offensive line. Claytor and Morgan or it could have been Wilson really went at it hard and ended up in quite a tussle. Eventually both groups jumped into it and it took every coach out there to separate them. Following that Coach Sewak had a heated a discussion with both units about how they were all on the same team and while he appreciated the competition that he would not tolerate any more group fights. I think the heat really contributed to that. On the d line, Barnes and Morgan looked stout. The Big Boss Man (Barnes) was just throwing his man out of the way on the way to the QB. He looked impressive.
I really missed a lot of the Offensive drills but I heard a few ohs and ahs coming from the crowd on some nice plays. The scrimmage was somewhat controlled and the coaches were trying to keep folks off the ground for the most part. Allen and Egbuniwe had a knock down drag out over what one of them considered to be a late hit. Coach Johnson gave them a heart to heart and had them shake hands and then told them to run a lap while holding hands. You could see all was forgiven between them as they completed the lap.
Guys that caught my eye were Nesbitt, Dwyer, Allen, Peeples and Thomas. All look to be in outstanding physical shape and a load to bring down. On defense, Morgan Burnett, Jefferson, Griffin and Reese all looked real good. I think we will see more out of the defense when the coaches allow them to go full speed in contact.
I think we have some real good potential for a great year if we can stay relatively healthy and stay focused. The coaches are really providing a lot of vociferous instruction and it is obvious that they are pushing the guys to the wall already.
I hope to take in a few more practices including tomorrow morning and I will post my thoughts on those as I get the opportunity.
Go Jackets!
To be honest I spent more time socializing with some of my fellow Tech fans than really locking in on as much of the action as I normally like to do. So I have just a few observations to pass along from today’s practice session. As usual, I was impressed by the pure physical size of a lot of our players. They looked in pretty good shape. You can really see the separation in size when you compare the guys that have been in the program for a while vs. the newcomers. Some of the freshmen look like they are ready from a pure size standpoint, Lanier, Watts, Sims and Drummond in particular. Others have the swagger but need some more size, I would put our incoming freshmen offensive linemen, Finch, Beno, Foster and Jackson as most likely to redshirt. We appear to have enough quality good sized O linemen to keep them on the sideline this year. Most of our defensive backs appear to be in that category as well, Sweeting and Miles in particular. Richardson and Thomas are good size and may be able to help this year. Cross looked pretty good but I did not see too much out of Crenshaw or Cummings. Orwin Smith and Julian Burnett have good size but I am not sure they will be battle ready just yet. Luallen looks the part but I’m not sure he can get on the field this year unless we have a rash of injuries ahead of him. Moore needs to gain some size but has good hands and Hill is very smooth but again he may need to eat some beans and cornbread. With all of these guys it is still too early to really tell but those were my general impressions.
Offensively we look pretty good and two deep at every O Line position. The guys that impressed me in drills today were Phil Smith, Brad Sellers, Nick Claytor and Sean Bedford. They had a drill where the offensive line matched up against the defensive line and the coaches had one d lineman really rush hard against his opposing offensive line. Claytor and Morgan or it could have been Wilson really went at it hard and ended up in quite a tussle. Eventually both groups jumped into it and it took every coach out there to separate them. Following that Coach Sewak had a heated a discussion with both units about how they were all on the same team and while he appreciated the competition that he would not tolerate any more group fights. I think the heat really contributed to that. On the d line, Barnes and Morgan looked stout. The Big Boss Man (Barnes) was just throwing his man out of the way on the way to the QB. He looked impressive.
I really missed a lot of the Offensive drills but I heard a few ohs and ahs coming from the crowd on some nice plays. The scrimmage was somewhat controlled and the coaches were trying to keep folks off the ground for the most part. Allen and Egbuniwe had a knock down drag out over what one of them considered to be a late hit. Coach Johnson gave them a heart to heart and had them shake hands and then told them to run a lap while holding hands. You could see all was forgiven between them as they completed the lap.
Guys that caught my eye were Nesbitt, Dwyer, Allen, Peeples and Thomas. All look to be in outstanding physical shape and a load to bring down. On defense, Morgan Burnett, Jefferson, Griffin and Reese all looked real good. I think we will see more out of the defense when the coaches allow them to go full speed in contact.
I think we have some real good potential for a great year if we can stay relatively healthy and stay focused. The coaches are really providing a lot of vociferous instruction and it is obvious that they are pushing the guys to the wall already.
I hope to take in a few more practices including tomorrow morning and I will post my thoughts on those as I get the opportunity.
Go Jackets!
