With the additions of Christian Leary, Abdul Janneh, Dominick Blaylock, and Chase Lane (and all of our returners), who do you think will be the go to target at the WR position, similar to how Nate McCollum was last year? Also, I saw that you have the new TE Brett Seither listed as a H-back on the depth chart. Was he worked more as a blocking TE during spring? Thanks!
KQ- I would guess out of the receivers that Rutherford will be to the go-to guy since he has the best hands. I think from the outside guys that will be figured out in camp and as the season unfolds. There are like four or five options and I think there are a lot of unknowns there.
On the TE thing, I listed him as an H-back or a Flex-Y or whatever you want to call it, but all of the TEs can do both. They all know how to block and do the basic TE stuff as well as the flex stuff. Dylan Leonard and Seither could be used interchangeably if needed.
Who is RB1 target for 2024 ?
KQ- @Russell Johnson
How many LBs will Tech take for next year ? I know they've already got 3 commits
KQ- They don't have three commits they have two. One you are thinking is a LB is a DL, Tah'j Butler and Demontrae Gatson are LBs and Jordan Boyd is a DL. They will take at least one more LB. They lose three to graduation after this season in Moala, Oliver and White and there could be guys who grad transfer out or attrition so I'd expect three.
If the GOR situation was resolved today and two mega conferences were formed, where would GT land?
Follow-up: If your answer is "outside the bubble" what meaningful things can be done / accomplished on and off the field to move the needle positively so, when the time comes, GT ensures a seat at the table.
KQ- There is nothing that can be done in the short term. The answer is on the outside but they'd be joined by teams as big as Arkansas, Minnesota, and even possibly Iowa. If they go full mega conferences then everyone is screwed that isn't Bama, Ohio State, Clemson, Penn State-level or better. It has to shrink to make sense so it won't be 65 teams, but more like 34-40 teams max.
Some further commentary would be interesting:
The crazy part to me is the deal may end working out come 2030 depending on TV revenues which are going to decline over the next 5-7 years. Those SEC and Big Ten deals may end up being the last hurrah. None of this is sustainable and we are heading for an eventual crash of the TV deals.
KQ- Everything is moving toward à la carte programming. It is like TV network news, not like Fox News or MSNBC or CNN, but like the NBC Nightly News or ABC World News tonight, the viewership of those shows cratered as cable news exploded. Now we are in a world where everyone just has an app on their TV or some people don't even own a TV and just use a laptop or Ipad to watch stuff. Cable subscription fees carried ESPN and to a lesser extent Fox for a long time. Fox shed the RSN Network as part of the death of this model. ESPN charges carries a big rate for their channels, but the viewership is declining and getting older. As people unplug it pressures both those carriage fees and advertising dollars in a downward trajectory. I think you will see pushback from the viewership with interest in some of these sports as the rivalries are put to the test. For example, the SEC will have to change their scheduling model when Texas and OU join and that will end up causing some important games to go away as they have to go to the model the ACC is using with pods. That will harm interest. The same thing is going to happen with the Big Ten.
I think there will be a major adjustment later in the decade as this sorts itself out. The days of the $100 million per year media rights are likely going to go away and it will shift back to probably half that amount. That is my read on it.
Strat, Tele, or Les Paul?
KQ- Depends on what I'm playing. I've owned cheap versions of all three. I am hoping to own a real LP soon (I have a LP Jr. Epiphone right now). I just haven't had a chance to acquire it from a friend yet. The strat is probably the most versatile, but it really gets back to what I'm doing. I played a strat the longest, but I do not own one currently. I can pretty much cover my ass with a strat and a boost pedal to get some humbucker type sounds. Eric Clapton has a built-in boost on his strat that covers all the old Gibson tones. My brother gifted me a cheap tele for my birthday and I like it as well, but I don't do a lot of a chicken picking so it mostly in one position all the team on the bridge pickup.
The one I really dream about is an old Gibson Firebird VII, but I need GT to win some games in football and hoops to make that happen and my youngest out of daycare.
The remaining questions are Russell's to answer
