Thanks to our friends at Inteleca for bringing you the WAR ROOM this time in lieu of a Q's Take today.
So I figured with spring football about to start again this is a good time for some scoop on the football team. Remember what is said in the WAR ROOM stays on this site and off social media or whatever else you crazy kids use to share information.
Spring ball is going well for GT and things are very organized and running smoothly for Brent Key and his staff. Overall the new defensive coaches have been impressive both to observers and within the program with how they are teaching and demanding the most from their positions groups every day particularly the trio of Santucci, Pope and Simpson coaching the LBs, OLBs/Rush and DLs.
I'll start on the defensive side because that is the big key. Santucci wants to build depth. GT had some of the highest snap percentages in the country a year ago especially on the DL and at LB and those are spots where you kill effectiveness as the snaps go up. Building depth and finding a solid rotation is the goal on that side of the ball and even in the secondary for the Jackets. They want to be able to roll guys and not have the giant falloff they had when they had to go to the bench at times.
Defensive Line: Jess Simpson's attention to detail and work with the DL is impressive and it is clearly why he was in the NFL and why he has a strong rep as a DL coach in most circles. They are going to play with a true NT a lot and then a 3-tech DT and a big defensive end as the core of the three-man DL and then you'll have that rush OLB/edge spot to round out the DL in most situations. Santucci explained all of this in his presser, but sometimes people miss things.
Zeek Biggers looks great, he is trim and quicker out there and his stamina continues to improve. That was the big knock on him playing on the defensive side out of HS and that is what can take him to the next level along with being more productive. Horace Lockett is huge now in a good way and he should be able to improve his role on that side of the ball. Shymeik Jones is battling an injury per my sources but they are excited about him and Makius Scott proved his versatility last year playing end and DT often in the same game and he should benefit from a more focused role. The FSU transfer Ayo Tifase gives them a more twitchy guy who can play the 3-tech as well or slide outside when you want to size up.
I would not be shocked to see them go after another DT-body in the portal in the offseason. They will add Landen Marshall in the summer, but they are still down one body at that spot from the ideal number.
Out to the end spot, Sylvain Yondjouen has made tremendous progress and he still looks like a freak. If he can stay healthy he will be like adding a big-time transfer at that position. Eddie Kelly continues to improve and the reps he got last year should pay some dividends this fall. Jack Barton is a nice piece of the puzzle, will be the guy? Probably not, but he is a solid DE, he can play both DE spots and probably better than some of the depth pieces they've had in the past. Josh Robinson remains an interesting guy for me. I expected he would leave in the offseason and he decided to come back. He is a little slow and that hurts him at times at least in the old scheme, but he has a decent nose for the ball.
At the rush spot, the spotlight is on Kevin Harris now with Kyle Kennard and Noah Collins both gone. Barton, Harris and newcomer Jordan Boyd is an absolute freak physically, but he is raw and needs a lot of coaching. I would not be shocked if they continued to recruit this spot in the portal. I think this is the biggest question mark on the defense. Do they move other guys around? Can they get an impact player to help shoulder some of the load?
Linebacker was the biggest concern I had going into spring ball when looking at the GT defense, but Santucci apparently is comfortable with what he has to work with per my sources. Kyle Efford is a meat-and-potatoes LB so if you are smart you can scheme for him to be one of your LBs and he will be fine. Tren Tatum is getting pushed to be the best version of himself he can be. He still has tons of potential but has to stay focused and play smart. That remains his biggest obstacle. Jackson Hamilton, they are excited about and he looks the part and runs well. EJ Lightsey when healthy should be a solid piece as well and then Tah'j Butler has tremendous upside. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the younger guys like Ashley and Cruz as they seemed to be in the doghouse under Kevin Sherrer but it is a clean slate with Santucci and both have great length. I still wonder if Cruz doesn't get a look at rush.
The secondary is getting sorted out. The safety spots and even nickel probably have a pretty solid grouping of guys with LaMiles Brooks, Clayton Powell-Lee, Taye Seymore and Omar Daniels at the top end of that group. Newbie Warren Burrell can play both nickel and corner and Syeed Gibbs can play slot corner and CB so he is an interesting pickup. D.J. Moore has been playing some safety and turning heads as well. They need to see solid development from Ahmari Harvey and Rodney Shelley who both flashed last year, especially Harvey. How that group develops could determine whether they target one more DB in the portal or not post-spring.
On the offensive side, the QB situation is pretty clear cut at the moment, Haynes King is QB1, Zach Pyron is QB2 and Brody Rhodes is QB3 then there is a huge dropoff before you get to the two freshmen. Graham Knowles is raw and Aaron Philo is drinking from the firehose as CPJ liked to say as is Knowles. That is totally normal and they would like to redshirt both QBs and hopefully, they won't need either to play this fall. King has really stepped up his leadership on the team and Pyron has improved his arm strength and touch on deep balls so both continue to develop. Having seen three of the four QBs in HS it is interesting to see how things changed over time when they got on campus and the learning curve adjustments including the one Pyron had as a true freshman.
At RB, Jamal Haynes is the guy. The question is who will be #2. They really like the two freshmen Anthony Carrie who has tremendous hands out of the backfield and my sources are really high on Trelain Maddox who is out with the HS knee injury right now, but apparently is a really hard worker. Trey Cooley is a known quantity, Evan Dickens is also sort of a known quantity, both are solid but not spectacular replacements for Dontae Smith. The X-factor guy is Jamie Felix and whether you get something out of him. That'll be a key question this spring as well.
The receiver position is pretty solid at the top, you have Leo Blackburn, Eric Singleton Jr., Malik Rutherford and Chase Lane. Then Christian Leary, Abdul Janneh and Avery Boyd have all shown flashes. But really the top four are the expected core. Isiah Canion's shoulder injury is a bummer, but they are excited about him and Trey Horne. The guys who need to step up now are Janneh, Boyd, James BlackStrain and Bailey Stockton who could carve out roles for themselves for the fall. My sources feel better about the WRs than I did so that is encouraging.
At TE, it has been a little bit of a MASH situation in that room with some injuries so Jackson Long and Ryland Goede are getting plenty of work. Brett Seither seems like a guy who they will have to monitor his practice reps with his back situation and they feel good about Jackson Hawes as well who was a little banged up. Overall the expectations for this room are solid per my sources.
And upfront Geep Wade has been busy trying to build out his depth and this could be the deepest OL at GT in forever on paper if they stay healthy. You have the core four starters back (Robinson, Fusile, Franklin and Williams) plus Keylan Rutledge who is getting close to coming back and is walking again coming off his car accident per my sources. With him out, Ben Galloway is getting a ton of work with the ones per sources this spring and he really came on at the end of the season to jump into the two-deep. Ethan Mackenny is learning both tackle spots with an eye toward the future for him and they are even crosstraining guys like Gabe Fortson at guard to help develop more depth. The tackles look a helluva lot bigger with Jordan Floyd and Patrick Screws along with Mackenny coming up in the wings. Knock on wood, but this should be a very solid group.
Specialist-wise, we will talk to Ricky Brumfield on Monday so hopefully there will be more of an update then. Spring isn't a huge time for news on special teams so I don't really have much to offer other than they finally have an adequate amount of options at kicker and punter and snapper for the first time in a while.
GT could add anywhere from 3-5 players in the spring portal period depending on attrition, needs, and injuries. That is a pretty normal number and there is a lot of optimism about the upcoming season from sources on the Flats. Is this a 10-win team? Probably not, but the bar isn't crazy high to get to Charlotte either. Offensively cutting down on turnovers and improving on sustained drives and defensively being even just 25-30% better would probably get GT into the mix for an 8-win type season and a potential trip to Charlotte but there is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and kickoff in Ireland to position the Jackets to make those improvements. It starts back up tomorrow morning.
So I figured with spring football about to start again this is a good time for some scoop on the football team. Remember what is said in the WAR ROOM stays on this site and off social media or whatever else you crazy kids use to share information.
Spring ball is going well for GT and things are very organized and running smoothly for Brent Key and his staff. Overall the new defensive coaches have been impressive both to observers and within the program with how they are teaching and demanding the most from their positions groups every day particularly the trio of Santucci, Pope and Simpson coaching the LBs, OLBs/Rush and DLs.
I'll start on the defensive side because that is the big key. Santucci wants to build depth. GT had some of the highest snap percentages in the country a year ago especially on the DL and at LB and those are spots where you kill effectiveness as the snaps go up. Building depth and finding a solid rotation is the goal on that side of the ball and even in the secondary for the Jackets. They want to be able to roll guys and not have the giant falloff they had when they had to go to the bench at times.
Defensive Line: Jess Simpson's attention to detail and work with the DL is impressive and it is clearly why he was in the NFL and why he has a strong rep as a DL coach in most circles. They are going to play with a true NT a lot and then a 3-tech DT and a big defensive end as the core of the three-man DL and then you'll have that rush OLB/edge spot to round out the DL in most situations. Santucci explained all of this in his presser, but sometimes people miss things.
Zeek Biggers looks great, he is trim and quicker out there and his stamina continues to improve. That was the big knock on him playing on the defensive side out of HS and that is what can take him to the next level along with being more productive. Horace Lockett is huge now in a good way and he should be able to improve his role on that side of the ball. Shymeik Jones is battling an injury per my sources but they are excited about him and Makius Scott proved his versatility last year playing end and DT often in the same game and he should benefit from a more focused role. The FSU transfer Ayo Tifase gives them a more twitchy guy who can play the 3-tech as well or slide outside when you want to size up.
I would not be shocked to see them go after another DT-body in the portal in the offseason. They will add Landen Marshall in the summer, but they are still down one body at that spot from the ideal number.
Out to the end spot, Sylvain Yondjouen has made tremendous progress and he still looks like a freak. If he can stay healthy he will be like adding a big-time transfer at that position. Eddie Kelly continues to improve and the reps he got last year should pay some dividends this fall. Jack Barton is a nice piece of the puzzle, will be the guy? Probably not, but he is a solid DE, he can play both DE spots and probably better than some of the depth pieces they've had in the past. Josh Robinson remains an interesting guy for me. I expected he would leave in the offseason and he decided to come back. He is a little slow and that hurts him at times at least in the old scheme, but he has a decent nose for the ball.
At the rush spot, the spotlight is on Kevin Harris now with Kyle Kennard and Noah Collins both gone. Barton, Harris and newcomer Jordan Boyd is an absolute freak physically, but he is raw and needs a lot of coaching. I would not be shocked if they continued to recruit this spot in the portal. I think this is the biggest question mark on the defense. Do they move other guys around? Can they get an impact player to help shoulder some of the load?
Linebacker was the biggest concern I had going into spring ball when looking at the GT defense, but Santucci apparently is comfortable with what he has to work with per my sources. Kyle Efford is a meat-and-potatoes LB so if you are smart you can scheme for him to be one of your LBs and he will be fine. Tren Tatum is getting pushed to be the best version of himself he can be. He still has tons of potential but has to stay focused and play smart. That remains his biggest obstacle. Jackson Hamilton, they are excited about and he looks the part and runs well. EJ Lightsey when healthy should be a solid piece as well and then Tah'j Butler has tremendous upside. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the younger guys like Ashley and Cruz as they seemed to be in the doghouse under Kevin Sherrer but it is a clean slate with Santucci and both have great length. I still wonder if Cruz doesn't get a look at rush.
The secondary is getting sorted out. The safety spots and even nickel probably have a pretty solid grouping of guys with LaMiles Brooks, Clayton Powell-Lee, Taye Seymore and Omar Daniels at the top end of that group. Newbie Warren Burrell can play both nickel and corner and Syeed Gibbs can play slot corner and CB so he is an interesting pickup. D.J. Moore has been playing some safety and turning heads as well. They need to see solid development from Ahmari Harvey and Rodney Shelley who both flashed last year, especially Harvey. How that group develops could determine whether they target one more DB in the portal or not post-spring.
On the offensive side, the QB situation is pretty clear cut at the moment, Haynes King is QB1, Zach Pyron is QB2 and Brody Rhodes is QB3 then there is a huge dropoff before you get to the two freshmen. Graham Knowles is raw and Aaron Philo is drinking from the firehose as CPJ liked to say as is Knowles. That is totally normal and they would like to redshirt both QBs and hopefully, they won't need either to play this fall. King has really stepped up his leadership on the team and Pyron has improved his arm strength and touch on deep balls so both continue to develop. Having seen three of the four QBs in HS it is interesting to see how things changed over time when they got on campus and the learning curve adjustments including the one Pyron had as a true freshman.
At RB, Jamal Haynes is the guy. The question is who will be #2. They really like the two freshmen Anthony Carrie who has tremendous hands out of the backfield and my sources are really high on Trelain Maddox who is out with the HS knee injury right now, but apparently is a really hard worker. Trey Cooley is a known quantity, Evan Dickens is also sort of a known quantity, both are solid but not spectacular replacements for Dontae Smith. The X-factor guy is Jamie Felix and whether you get something out of him. That'll be a key question this spring as well.
The receiver position is pretty solid at the top, you have Leo Blackburn, Eric Singleton Jr., Malik Rutherford and Chase Lane. Then Christian Leary, Abdul Janneh and Avery Boyd have all shown flashes. But really the top four are the expected core. Isiah Canion's shoulder injury is a bummer, but they are excited about him and Trey Horne. The guys who need to step up now are Janneh, Boyd, James BlackStrain and Bailey Stockton who could carve out roles for themselves for the fall. My sources feel better about the WRs than I did so that is encouraging.
At TE, it has been a little bit of a MASH situation in that room with some injuries so Jackson Long and Ryland Goede are getting plenty of work. Brett Seither seems like a guy who they will have to monitor his practice reps with his back situation and they feel good about Jackson Hawes as well who was a little banged up. Overall the expectations for this room are solid per my sources.
And upfront Geep Wade has been busy trying to build out his depth and this could be the deepest OL at GT in forever on paper if they stay healthy. You have the core four starters back (Robinson, Fusile, Franklin and Williams) plus Keylan Rutledge who is getting close to coming back and is walking again coming off his car accident per my sources. With him out, Ben Galloway is getting a ton of work with the ones per sources this spring and he really came on at the end of the season to jump into the two-deep. Ethan Mackenny is learning both tackle spots with an eye toward the future for him and they are even crosstraining guys like Gabe Fortson at guard to help develop more depth. The tackles look a helluva lot bigger with Jordan Floyd and Patrick Screws along with Mackenny coming up in the wings. Knock on wood, but this should be a very solid group.
Specialist-wise, we will talk to Ricky Brumfield on Monday so hopefully there will be more of an update then. Spring isn't a huge time for news on special teams so I don't really have much to offer other than they finally have an adequate amount of options at kicker and punter and snapper for the first time in a while.
GT could add anywhere from 3-5 players in the spring portal period depending on attrition, needs, and injuries. That is a pretty normal number and there is a lot of optimism about the upcoming season from sources on the Flats. Is this a 10-win team? Probably not, but the bar isn't crazy high to get to Charlotte either. Offensively cutting down on turnovers and improving on sustained drives and defensively being even just 25-30% better would probably get GT into the mix for an 8-win type season and a potential trip to Charlotte but there is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and kickoff in Ireland to position the Jackets to make those improvements. It starts back up tomorrow morning.
