Jerry the Jacket
Jolly Good Fellow
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 1,641
Saturday’s scrimmage marked the half way point of Georgia Tech’s football team’s spring practice for 2009. I have had the good fortune of being able to attend most of the practices that have been open to the public. As a life long Georgia Tech football fanatic, this is a special treat. I moved away from Atlanta for a period of 18 and half years from the late 80’s until 2005. So I have the perspective of those that are out of town and thirst for some sort of information on the program. How things are going? So I have tried on occasion to share my observations with those that do not have the special opportunity to attend these practices and scrimmages.
My observations are merely those of a fan and not of an expert. I make no claims to know anymore about the sport than anyone else but I do think I have a fairly high familiarity with Georgia Tech football for it has been a passion of mine and my family my entire life. So with that I thought I might share some of my thoughts. I will start with the defense and do the offense tomorrow.
On Defense
This is our second year under DC Dave Wommack. I think the players are fairly comfortable now with his schemes and his expectations. One thing that is very evident is the high level of individual instruction each position group is receiving. Coach Wommack has the safeties. The obvious crown jewel of this group is Morgan Burnett. He is developing into one of the best collegiate defensive players I have seen in several years. Unfortunately for us, I think this will probably be Morgan’s last season here. His talents are at a level that he probably could be playing on Sundays now.
One significant development this spring has been the institution of the 5th defensive back as a standard formation for our defense. A couple of former safeties and linebackers are being groomed for this position which is a hybrid safety linebacker position. I feel like the coaches are seeing a trend toward teams throwing the ball more than running it (direct opposite of our offensive philosophy). Thus the new Wolf position has been ordained. For now, Cooper Taylor, Mario Edwards, AT Barnes and Malcolm Munroe are being tried in that position. Cooper is a quality player but still looks a bit thin. Mario is making some solid progress and appears to be coming around. AT looks a bit out of place there currently but he is a great athlete and more than likely will adapt if that becomes his role. I really see AT coming in and playing a more traditional third linebacker on predominately running downs. As for me, he really looks more like a defensive end than a linebacker with his current size but we will have to see how things progress for him. Munroe has been very active this spring and has laid some nice hits on folks. If he learns coverage he could be a factor as soon as this year.
Other safety candidates include, Dominique Reese who should hold his starting position. He is a quality player and a leader on the field. Brandon Leslie looks like he has some potential but does not appear to be threatening to overtake anyone on the depth chart currently.
The Cornerbacks are coached by Coach Kelly and he does a great job with that group. The most pleasant development there is the emergence of Jerrad Tarrant. While he is running second team right now, I will predict he will be a starter by the first game of 2009. He has great ball skills and excellent coverage technique. He also will most likely be our punt return specialist. There are several that are fairly equal behind Tarrant, Butler, Reid, Peterson, Walker, Riley, Earls and Lockhart is the way I would rank them currently but you could throw a hat over the first 3. All are capable of doing a quality job. Walker is a walk on player who is pretty good. Earls is trying to learn the position and shows some potential, Riley and Lockhart will probably have to wait unless they step up big time prior to the beginning of the season.
Linebackers are showing some solid improvement this spring. Right now Sedric Griffin and Brad Jefferson are the top 2. Both of these young men are solid and have a nose for the football. The pecking order after those two right now appears to be Kyle Jackson, Steven Sylvester, and BJ Machen. Sylvester is showing signs of being a special player and it may be hard to keep him off the field. He might rotate over to the Wolf position after all is said and done. As mentioned previously, AT Barnes and Malcolm Munroe are currently slotted for the Wolf position but may play the third linebacker spot in certain down and distance situations. There are a couple of walk ons that are in the mix but they do not currently appear to be serious contenders for playing time. Overall it appears that the linebackers are meshing better with the D-Line for both run and pass defense. I would attribute that to more time in the system.
Now for what I feel has been probably the biggest concern of the average Georgia Tech football fan and that is our Defensive line. To date I have been encouraged by what I have seen. The Defensive Ends look pretty solid. Of Course Derrick Morgan is a top notch player. He looks like he may be up to around 285 lbs. but remains quick off the line. He has not really dominated this spring but I think the coaches have not really pushed him too much knowing what he is capable of. To me Derrick could easily move inside and I think you will see us continue to experiment with formations where he does that next season. He is already bigger than any Defensive Tackle we have with the exception of TJ Barnes. Robert Hall looks very capable and is making some plays. The guys that have impressed me are Egbuniwe and Rocker. Egbuniwe is very vocal and appears to be taking on a leadership role on the defense. He is jacked up throughout the practices and is constantly barking at his teammates to inspire them to play harder. He and Brad Jefferson seem to be the vocal leaders of the defense. I think Rocker has found his home. He has really gotten bigger and is cat quick off the line. He gets to a lot of plays but still needs to work on his tackling technique but I predict he may be the surprise defensive player of next year. Antonio Wilson has good size but you can tell he is still learning and may be another year away from being a serious contender for playing time. Dieke looked pretty good but injured his knee and that will slow him down until this fall. He might see the field some this year. He has good natural instincts.
The Defensive Tackles are probably where we really won’t know what we have until we go under live fire in a real game. I like what I have seen out of Ben Anderson. He has good size and has gained some quickness. He has shown an ability to penetrate and be disruptive. He may be much better than I originally thought. Jason Peters is the other current starter. A defensive end convert, Jason is making a lot of plays and appears to be a solid run stuffer. He could use about 15 to 20 more lbs. but if he can maintain his quickness with a few extra lbs. he has a chance to be really good. TJ Barnes is a big man. I think his nick name is Boss Man and you can see why. He is tough on the straight ahead plays but he does get winded pretty quickly if he has to chase much. I think the coaches are trying to play him into shape. He will be very good but it may take a year or so before we start to see his true potential. Logan Walls appears to be a good player and it looks like they are trying to move Tongo inside as opposed to Defensive End. He has played some there on the third team.
All in all it is hard to get a read on the Defensive Line because you have to evaluate them against our Offensive Line which is in a state of flux with a lot of new personnel and a lack of consistent groupings and alignments. So it is the age old question of is the defensive line that good or is the offensive line that bad or vice versa. I really don’t have a good read on that and we may not really know the answer until we play somebody else. My overall impression is that we will be pretty salty on defense in 2009. I think we will play the pass better in the back 7 and if we can generate some pass rush we could be very good. I think our defense against the run will be as good as last year and could be improved if we can hold up in the middle.
Well that’s it for the Defense. I will take a swing at the offense tomorrow.
Go Jackets!
My observations are merely those of a fan and not of an expert. I make no claims to know anymore about the sport than anyone else but I do think I have a fairly high familiarity with Georgia Tech football for it has been a passion of mine and my family my entire life. So with that I thought I might share some of my thoughts. I will start with the defense and do the offense tomorrow.
On Defense
This is our second year under DC Dave Wommack. I think the players are fairly comfortable now with his schemes and his expectations. One thing that is very evident is the high level of individual instruction each position group is receiving. Coach Wommack has the safeties. The obvious crown jewel of this group is Morgan Burnett. He is developing into one of the best collegiate defensive players I have seen in several years. Unfortunately for us, I think this will probably be Morgan’s last season here. His talents are at a level that he probably could be playing on Sundays now.
One significant development this spring has been the institution of the 5th defensive back as a standard formation for our defense. A couple of former safeties and linebackers are being groomed for this position which is a hybrid safety linebacker position. I feel like the coaches are seeing a trend toward teams throwing the ball more than running it (direct opposite of our offensive philosophy). Thus the new Wolf position has been ordained. For now, Cooper Taylor, Mario Edwards, AT Barnes and Malcolm Munroe are being tried in that position. Cooper is a quality player but still looks a bit thin. Mario is making some solid progress and appears to be coming around. AT looks a bit out of place there currently but he is a great athlete and more than likely will adapt if that becomes his role. I really see AT coming in and playing a more traditional third linebacker on predominately running downs. As for me, he really looks more like a defensive end than a linebacker with his current size but we will have to see how things progress for him. Munroe has been very active this spring and has laid some nice hits on folks. If he learns coverage he could be a factor as soon as this year.
Other safety candidates include, Dominique Reese who should hold his starting position. He is a quality player and a leader on the field. Brandon Leslie looks like he has some potential but does not appear to be threatening to overtake anyone on the depth chart currently.
The Cornerbacks are coached by Coach Kelly and he does a great job with that group. The most pleasant development there is the emergence of Jerrad Tarrant. While he is running second team right now, I will predict he will be a starter by the first game of 2009. He has great ball skills and excellent coverage technique. He also will most likely be our punt return specialist. There are several that are fairly equal behind Tarrant, Butler, Reid, Peterson, Walker, Riley, Earls and Lockhart is the way I would rank them currently but you could throw a hat over the first 3. All are capable of doing a quality job. Walker is a walk on player who is pretty good. Earls is trying to learn the position and shows some potential, Riley and Lockhart will probably have to wait unless they step up big time prior to the beginning of the season.
Linebackers are showing some solid improvement this spring. Right now Sedric Griffin and Brad Jefferson are the top 2. Both of these young men are solid and have a nose for the football. The pecking order after those two right now appears to be Kyle Jackson, Steven Sylvester, and BJ Machen. Sylvester is showing signs of being a special player and it may be hard to keep him off the field. He might rotate over to the Wolf position after all is said and done. As mentioned previously, AT Barnes and Malcolm Munroe are currently slotted for the Wolf position but may play the third linebacker spot in certain down and distance situations. There are a couple of walk ons that are in the mix but they do not currently appear to be serious contenders for playing time. Overall it appears that the linebackers are meshing better with the D-Line for both run and pass defense. I would attribute that to more time in the system.
Now for what I feel has been probably the biggest concern of the average Georgia Tech football fan and that is our Defensive line. To date I have been encouraged by what I have seen. The Defensive Ends look pretty solid. Of Course Derrick Morgan is a top notch player. He looks like he may be up to around 285 lbs. but remains quick off the line. He has not really dominated this spring but I think the coaches have not really pushed him too much knowing what he is capable of. To me Derrick could easily move inside and I think you will see us continue to experiment with formations where he does that next season. He is already bigger than any Defensive Tackle we have with the exception of TJ Barnes. Robert Hall looks very capable and is making some plays. The guys that have impressed me are Egbuniwe and Rocker. Egbuniwe is very vocal and appears to be taking on a leadership role on the defense. He is jacked up throughout the practices and is constantly barking at his teammates to inspire them to play harder. He and Brad Jefferson seem to be the vocal leaders of the defense. I think Rocker has found his home. He has really gotten bigger and is cat quick off the line. He gets to a lot of plays but still needs to work on his tackling technique but I predict he may be the surprise defensive player of next year. Antonio Wilson has good size but you can tell he is still learning and may be another year away from being a serious contender for playing time. Dieke looked pretty good but injured his knee and that will slow him down until this fall. He might see the field some this year. He has good natural instincts.
The Defensive Tackles are probably where we really won’t know what we have until we go under live fire in a real game. I like what I have seen out of Ben Anderson. He has good size and has gained some quickness. He has shown an ability to penetrate and be disruptive. He may be much better than I originally thought. Jason Peters is the other current starter. A defensive end convert, Jason is making a lot of plays and appears to be a solid run stuffer. He could use about 15 to 20 more lbs. but if he can maintain his quickness with a few extra lbs. he has a chance to be really good. TJ Barnes is a big man. I think his nick name is Boss Man and you can see why. He is tough on the straight ahead plays but he does get winded pretty quickly if he has to chase much. I think the coaches are trying to play him into shape. He will be very good but it may take a year or so before we start to see his true potential. Logan Walls appears to be a good player and it looks like they are trying to move Tongo inside as opposed to Defensive End. He has played some there on the third team.
All in all it is hard to get a read on the Defensive Line because you have to evaluate them against our Offensive Line which is in a state of flux with a lot of new personnel and a lack of consistent groupings and alignments. So it is the age old question of is the defensive line that good or is the offensive line that bad or vice versa. I really don’t have a good read on that and we may not really know the answer until we play somebody else. My overall impression is that we will be pretty salty on defense in 2009. I think we will play the pass better in the back 7 and if we can generate some pass rush we could be very good. I think our defense against the run will be as good as last year and could be improved if we can hold up in the middle.
Well that’s it for the Defense. I will take a swing at the offense tomorrow.
Go Jackets!
