Kelly, I saw Paul Johnson’s hometown in NC was crushed by the hurricane. Any update on him, his family / friends? Thank you.
KQ- I'll try to reach out to him this week, I've been pretty slammed lately. We usually talk more in the offseason. I'm sure he was in Arizona playing golf and not back home. His main pad is in Arizona now.
What’s a good mailbag question?
…with the answer
KQ- Playing some 3-D chess. I think no one has asked what Brent Key's plan is for the raised scholarship cap. The answer to that is they plan to keep the walk-on program, but as of now use a few more extra ships to cover positions that take longer to develop like OL/DL and to reward the Henry Freer, Jason Moore and Joe Fusile types. I hope to have a more specific breakdown soon.
What are we going to do about outscored in the third quarter, this could kill us in games against more powerful opposition
KQ- It is a combo of not always having great adjustments on the offensive side and some execution coming out of the half by the offense. You are going to get your best shots from the opposing team on D on the opening drives of each half. GT has struggled more with those more scripted moments to open games and to open the 3rd QT than I would've expected.
It is about adjustments and the chess match and GT has to do a better job on both sides of that chess match.
Is the game against NC as much of a “grudge match” for Key and the players as it is for us fans?
KQ- I haven't gotten that vibe. The kids have moved on IMO. Key literally doesn't give a **** (likely what he would exactly say to me off the record if I asked) about Geoff being there or any of that. He just sees a distraction. Key tries to not make any game bigger than any other. Obviously there are moments like playing UGA or like playing FSU in Ireland where that gets harder. I don't feel like this is one of those, but I'm not in the locker room right now. None of the kids have commented on playing UNC or dealing with Geoff prior to the season starting. I think it is much bigger for JOL and the fans than it is for any of them. That is good, you don't want them tight.
How do you get delay of game on the defense? I was at the game so I don't have the benefit of an explanation on TV.
KQ- I was going to ask Brent about this in the presser tomorrow. Generally, it is about simulating the snap count (like a guy
ping) or a defender doing something that is not a football move, like if a guy pretended to be an animal or was barking like a dog or some other nonsense. I assume it was something along those lines.I came into this season thinking Leo Blackburn would be playing more as the season progressed but it seems to be the opposite. I was at the game last night so could have easily missed it but I don't recall seeing him on the field at all. Dude has the physical presence of an NFL-level WR but the few plays I've watched him, his body language and/or effort seem marginal. Is he injured and/or what is your take on his situation?
KQ- He hasn't been blocking well. Abdul Janneh has been so he got more reps than Leo last week. He played one snap in the Duke game. He isn't injured. I think he is frustrated and Trent McKnight because reset the room when he got the job. Eric Singleton, Malik Rutherford and Chase Lane are all being very productive. They would rather have a big guy like Leo out there, but he hasn't beat any of those guys out in practice. People have to remember this guy had two major knee injuries and broke his wrist. That is a lot for a guy who wasn't coming in running like BayBay either. He ran well, but he wasn't a polished product as a WR coming out of HS either. I think he has tons of potential but that room right now isn't going to give up a lot of reps with the way GT is playing (not 75-80 snaps a game) either. We will see what happens with him in the back half of the season. I hope he can find his groove.
I think most have noticed the emphasis on the short passing game with a very limited vertical passing attempts. What do you feel is the largest contributing factor - a matter of our OC philosophy, giving us what the defenses dictate, or player limitations?
KQ- Well the two deep shots they took, they doubled one guy and tripled Malik Rutherford, they are trying to contain those two guys, so that limits your vertical game. Chase is solid but not that guy either. King also doesn't always put the ball on the money on the deep shots or make great decisions, he threw into triple coverage to Malik on Saturday on one of the two deep shots, it was a terrible idea to throw that ball.
Below is a chart from the 2023 season that illustrates why they are not throwing as much deep either via PFF. The top of the box are deep shots and his numbers are pretty bad. You should have less picks and a high completion percentage. He only had four drops, most QBs have a higher drop number than that as well.
Do you have an idea of how UNCs defensive coordinator may want to game plan for our
Offense?
KQ- Geoff is very worried about Haynes King running on them. Shocking to people who watched GT with him as the HC but his teams struggle to contain running QBs and tend to give up more explosives in those situations. They will try to box in King and try to disrupt that quick screen game by clocking and being aggressive. King will need to counter that by running some on those plays and hitting on some intermediate and deeper throws and the RBs need to take the pressure off by running well.
How do you propose we attack their defense? (Asking for your own thoughts, but if you don’t want to reveal anything for game week, i understand)
KQ- I think play-action is big against a Geoff defense, he likes to put his CBs on an island and let them play man to man and you need to do some mesh concepts and crossing and maybe even levels concepts in the passing game where you can use Malik and Eric's speed on those cuts to get loose over the middle and then they should have one guy to beat. The slant game may be something in play again for the first time in a minute as GT has seen a lot of zone D.
Now that we’re six games in, what are you:
1. Most surprised by with the team?
KQ- I think the defense has been a little better than I thought it would be and I like what I am seeing from Santucci and what the are trying to do on that side of the ball. I think Eric Singleton and Malik Rutherford have both played really well.
2. Most disappointed by with the team?
KQ- The run game has been inconsistent at times, Haynes King has struggled to run the ball and Jamal Haynes looked like a shell of himself after week 2 until the Duke game as he was banged up. I think the lack of sacks from the DE position has been a major concern, but they are getting some pressure and squeezing the pocket and that really messed with Maalik Murphy last week.
3. Most pleased/excited by with the team.
KQ- You are starting to see the depth on both sides of the ball come into play. They had to play basically a 3rd string TE for 75 snaps against an undefeated team last week and he played pretty good in Ryland Goede. That TE position has been better than I expected with Jackson Hawes and Josh Beetham who were both hurt last week and Avery Boyd looking good and then Goede finally stepping up more the last two games. I really thought they would be burning Luke Harpring's shirt because of production issues.
I like what I am seeing from the LBs week to week especially Kyle Efford and Tah'j Butler and even Tren Tatum. They look more like what I expect. I thought that Warren Burrell and Ahmari Harvey have played extremely well outside and people aren't appreciating how well they have played especially Burrell in coverage.
