Re: Techfowl...question
I'm addressing two posts with this one.
On Wilkinson: When I asked Gailey at the Augusta meeting to compare Wilkinson to D Smith, his reply was that Wilkinson, if he had been given the Mike position for his entire tenure at GT, would have been everything that D Smith is.
Gailey does not hand out praise like that lightly. Wilkinson may not replace Smith, but it seems the talent level is there, but not the experience - per Chan Gailey himself. Experience matters, but Gerris has some, and will get more in a hurry.
So I do think it is a given that Wilkinson will perform well. I know that's tall talk, but who wants to spent until September thinking anything else anyway?
Hall is a better LB than Matthew. I can't pick his strengths and weaknesses, but he didn't blow me away while everybody else was raving about him last year. I thought the guy came in with good speed and size and held his own when he played last year. He made the plays he was supposed to make, but he didn't create any.
Right now he's competent, but no OC is going to plan around his part of the game.
He could surprise. You won't catch me saying that he won't - just that he hasn't. Losing his spot after two weeks as a starter says he's got some things going for him (he had the job for a reason), but also that he didn't cut it FOR NOW.
The guy is young. I'm unsure of his upside, but confident that he will get PT, he will improve, and he will contribute well. I'm unsure that he will ever be a gamechanger or a starter.
I don't know that Hall makes all the plays he needs to stay a starter right now. What I do know is that when he does get to the ball, it's pretty fast and he's in a really bad mood when he gets there. He hits pretty hard when he does make the play, and apparntly he's not afraid to be the guy plugging a hole. Kind of a Joe Burns at LB. He can take more headaches that the other guy.
The guy is doing a lot of things right and has all the basic tools. We'll see.
I'd put T and Hall in the same boat as far as contribution today, but Hall has more room to improve his stock tommorrow.
T was the guy that UGA and everybody else wanted BAD when he came out. The guy is a stat chart for a great athlete. He lacks lateral speed and recognition, but kills the forty and the weight room. I like the kid because he knows why he is in school. He has a real major and has good grades in it - or did last time I looked. His parents are people that raised him right and expect much more than football from him. His high school coaches love him. I like everything I know about the guy off the field.
The guy will have a real job making a real living when football is done. He might do something big at LB before he leaves too. Don't know.
He is on all the special teams, some LB, and plays about like KaMichael. He makes the plays he's supposed to. Chan is real big on ST contributions being an indicator of playmaking ability.
Look at Reis and Burton. Those guys were our special teams animals last year. That's why Burton was a starter at CB all Spring. Burton has no business playing CB, but he has the respect of everybody on the team for what he does with what he has.
That's how Kelly Rhino and Reis both got in the nickel package. Chan had to see how they would work outside of ST. Reis worked out, but Kelly had some shortcomings. The point is that no person on ST that doesn't make plays there will have too much respect from Chan. Chan loves ST players and is very vocal about it for his freshmen and walk ons.
I've heard CG say 3 years in a row now that as soon as T starts making plays on ST, he'll be in the running for a LB job. It just hasn't worked out.
I would guess that T is a bit unmotivated by now on the situation, because he doesn't seem to have the fire I thought I once saw. Maybe he will step it up.
I get the feeling that CG is pretty hard on T, but also that it's because he thinks T 'should' be the man, but keeps falling short. It's a complement to T, but I'm not sure T sees it that way. I think Chan wants T on the field, but keeps not seeing what he wants from him.
T and KH are good ball players. Neither are a big 1 or 2 of 3 right now.
I'd put Moore a bit behind those guys because I know he's a bit slower and he was already behind Hall on the depth chart. Although it was not at the same LB spot, he was the last in and the first out of the two.
All of my info on Moore actually comes from you guys. A lot of the guys here seem to be high on him.
I saw Moore in more ST tackles than any of the freshmen besides Scott, but he got smoked a few times (like all of the freshmen) too. Moore was one of the freshmen I saw as an actual contributer on ST last year. You have all read how many times I wanted to hit them all like Granny with the frying pan last year, so I guess I like him better than the others.
Moore, Wheeler, and Hall probably all have a lot more upside, but I can't really tell you what it is without seeing them each on the field more. All 3 have some above average stats, but Hall is faster. Hall has had the most practice pub of the 3, but I remember thinking Moore had more to offer on ST last year (which might not even be accurate).
Unfortunately, a lost starting job as a sophomore usually doesn't come back. If Chan thought they were the answer, he probably would have tried to continue to develop them, which he didn't. The good news is that it's football and Salih Besirevic broke that rule completely.
Chan will play them if they change where they are. O'Leary wouldn't have, after the first chance. That's the good news for them and us.
Sorry this post turned out so long.
I'm addressing two posts with this one.
On Wilkinson: When I asked Gailey at the Augusta meeting to compare Wilkinson to D Smith, his reply was that Wilkinson, if he had been given the Mike position for his entire tenure at GT, would have been everything that D Smith is.
Gailey does not hand out praise like that lightly. Wilkinson may not replace Smith, but it seems the talent level is there, but not the experience - per Chan Gailey himself. Experience matters, but Gerris has some, and will get more in a hurry.
So I do think it is a given that Wilkinson will perform well. I know that's tall talk, but who wants to spent until September thinking anything else anyway?
Hall is a better LB than Matthew. I can't pick his strengths and weaknesses, but he didn't blow me away while everybody else was raving about him last year. I thought the guy came in with good speed and size and held his own when he played last year. He made the plays he was supposed to make, but he didn't create any.
Right now he's competent, but no OC is going to plan around his part of the game.
He could surprise. You won't catch me saying that he won't - just that he hasn't. Losing his spot after two weeks as a starter says he's got some things going for him (he had the job for a reason), but also that he didn't cut it FOR NOW.
The guy is young. I'm unsure of his upside, but confident that he will get PT, he will improve, and he will contribute well. I'm unsure that he will ever be a gamechanger or a starter.
I don't know that Hall makes all the plays he needs to stay a starter right now. What I do know is that when he does get to the ball, it's pretty fast and he's in a really bad mood when he gets there. He hits pretty hard when he does make the play, and apparntly he's not afraid to be the guy plugging a hole. Kind of a Joe Burns at LB. He can take more headaches that the other guy.
The guy is doing a lot of things right and has all the basic tools. We'll see.
I'd put T and Hall in the same boat as far as contribution today, but Hall has more room to improve his stock tommorrow.
T was the guy that UGA and everybody else wanted BAD when he came out. The guy is a stat chart for a great athlete. He lacks lateral speed and recognition, but kills the forty and the weight room. I like the kid because he knows why he is in school. He has a real major and has good grades in it - or did last time I looked. His parents are people that raised him right and expect much more than football from him. His high school coaches love him. I like everything I know about the guy off the field.
The guy will have a real job making a real living when football is done. He might do something big at LB before he leaves too. Don't know.
He is on all the special teams, some LB, and plays about like KaMichael. He makes the plays he's supposed to. Chan is real big on ST contributions being an indicator of playmaking ability.
Look at Reis and Burton. Those guys were our special teams animals last year. That's why Burton was a starter at CB all Spring. Burton has no business playing CB, but he has the respect of everybody on the team for what he does with what he has.
That's how Kelly Rhino and Reis both got in the nickel package. Chan had to see how they would work outside of ST. Reis worked out, but Kelly had some shortcomings. The point is that no person on ST that doesn't make plays there will have too much respect from Chan. Chan loves ST players and is very vocal about it for his freshmen and walk ons.
I've heard CG say 3 years in a row now that as soon as T starts making plays on ST, he'll be in the running for a LB job. It just hasn't worked out.
I would guess that T is a bit unmotivated by now on the situation, because he doesn't seem to have the fire I thought I once saw. Maybe he will step it up.
I get the feeling that CG is pretty hard on T, but also that it's because he thinks T 'should' be the man, but keeps falling short. It's a complement to T, but I'm not sure T sees it that way. I think Chan wants T on the field, but keeps not seeing what he wants from him.
T and KH are good ball players. Neither are a big 1 or 2 of 3 right now.
I'd put Moore a bit behind those guys because I know he's a bit slower and he was already behind Hall on the depth chart. Although it was not at the same LB spot, he was the last in and the first out of the two.
All of my info on Moore actually comes from you guys. A lot of the guys here seem to be high on him.
I saw Moore in more ST tackles than any of the freshmen besides Scott, but he got smoked a few times (like all of the freshmen) too. Moore was one of the freshmen I saw as an actual contributer on ST last year. You have all read how many times I wanted to hit them all like Granny with the frying pan last year, so I guess I like him better than the others.
Moore, Wheeler, and Hall probably all have a lot more upside, but I can't really tell you what it is without seeing them each on the field more. All 3 have some above average stats, but Hall is faster. Hall has had the most practice pub of the 3, but I remember thinking Moore had more to offer on ST last year (which might not even be accurate).
Unfortunately, a lost starting job as a sophomore usually doesn't come back. If Chan thought they were the answer, he probably would have tried to continue to develop them, which he didn't. The good news is that it's football and Salih Besirevic broke that rule completely.
Chan will play them if they change where they are. O'Leary wouldn't have, after the first chance. That's the good news for them and us.
Sorry this post turned out so long.