TJ Barnes.....

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gtalum96

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I've seen this discussed somewhat both here and on other boards, but wanted to get some insight from those "in the know".

What color uniforms do you all think......:laugher:

To start with, it goes without saying that we're gonna really miss M. Johnson, V. Walker, D. Richards and Aniyabe (sp). The level of play those guys brought week in and week out was truly something to behold this year. It's likely, we'll take somewhat of a step back next year on the defensive front 4. The question is, how much? Some feel it will be pretty significant and others think it will be noticable, but not too bad. I tend to feel like we'll be in pretty good shape.

I think our back 7 are gonna be much improved across the board with all of the youth we have and as much playing time as a lot of the guys received. I think our secondary is going to be heads and tails above what we've been used to over the last 8 years with Burnette leading the way. I also feel like our LB's will be better next year with Jefferson, Griffin, and Barnes back. I don't think we'll lose much with our DEs with Morgan and Peters. The only concern is depth at that position, and I think we'll have some guys step it up. Of course Peters is going to have to pick it up b/c Morgan will be getting a lot more double teams after this year.

The real question for me is TJ Barnes. And that's where my question lies. For those of you who saw him this spring and summer, what kind of player is he? What are his strengths. Is he just a big ogre that plugs up the gap, or does he have some quickness about him? Obviously his size is something to behold....6'7", 325 lbs and you know with the redshirt year this year, he's gonna be in a lot better football shape and much stronger. Could he be something akin to Mt. Cody at Alabama. I've heard it told, that despite Cody's size, the dude can dunk a freakin' basketball which is amazing. Can Barnes be that kind of mobile force in the middle? What about his back-up? If so, then I think that out defense might actually look a bit better or at the very least be a very strong and consistent defense. Anyway, hadn't seen the kid play and was wondering what some of you thought?

For what it's worth, and I hope we can finally put this behind us, a poster over at the Hive is saying that a Birmingham radio station (WJOX ?) is saying that PJ has finally come out and said HE"S NOT INTERESTED IN THE AU JOB AND IS HAPPY AT TECH. Hopefully now, the rumor mill will start to wind down and we can all chill out. I know some of you were confident all along about his staying put, but I have to admit, with all of the hoopla and rumors the last few days, I was a little bit nervous.....
 
1. I was never nervous about PJ leaving
2. I think the play of our back 7 will negate some of the affects of the loss of the big 3.
3. TJ is a BEAST, bottom line. He is a bull and clogs the middle. Everything ive heard on him is Glowing with promise.
 
TJ definitely has some real ability. He is more of a 2-gapper who eats up double teams than a penetrator/pocket-collapser. There is apparently the possibility that one of the DEs (Peters? because he is bigger than Hall) could move inside to play next to TJ.
 
Last time I made a thread about this, it just turned into a linebacker argument.
:oops:
 
I think we are going to hurt bad next year. You just can't replace 3 starters who were ALL-ACC candidates, and two of them were All Americans on someone's list. Not to mention a 5th year senior back-up who shared a lot of minutes.

I'm sure Barnes will be a good player, but he still a redshirt freshman, and unless he's the second coming of.... uh, the guys we just lost, then we're going to have some big growing pains next year.
 
yellajacketkid said:
Last time I made a thread about this, it just turned into a linebacker argument.
:oops:
Click to expand...


Yeah, I remember that thread a couple of days ago. That's why I'm specifically asking about Barnes and I guess in a broader sense, the state of our interior D-line next year. When I first heard about this guy (Barnes) I was definitely intrigued. Have we ever had a guy that big? I mean, damn! 6'7", 325 lbs. One would think that the guy's gonna be a force to be reckoned with based on size alone. If he's got some mobilty about him, and can get a decent push up front, then our pass rush may not suffer much. Defending the run up the middle should be better for sure. We'll see. Looking forward to watching him play. He could be the next special thing at GT!
 
You win on the line of scrimmage regardless of the skills of the back 7. I would love to see us dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball similiar to what Alabama did this year.
 
We will have to adjust in a major way next year. TJ Barnes will be the big 2-gap guy to clog the middle, and whoever plays next to him will be the penetrator, be it Anderson, Walls or a converted DE like Peters. There will be drop off though, much like we saw this year with our LB's. The major hope we have is that those LB's will have matured and can fill the holes while the new DL matures. Keep in mind that we still have Morgan on one DE. That's got to count for something.
 
yellajacketkid said:
Last time I made a thread about this, it just turned into a linebacker argument.
:oops:
Click to expand...
yeah. that thread turned to suck.

i've worried some but i'm pretty confident in wommack and pj to find something that works well.

what other guys did we redshirt this year on d?
 
GTland03 said:
Im telling you, we will be ok.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that we will be ok, but the line play is going to decrease and decrease significantly. I don't drink that koolaid that the Hive insiders drink. All those guys rate our players on maximum potential and not reality. They're still waiting on guys like Jake Blackwood to break the starting lineup.

These are the same guys who thought we were "stacked" at QB after Reggie left with Taylor Bennet, Johnathan Garner, the kid who wore #10, Nesbitt as a frosh and Threet.
 
Not to be overly rose-colored, but in theory, next year's defensive line could be just as stout against the run as this year's.
TJ becoming Mt. Barnes, DMorgan is good against the run, Hall played for MJ on rushing downs...
The challenge will be getting an effective pass rush on passing downs. However, pass coverage should be better because only JWD is leaving. Maybe that will give the line more time. We will see.
 
BarrelORum said:
I don't doubt that we will be ok, but the line play is going to decrease and decrease significantly. I don't drink that koolaid that the Hive insiders drink. All those guys rate our players on maximum potential and not reality. They're still waiting on guys like Jake Blackwood to break the starting lineup.

These are the same guys who thought we were "stacked" at QB after Reggie left with Taylor Bennet, Johnathan Garner, the kid who wore #10, Nesbitt as a frosh and Threet.
Click to expand...

I dont drink that horse sh*t either bruh. Come back and talk to me Sept '09.
 
SeePops said:
Not to be overly rose-colored, but in theory, next year's defensive line could be just as stout against the run as this year's.
TJ becoming Mt. Barnes, DMorgan is good against the run, Hall played for MJ on rushing downs...
The challenge will be getting an effective pass rush on passing downs. However, pass coverage should be better because only JWD is leaving. Maybe that will give the line more time. We will see.
Click to expand...


Thats exactly how I look at it.
 
BarrelORum said:
I think we are going to hurt bad next year. You just can't replace 3 starters who were ALL-ACC candidates, and two of them were All Americans on someone's list. Not to mention a 5th year senior back-up who shared a lot of minutes.

I'm sure Barnes will be a good player, but he still a redshirt freshman, and unless he's the second coming of.... uh, the guys we just lost, then we're going to have some big growing pains next year.
Click to expand...

I'm with BOR. There will be games next year that the offense really has to produce big time in order for us to win, because the defense is going to experience growing pains. Think of it as a role reversal from this year, except the defense can't mask talent deficiencies as easily as we did on offense this year. I expect 2-3 really ugly defensive performances as we adjust to a non-all-world dline.
 
BarrelORum said:
I don't doubt that we will be ok, but the line play is going to decrease and decrease significantly. I don't drink that koolaid that the Hive insiders drink. All those guys rate our players on maximum potential and not reality. They're still waiting on guys like Jake Blackwood to break the starting lineup.

These are the same guys who thought we were "stacked" at QB after Reggie left with Taylor Bennet, Johnathan Garner, the kid who wore #10, Nesbitt as a frosh and Threet.
Click to expand...


Yeah I hear you BOR. Some of the guys over there have OD'd on the Kool-Aid in the past. That's why I like it here. It's OK to be excited about the program and specific players. We should be as GT fans. This year is the first time, in a long time, that I've let myself partake in the Kool-aid....

Having said that, I realize you can't replace what we had this year up front. And it's true for the most part, a football game is won and lost in the trenches ,plain and simple. I think "OK" is a good way to describe us at the start of next year, but as the year goes on I think we'll see a lot of improvement up front on defense, similar to the way the O-line seemed to be "getting it" towards the end of this year. Hopefully our D-line will be quicker studies than our O-line this year though. :laugher:

Nonetheless, LB play will be crucial at the start of the season in 2009. Our guys are going to have to do a much better job with shedding blocks and tackling than they've done at times this year. Reads are gonna have to be quicker and more fluid and we'll rely heavily on them getting pressure from the middle and outside when the QB drops back to pass. However, once our D-line gets their "sea legs" so to speak, I think our defense, as a whole, will be pretty damn good next year.

PJ has mentioned in passsing a couple of times, that a 3-4 defensive alignment might be something we try next year. If that's the case, do y'all think it would be Morgan, Barnes, Peters/Hall as LT, NG, RT for the D-line or different personel in those spots?
 
If they do throw out some 3-4 looks, that line looks right. AT Barnes could be an edge-rushing OLB and Jefferson is a prototypical 3-4 MLB. Griffin, Sylvester, and Jackson are not as good of a fit.
 
We redshirted Antonio Wilson last year who was a DE. Also Emmanuel Dieke is coming to Tech in January. So maybe he will crack the two deep. But from what i have seen of Barnes. He is a MONSTER. But no doubt we will drop off some next year at the D line.
 
FWIW, we subbed in on the DL more than I can ever remember us doing in the past. Hall and Peters got a TON of time this year, even in big games like FSU, UM, and UGA. Hopefully this will bode well for next year.

I don't doubt we're going to take a step back on the line. But, using the same logic, we should take a step forward at LB and DB given our youth.
 
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