Some of you need to think twice before asking a question or perhaps think about some of the crazy stuff you asked in the mailbag. If there is a blowout asking a question at 4am after the game is probably a terrible idea for future reference. We did what we could with this mess.
Excluding the KW2 transfer do we land at least 1 rivals250 high school commit for 2021?
RJ- Yes
What is your “Ken asking about injuries” question?
KQ- I guess you are asking what I ask about injuries or how I do that or are you asking what is the stupid question I often ask? I sometimes windup too much and then say can you talk about X? That is a shitty question and I do it too much and it annoys me. How do I ask about injuries? With each coach it is different, with CPJ he knew I knew about an injury so there was some eye wink and the same with Collins sometimes like Sylvain. So I'll ask about a position group that might have an injury and see if they offer it up. Sometimes they will to avoid being asked directly. My main idea is to let them offer it on their own. Much harder on zoom. Much harder on all of us with no practice access right now too.
what is the most overrated/underrated aspect or angle in recruiting?
RJ- Overrated- distance from home
Underrated- Scheme fit
KQ- Overrated- X is a great closer
Underrated- coaching connections/relationships at HS level/7on7 level (has helped and hurt GT many a time over many eras)
Has anything changed with A. Thomas, Marcus Allen (2022), and Derek Shepherd?
RJ-I went in-depth on the Thomas situation in another thread. I will find it and attach to mailbag thread once it is posted.
As for Derrick and Marcus, not much has changed. There is going to be a lot of pressure on Derrick to end up at Ohio State if they push for him, but his dad will push for GT to at least get another visit out of everything. They would like to get to a game before too long, and that might take pace thiss season.
Do yall see Barrett carter getting a lot of playing time at Clemson next year
RJ- He will have a chance to see some early reps, for sure. He is too talented to sit on the bench. Reminds me a lot of NaKobe Dean, another LB that lacked prototypical size for the position but made up for it with his instincts and ability to tackle in the open field.
Will he be on the field in key moments for the team? Likely not.
Can you tell me more about #12 Harshaw from Cherokee High School. He is having a really decent 1st half tonight. Has tech made contact with him.
RJ- Not to my knowledge. He could see his stock rise in the off-season camp circuit, though. 7v7 might help his stock too.
Kudos to Russell for his knowledgeable guidance of posters who are diehard Braves fans. The Braves thread uncovered several savvy posters, in particular @fulltimesavage. Looking forward to lively dialogue during the coming hot stove league months.
I know you don’t do odds. But what FC do you, Russell, Russ give on Deebo?? Fascinating nail biter.
RJ- While I could see a decision coming as soon as this next week, I am not ready to put a FC pick in just yet.
In the prediction world, it is important for us to learn from our mistakes. After missing on the Chandler Lawson pick, I have learned to be much more cautious in my basketball recruiting takes.
Ask me again this time next week and I may have a more definite answer for you.
How much does football recruiting boost the basketball recruiting, and vice versa? Is the marketing contract we got with the company that Morpheus flipped to promoting the basketball team as well?
Thanks as always for everything y'all do to feed us content.
RJ- I will defer to Kelly on the second question as I am unsure as to what the correct answer is.
In terms of the first question, things have to be going extremely well or extremely bad for them to really matter all that much.
Calipari’s recruiting at Kentucky, for example, has helped Stoops in recruiting with the atmosphere he has been able to offer to the football recruits to see when they are on visits.
It is a very useful tool football staffs use on junior days, as well as official visits if the schedule allows.
Of course, in this cycle, none of that really matters all that much.
KQ- On the second part, GT hoops doesn't have the bodies that the football program does to work on stuff so that could be the case. I haven't actually even thought much about the basketball program lately to be perfectly honest. GT expects to have a really good team so I imagine that they will want to amp up the interest there as much as possible.
I just watched CGC onside kick after scoring to make it BC 24-7 GT with 10+ mins left in the 2nd quarter. BC subsequently scores on the short field. Halfway through Season 2, how concerned (1: everything is fine, 10: absolute panic) should we be about the in-game decision making by this staff?
KQ- I actually thought the fake punt was worse than the onside kick. I saw what they saw with the one guy in the middle of the field by himself where they tried the onside kick, I just think they should've maybe tried something without two kickers on, that freaked out BC and alerted the guy. Even someone like CPJ who gambled a lot wouldn't have probably tried that even with the defense not playing well. There has been a little bit of a tendency to outthink themselves especially on special teams.
Do you think it is a coaching problem with the DB’s regressing so much, or has COVID impacted that area a lot?
KQ- Super hard to answer because I don't know what the calls are and I'm not seeing them in practice either. Is it too complex? Are they trying to cover for others? I think it is more the trying to make too much happen and not trusting your teammates. The energy and vibe is super weird as well. I do know that Collins has been less hands on with the secondary than last year and it was something I asked last week and probably something I'm sure he is pondering going into ND this week.
Sims is a turnover machine. What message are we sending to the rest of the team by continuing to run him out there?
KQ- He had one turnover on Saturday that was on him, the pick. It was a terrible idea to run the play and a bad throw. They benched him after that.
If you had to rank the last 10 years of defenses for Tech how would that go? And why is 2020 the 10th best? 🤣
KQ- That's like asking me what is my favorite bloodwork I got at the doctors over the last decade. LOL
In your opinion- what is going on with the defense? Looks like they are lost and always 10 steps behind. Very hard to watch
KQ- Ineffective upfront against big OLs, secondary has to cover too long and the LBs often struggle to clean up because of what they are asked to do many times blitzing leaving big holes in the middle of the D. The last two games were a perfect storm for the D with mobile QBs who can extend plays and big OLs that were suffocating the DL. In the secondary, I see guys confused and leaving assignments too often or cheating too much with their eyes and body sometimes in the backfield.
Is Thacker out of his ability level?
KQ- I think the only person who can answer that is Collins.
Where did Demetrius Knight disappear to? Charlie Thomas?
KQ- Charlie played 25 snaps and was not effective, but not bad either. NOt sure if Knight played at all on special teams. I'm wondering if he is hurt.
What is it our defense is actually trying to run, scheme wise? I don't really understand what our identity is supposed to be as a defense.
I know that we are turning the personnel over, and we maybe don't have the athletes we need, the skillset of the older players were recruited for a different scheme, etc... but at the end of the day, those things don't answer my question. I don't have any understanding of the identity we're trying to have as a D. It seems like a total disaster from my vantage point.
KQ- Unsure, you can still be lined up right and now have you LBs spread out so far that no one is in the middle of the field for example. I don't understand what they doing. Maybe @ibeeballin can shed some light.
It’s been said the QB race to start the season was between the two true freshmen, is there a reason we haven’t seen Gleason except for 1 play but we are seeing Graham and Yates?
KQ- You keep asking this question every week. I don't really have an answer other than read my take on the game.
Excluding the KW2 transfer do we land at least 1 rivals250 high school commit for 2021?
RJ- Yes
What is your “Ken asking about injuries” question?
KQ- I guess you are asking what I ask about injuries or how I do that or are you asking what is the stupid question I often ask? I sometimes windup too much and then say can you talk about X? That is a shitty question and I do it too much and it annoys me. How do I ask about injuries? With each coach it is different, with CPJ he knew I knew about an injury so there was some eye wink and the same with Collins sometimes like Sylvain. So I'll ask about a position group that might have an injury and see if they offer it up. Sometimes they will to avoid being asked directly. My main idea is to let them offer it on their own. Much harder on zoom. Much harder on all of us with no practice access right now too.
what is the most overrated/underrated aspect or angle in recruiting?
RJ- Overrated- distance from home
Underrated- Scheme fit
KQ- Overrated- X is a great closer
Underrated- coaching connections/relationships at HS level/7on7 level (has helped and hurt GT many a time over many eras)
Has anything changed with A. Thomas, Marcus Allen (2022), and Derek Shepherd?
RJ-I went in-depth on the Thomas situation in another thread. I will find it and attach to mailbag thread once it is posted.
As for Derrick and Marcus, not much has changed. There is going to be a lot of pressure on Derrick to end up at Ohio State if they push for him, but his dad will push for GT to at least get another visit out of everything. They would like to get to a game before too long, and that might take pace thiss season.
Do yall see Barrett carter getting a lot of playing time at Clemson next year
RJ- He will have a chance to see some early reps, for sure. He is too talented to sit on the bench. Reminds me a lot of NaKobe Dean, another LB that lacked prototypical size for the position but made up for it with his instincts and ability to tackle in the open field.
Will he be on the field in key moments for the team? Likely not.
Can you tell me more about #12 Harshaw from Cherokee High School. He is having a really decent 1st half tonight. Has tech made contact with him.
RJ- Not to my knowledge. He could see his stock rise in the off-season camp circuit, though. 7v7 might help his stock too.
Kudos to Russell for his knowledgeable guidance of posters who are diehard Braves fans. The Braves thread uncovered several savvy posters, in particular @fulltimesavage. Looking forward to lively dialogue during the coming hot stove league months.
I know you don’t do odds. But what FC do you, Russell, Russ give on Deebo?? Fascinating nail biter.
RJ- While I could see a decision coming as soon as this next week, I am not ready to put a FC pick in just yet.
In the prediction world, it is important for us to learn from our mistakes. After missing on the Chandler Lawson pick, I have learned to be much more cautious in my basketball recruiting takes.
Ask me again this time next week and I may have a more definite answer for you.
How much does football recruiting boost the basketball recruiting, and vice versa? Is the marketing contract we got with the company that Morpheus flipped to promoting the basketball team as well?
Thanks as always for everything y'all do to feed us content.
RJ- I will defer to Kelly on the second question as I am unsure as to what the correct answer is.
In terms of the first question, things have to be going extremely well or extremely bad for them to really matter all that much.
Calipari’s recruiting at Kentucky, for example, has helped Stoops in recruiting with the atmosphere he has been able to offer to the football recruits to see when they are on visits.
It is a very useful tool football staffs use on junior days, as well as official visits if the schedule allows.
Of course, in this cycle, none of that really matters all that much.
KQ- On the second part, GT hoops doesn't have the bodies that the football program does to work on stuff so that could be the case. I haven't actually even thought much about the basketball program lately to be perfectly honest. GT expects to have a really good team so I imagine that they will want to amp up the interest there as much as possible.
I just watched CGC onside kick after scoring to make it BC 24-7 GT with 10+ mins left in the 2nd quarter. BC subsequently scores on the short field. Halfway through Season 2, how concerned (1: everything is fine, 10: absolute panic) should we be about the in-game decision making by this staff?
KQ- I actually thought the fake punt was worse than the onside kick. I saw what they saw with the one guy in the middle of the field by himself where they tried the onside kick, I just think they should've maybe tried something without two kickers on, that freaked out BC and alerted the guy. Even someone like CPJ who gambled a lot wouldn't have probably tried that even with the defense not playing well. There has been a little bit of a tendency to outthink themselves especially on special teams.
Do you think it is a coaching problem with the DB’s regressing so much, or has COVID impacted that area a lot?
KQ- Super hard to answer because I don't know what the calls are and I'm not seeing them in practice either. Is it too complex? Are they trying to cover for others? I think it is more the trying to make too much happen and not trusting your teammates. The energy and vibe is super weird as well. I do know that Collins has been less hands on with the secondary than last year and it was something I asked last week and probably something I'm sure he is pondering going into ND this week.
Sims is a turnover machine. What message are we sending to the rest of the team by continuing to run him out there?
KQ- He had one turnover on Saturday that was on him, the pick. It was a terrible idea to run the play and a bad throw. They benched him after that.
If you had to rank the last 10 years of defenses for Tech how would that go? And why is 2020 the 10th best? 🤣
KQ- That's like asking me what is my favorite bloodwork I got at the doctors over the last decade. LOL
In your opinion- what is going on with the defense? Looks like they are lost and always 10 steps behind. Very hard to watch
KQ- Ineffective upfront against big OLs, secondary has to cover too long and the LBs often struggle to clean up because of what they are asked to do many times blitzing leaving big holes in the middle of the D. The last two games were a perfect storm for the D with mobile QBs who can extend plays and big OLs that were suffocating the DL. In the secondary, I see guys confused and leaving assignments too often or cheating too much with their eyes and body sometimes in the backfield.
Is Thacker out of his ability level?
KQ- I think the only person who can answer that is Collins.
Where did Demetrius Knight disappear to? Charlie Thomas?
KQ- Charlie played 25 snaps and was not effective, but not bad either. NOt sure if Knight played at all on special teams. I'm wondering if he is hurt.
What is it our defense is actually trying to run, scheme wise? I don't really understand what our identity is supposed to be as a defense.
I know that we are turning the personnel over, and we maybe don't have the athletes we need, the skillset of the older players were recruited for a different scheme, etc... but at the end of the day, those things don't answer my question. I don't have any understanding of the identity we're trying to have as a D. It seems like a total disaster from my vantage point.
KQ- Unsure, you can still be lined up right and now have you LBs spread out so far that no one is in the middle of the field for example. I don't understand what they doing. Maybe @ibeeballin can shed some light.
It’s been said the QB race to start the season was between the two true freshmen, is there a reason we haven’t seen Gleason except for 1 play but we are seeing Graham and Yates?
KQ- You keep asking this question every week. I don't really have an answer other than read my take on the game.
