PJ building a monster at GT

Its been a while since I updated the site but as we wind down recruiting season and turn towards spring football, I thought I'd weigh in on the state of affairs down at Georgia Tech. The first thing I notice about the class Paul Johnson has assembled is the size and quality of the offensive linemen he's recruited. The crown jewel of the OL recruits (and the entire class) is 4-star, US Army AA Omoregie Uzzi. At 6-4 and 298, he had offers from Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Virginia and Clemson. Joining Uzzi as OL recruits in this year's class are 6-5 320 TJ Barnes (Louisville, Auburn offers); 6-4 289 Nick McRae (NC State, Maryland, UCF offers); and 6-5 270 Phillip Smith (Penn State offer). First off, one needs to notice not just the caliber of player being brought in, but the size as well. At Navy, height and weight limitations meant that Paul Johnson worked regularly with starters up front averaging 270 lbs per man. Several times he had a starting tackle weigh in the range of 250 lbs. BCS schools couldn't stop his offense even with huge size and strength advantages in the trenches at Navy. They sure as hell won't be stopping his offense with players of this caliber.

Some other recruits to keep an eye on:

RB/FB Richard Watson from Tallahassee (offers from Ohio State, UCLA, UCF, Arizona State and Boston College)

S Brandon Leslie (former NU recruit with offers from NU, Utah, Washington)

LB BJ Machen from Ohio (Pitt, Stanford, West Virginia, Maryland, Michigan State)

LB Malcolm Munroe from Miami (Louisville, North Carolina, Rutgers, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Auburn, Clemson)

LB Steven Sylvester (Florida State, NC, NC State, Virginia Tech, South Carolina)

DB Jon Lockhart from Florida (Ole Miss, South Florida, UCF)

RB Marcus Wright from Texas (Texas 5A player of the year; senior year=3,374 yards and 45 TDs)

RB Embry Peeples from Florida (Auburn, LSU, West Virginia, Colorado)


Bottom line-there's a huge difference between the players being brought to GT and those Paul Johnson was able to get to Navy. This will be a very fast turnaround and Georgia Tech will win the ACC shortly.