This was a little delayed due to travel and family commitments and breaking news stuff.
So I'll try to break this down group by group. The defense looked more cohesive and you saw that in the spring game even with an extremely vanilla scheme and the refs not calling some of the plays that were actually QB sacks.
Defensive ends, coach Knight has moved over and works with this group extensively now with Marco Coleman gone and you have Keion White, Sylvain Yondjouen and Josh Robinson as the primary three guys with Jared Ivey at Ole Miss now. White by his own admission still is not quite 100-percent following his ankle injury that basically cost him 2021 save a few games where he was very limited. White still is the best looking DE on campus since Derrick Morgan and one of the most skilled in quite some time as well. Yondjouen was still recovering from ACL surgery last year but played in almost every game and was effective and he has actually flashed the most of any of the DEs on the field so far under Collins, he just got wiped out by that ACL. He looks like he did in spring ball of 2020 which is a good thing. Josh Robinson is also impressive and you saw some flashes from him last year playing as a very raw rookie and that work will pay off this fall, I think GT fans should be excited about the field ends.
At the rush spot, Kyle Kennard, Kevin Harris and Noah Collins are all battling for playing time. Kennard is the leader in the clubhouse, but they've always rotated that position pretty regularly. WIth those three they have nice size and length now at that position as well. Collins is a guy to watch here as well because he managed to jump ahead of Harris last year and get on the field as a true freshman. Grey Carroll is sort of working both end spots right now, but I still think he has to develop more if he wants to crack the rotation.
Moving inside, David Turner has been more hands-on with this group and this unit has changed a little bit with the departure of Mike Lockhart, Quon Griffin and Djimon Brooks who probably had the three most snaps last year. Zeek Biggers was sidelined for spring ball recovering from his shoulder injury and Akelo Stone went down late in camp with an injury, but they expect both back for fall camp if not sooner. Really this comes down to developing depth and finally getting some production, especially against the run. Makius Scott and D'Quan Douse both had very strong spring camps and TK Chimedza is very experienced as well inside. Morris Joseph the transfer from Memphis is an upgrade over Lockhart, Griffin and Brooks so now they just need some other guys to step up in that room. They add two massive freshmen this summer in Horace Lockett and KJ Miles. They should have a full 8 scholarship DTs for fall camp and all should be available.
At linebacker, this has been an area that has suffered for multiple reasons over the last few years with particular issues due to concerns in the front and back end leading to guys not playing within their assignments and playing some hero ball at times as @ibeeballin has pointed out and getting out of position to make plays. The lack of numbers and depth has been a major factor as well with guys playing too many snaps. You have back Ace Eley and Charlie Thomas as the projected starters with Trenilyas Tatum as the third LB (Eley can move to WLB with Tatum or Thomas can stay there and Tatum plays with the MIKE with him) so that is a good start. Demetrius Knight however really had a great camp and it is starting to click for him which is a big deal. If they can get to four solid LBs to rotate they will be cooking with gas. Khatavian Franks, Kyle Efford and Tyson Meiguez are the wildcards with Franks and Meiguez both missing huge amounts of time over the last year plus and Efford being a freshman. I think one of them can give them a 5th LB and I think you may finally see some actually 4-3 looks again given the depth and Thomas' ability to play the true SAM linebacker as well as WLB to give the defense another look against run-heavy teams. I think this group has improved a lot and they seem to enjoy Jason Semore's coaching.
In the secondary, the nickel spot is a good place to start you have Travares Tillman taking over and some decent shoes to fill there with Wesley Walker gone. Walker had a really down 2021 season after an impressive 2020 where he took over at the nickel spot. Kaleb Edwards got to dip his toes in the water playing some nickel and JOKER LB last year and he has really thrived under Tillman at the nickel spot and seems to have the edge there. Khari Gee is the other main guy in the rotation for now, but I expect they will continue looking for other options to build more depth there. LaMiles Brooks and Kenan Johnson both have experience and the skillset to help at the nickel.
Looking at the safety position, basically, it was the Tariq Carpenter and Juanyeh Thomas show for three years and the two guys who backed them up last year Jaylon King and Derrik Allen moved into the starting role. Both King and Allen are playing with more confidence and leadership back there. Tillman has them on the same page with the rest of the secondary and the confidence has shown as both have been making plays. The bigger question there is about who will back those two up. Sirad Bryant did not play last year and redshirted while Jalen Huff showed some flashes at times, but the two most interesting names in that group are true freshman Jaylin Marshall who looks the part and is a tough DB but is learning the system and the other is LaMiles Brooks who can play all of the DB positions. Those two seem like guys who will find their way into the rotation.
At CB, Tillman has this group looking completely different and playing with confidence for the first time in a while. Zamari Walton is rock solid, Myles Sims has continued to build upon a very good 2021 campaign and Kenyatta Watson II was the real surprise of camp. Watson fully healthy a year out from surgery had a great camp and they have a very solid three-man rotation at corner to work with now. Kenan Johnson is a solid fourth corner while Ahmari Harvey was learning the ropes and is maybe not quite ready yet.
Overall the defense looked much more fundamentally sound and that would've helped propel Tech to a bowl game.
