Georgia Tech continued preparing for the first football scrimmage of spring with a practice in Bobby Dodd Stadium on Friday morning. Head coach Brent Key and his staff continued the installation of the new offense and a tweaked defense. After practice, a trio of defensive players spoke to the media led by veteran safety LaMiles Brooks and veteran defensive tackle D'Quan Douse. Redshirt freshman linebacker Kyle Efford made his media debut as a Jacket as well.
Of note per my sources, the staff are trying out some defensive tackles on the offensive side of the ball right now to help with depth. Zeek Biggers and Horace Lockett both had an opportunity to work with the offense this week a little bit. This is a pretty big tell of how deep the defensive tackle position is now compared to 2019. That is probably the best thing Collins did during his tenure in terms of roster building. With PIerce Quick medically retired essentially and Jordan Brown injured still, more bodies are needed on the offensive line at the moment. Time will tell if anyone ends up permanently moving over to the OL.
The DT room has Makius Scott, Douse, Akelo Stone, Jason Moore, Biggers, Lockett and KJ Miles plus Etinosa Rueben and Grey Carroll can both play inside as well. They have one signee enrolling in June in Bryston Dixon and new DE Shymeik Jones is a giant human and may end up inside eventually.
Douse said that he really likes the DL room and working with Marco Coleman again in a larger role now with him having the whole DT room instead of just the DEs like he did before. Douse said that he really likes Brian Baker and that has been a huge addition for the DTs having him around with his NFL experience and coaching experience overall.
Douse said that C Weston Franklin has really stepped up his game and he is much more physical now and getting his hands on the DL and getting a push compared. He said that it is clear Weston really was focused on his game in the offseason. He said that Jordan Williams has settled into playing guard and is doing a good job and they all love Joe Fusile at the other guard spot and he is one of the hardest working guys.
Douse said he has spent a lot of time working with the rush ends to make sure they are setting the edge properly and if they do that it will free up the DTs to make more plays and make the defense more effective. He said he talks a lot with Kyle Kennard about that during practice staying in his ear.
Douse thinks the DTs have a chance to level up again after making major strides last year.
Douse said that Rueben like I've said is mostly playing end, but he'd like to see him play a little DT (possibly in sub packages for pass rush) down the line. He said they all call him E.T.
Douse thinks that both Lockett and Miles are ready to take that next step and push to get into the rotation as they learned a lot last year watching.
Douse said that the offseason S&C didn't seem that different, but the one thing he noticed is his body was fresher than it was coming into camp last year. He eluded to that likely being because of whatever changes AJ Artis made to their workouts.
Brooks said that his goal is to elevate himself up again and that he is trying to prepare and play like a PRO and then take that into the offseason and fall to level up his play.
Brooks said he enjoys that they've cross-trained him to play S and NB and he likes giving KJ Wallace a breather and it allows them to get Jay King and Clayton Powell-Lee on the field together when he moves down to NB. He said it is a good way to show off his versatility.
Brooks said they have a strong brotherhood in the safety room and he expects it to be a 3-man rotation at safety with him, King and Powell-Lee going into the season, but they all compete every day. He just wants the coaches to put the best 2 or 3 depending on the package on the field.
Ken asked him who the fastest WR is and he paused for a while and said it is between Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary.
Brooks said there has been an adjustment with the communication on the D with Charlie Thomas and Ayinde Eley both gone. He said they had a lot of chemistry playing together and now he is trying to build it with the two new transfer LBs Braelen Oliver and Andre White.
Brooks said the difference between a Collins and a Key practice is the level of competition is a lot higher now and they get after it more. Things are a little more chippy in a good way, but they know they are teammates and have to take care of each other out there too.
Efford was an interesting choice for the third player, but it was cool to get him out there for the first time. He said that things were moving way too fast for him last year and the speed of the game has slowed down a lot this spring and he can finally start to play his game. He said he also had a major adjustment having been mostly an OLB in HS to playing middle linebacker in college so he had change a lot of things he did.
Efford said working with Kevin Sherrer as LB coach has been cool because he has coached at every major level and he is still a teacher of the game and that is really helpful. He also shouted out Bill Stewart the defensive analyst for LBs who Key added this offseason as being a big help to him.
Efford said the LB competition has been strong this spring and the guys cheer each other on, but it is also a legit competition.
Efford said the three transfer LBs, Oliver, White and former Rutgers player Austin Dean have helped him a lot.
Of note per my sources, the staff are trying out some defensive tackles on the offensive side of the ball right now to help with depth. Zeek Biggers and Horace Lockett both had an opportunity to work with the offense this week a little bit. This is a pretty big tell of how deep the defensive tackle position is now compared to 2019. That is probably the best thing Collins did during his tenure in terms of roster building. With PIerce Quick medically retired essentially and Jordan Brown injured still, more bodies are needed on the offensive line at the moment. Time will tell if anyone ends up permanently moving over to the OL.
The DT room has Makius Scott, Douse, Akelo Stone, Jason Moore, Biggers, Lockett and KJ Miles plus Etinosa Rueben and Grey Carroll can both play inside as well. They have one signee enrolling in June in Bryston Dixon and new DE Shymeik Jones is a giant human and may end up inside eventually.
Douse said that he really likes the DL room and working with Marco Coleman again in a larger role now with him having the whole DT room instead of just the DEs like he did before. Douse said that he really likes Brian Baker and that has been a huge addition for the DTs having him around with his NFL experience and coaching experience overall.
Douse said that C Weston Franklin has really stepped up his game and he is much more physical now and getting his hands on the DL and getting a push compared. He said that it is clear Weston really was focused on his game in the offseason. He said that Jordan Williams has settled into playing guard and is doing a good job and they all love Joe Fusile at the other guard spot and he is one of the hardest working guys.
Douse said he has spent a lot of time working with the rush ends to make sure they are setting the edge properly and if they do that it will free up the DTs to make more plays and make the defense more effective. He said he talks a lot with Kyle Kennard about that during practice staying in his ear.
Douse thinks the DTs have a chance to level up again after making major strides last year.
Douse said that Rueben like I've said is mostly playing end, but he'd like to see him play a little DT (possibly in sub packages for pass rush) down the line. He said they all call him E.T.
Douse thinks that both Lockett and Miles are ready to take that next step and push to get into the rotation as they learned a lot last year watching.
Douse said that the offseason S&C didn't seem that different, but the one thing he noticed is his body was fresher than it was coming into camp last year. He eluded to that likely being because of whatever changes AJ Artis made to their workouts.
Brooks said that his goal is to elevate himself up again and that he is trying to prepare and play like a PRO and then take that into the offseason and fall to level up his play.
Brooks said he enjoys that they've cross-trained him to play S and NB and he likes giving KJ Wallace a breather and it allows them to get Jay King and Clayton Powell-Lee on the field together when he moves down to NB. He said it is a good way to show off his versatility.
Brooks said they have a strong brotherhood in the safety room and he expects it to be a 3-man rotation at safety with him, King and Powell-Lee going into the season, but they all compete every day. He just wants the coaches to put the best 2 or 3 depending on the package on the field.
Ken asked him who the fastest WR is and he paused for a while and said it is between Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary.
Brooks said there has been an adjustment with the communication on the D with Charlie Thomas and Ayinde Eley both gone. He said they had a lot of chemistry playing together and now he is trying to build it with the two new transfer LBs Braelen Oliver and Andre White.
Brooks said the difference between a Collins and a Key practice is the level of competition is a lot higher now and they get after it more. Things are a little more chippy in a good way, but they know they are teammates and have to take care of each other out there too.
Efford was an interesting choice for the third player, but it was cool to get him out there for the first time. He said that things were moving way too fast for him last year and the speed of the game has slowed down a lot this spring and he can finally start to play his game. He said he also had a major adjustment having been mostly an OLB in HS to playing middle linebacker in college so he had change a lot of things he did.
Efford said working with Kevin Sherrer as LB coach has been cool because he has coached at every major level and he is still a teacher of the game and that is really helpful. He also shouted out Bill Stewart the defensive analyst for LBs who Key added this offseason as being a big help to him.
Efford said the LB competition has been strong this spring and the guys cheer each other on, but it is also a legit competition.
Efford said the three transfer LBs, Oliver, White and former Rutgers player Austin Dean have helped him a lot.
