Heading into spring ball Georgia Tech’s two-deep projected to be the following:
QB- Justin Thomas, Tim Byerly
BB- C.J. Leggett, Quaide Weimerskirch
AB- Dennis Andrews, Qua Searcy
AB- Broderick Snoddy, Clinton Lynch
WR- Mike Summers, Antonio Messick
WR- Ricky Jeune, Harland Howell+
LT- Bryan Chamberlain or Chris Griffin, Will Bryan
LG- Trey Braun, Jake Whitley
C- Freddie Burden, Andrew Marshall
RG- Shamire Devine, Gary Brown
RT- Errin Joe or Chris Griffin, Trey Klock
SDE- Roderick Rook-Chungong, Antonio Simmons
NT- Pat Gamble, Jabari Hunt
DT- Adam Gotsis, Francis Kallon
RDE- KeShun Freeman, Kenderius Whitehead
MLB- Tyler Marcordes, Beau Hankins
WLB- PJ Davis, Domonique Noble
CB- Chris Milton, Lance Austin
FS- Demond Smith, Corey Griffin
SS- Jamal Golden, Shaun Kagawa
CB- D.J. White, Step Durham
NB- Lawrence Austin, Lynn Griffin
The bold names did not play on Saturday, the italic names are off the team and the underlined name was the ridiculous ejection.
That’s a lot of lost guys for various reasons
How did the A-back situation get so messed up?
Misses at A-back and on the DL are what is haunting this team. Clinton Lynch is the sole true A-back still on the roster recruited from either the 2012, 2013 or 2014 class despite the Jackets signing several. Dennis Andrews who was coming on was a huge loss, but that was his fault, not the staff. He had many opportunities. In 2013, the Jackets signed two guys projected to play A-back, Ty Griffin (who worked at QB first) and Donovan Wilson. Wilson was a straight up miss and a horrible decision by the staff. He had bad hands in camp and was stiff as a board and a tweener at best between AB and BB. Griffin had plenty of talent, but like Andrews, his personal demons and riding his brother’s coattails led him to transfer to Oregon.
In 2014, the Jackets signed three projected A-backs, teammates Clinton Lynch and Myles Autry and C.J. Leggett who could play either. The staff knew Autry was unlikely to qualify, but figured Lynch and Leggett would work. Leggett would have stayed at A-back had Travis Custis been able to do any school work. The Jackets were unaware of how deeply unprepared Custis was for college. Qua Searcy was a X-factor guy who could play there or on defense.
Tech ended up with a senior heavy group last year with only Snoddy, Andrews, Searcy and Lynch on the roster returning for 2015. Only Snoddy got work until injuries put Andrews in the rotation.
The Jackets finally signed enough A-backs in the 2015 class to fix the situation catching much derision from the members of this message board.
It will take until next season for the Jackets to fully right the offensive ship, the issue will be the defensive tackles next year and the DL play… I’ll address that shortly.
QB- Justin Thomas, Tim Byerly
BB- C.J. Leggett, Quaide Weimerskirch
AB- Dennis Andrews, Qua Searcy
AB- Broderick Snoddy, Clinton Lynch
WR- Mike Summers, Antonio Messick
WR- Ricky Jeune, Harland Howell+
LT- Bryan Chamberlain or Chris Griffin, Will Bryan
LG- Trey Braun, Jake Whitley
C- Freddie Burden, Andrew Marshall
RG- Shamire Devine, Gary Brown
RT- Errin Joe or Chris Griffin, Trey Klock
SDE- Roderick Rook-Chungong, Antonio Simmons
NT- Pat Gamble, Jabari Hunt
DT- Adam Gotsis, Francis Kallon
RDE- KeShun Freeman, Kenderius Whitehead
MLB- Tyler Marcordes, Beau Hankins
WLB- PJ Davis, Domonique Noble
CB- Chris Milton, Lance Austin
FS- Demond Smith, Corey Griffin
SS- Jamal Golden, Shaun Kagawa
CB- D.J. White, Step Durham
NB- Lawrence Austin, Lynn Griffin
The bold names did not play on Saturday, the italic names are off the team and the underlined name was the ridiculous ejection.
That’s a lot of lost guys for various reasons
How did the A-back situation get so messed up?
Misses at A-back and on the DL are what is haunting this team. Clinton Lynch is the sole true A-back still on the roster recruited from either the 2012, 2013 or 2014 class despite the Jackets signing several. Dennis Andrews who was coming on was a huge loss, but that was his fault, not the staff. He had many opportunities. In 2013, the Jackets signed two guys projected to play A-back, Ty Griffin (who worked at QB first) and Donovan Wilson. Wilson was a straight up miss and a horrible decision by the staff. He had bad hands in camp and was stiff as a board and a tweener at best between AB and BB. Griffin had plenty of talent, but like Andrews, his personal demons and riding his brother’s coattails led him to transfer to Oregon.
In 2014, the Jackets signed three projected A-backs, teammates Clinton Lynch and Myles Autry and C.J. Leggett who could play either. The staff knew Autry was unlikely to qualify, but figured Lynch and Leggett would work. Leggett would have stayed at A-back had Travis Custis been able to do any school work. The Jackets were unaware of how deeply unprepared Custis was for college. Qua Searcy was a X-factor guy who could play there or on defense.
Tech ended up with a senior heavy group last year with only Snoddy, Andrews, Searcy and Lynch on the roster returning for 2015. Only Snoddy got work until injuries put Andrews in the rotation.
The Jackets finally signed enough A-backs in the 2015 class to fix the situation catching much derision from the members of this message board.
It will take until next season for the Jackets to fully right the offensive ship, the issue will be the defensive tackles next year and the DL play… I’ll address that shortly.
