Sunday, October 25, 2009

Naysayers

First they doubted that Paul Johnson's "gimmicky" service academy offense would work in a BCS conference against all those elite athletes. The "option" was dead and it wouldn't work against the speed of teams like Miami and Georgia.

Now the popular line among the insanely stupid seems to be that Paul Johnson just inherited all this talent and once Dwyer, Nesbitt, Morgan, Bebe and all the other Chan Gailey recruits either graduate or move to the NFL, that Georgia Tech will gravitate back towards being a five win team.

Let me tell you what Paul Johnson inherited:

-A group of Chan Gailey softer than Charmin West Coast Offense recruits
-A program with about 70 scholarship players (80 now) because of NCAA probation from the previous staff
-A roster almost entirely comprised of freshmen and sophomores.
-Yeah that was a talented group of DL last year but look at what is leftover this year. Ben Anderson, Logan Walls, Jason Peters are surviving on heart and guts because it sure isn't elite skill.

FYI, Georgia Tech's starting OL right now consists of a converted DL who was a former walkon; A 6'2 257 lb starting tackle; a sophomore (Gilbert); and a converted TE (Barrick). The top backups are Phil Smith and Omoregie Uzzi-both redshirt freshmen.

When the redshirt OL hit the field next year, this offense will ascend to another level and it won't matter who is running the ball behind them. If you don't believe me, go watch Vince Murray of Navy chew through the Wake Forest yesterday. And Vince Murray couldn't start for most D-II programs. It's not that Paul Johnson can't recruit or doesn't need talented players to run his offense-it's that most of you don't think he can get another Dwyer. How do you know Dwyer is what the ideal RB in this offense? Maybe he doesn't need another Dwyer-maybe he needs a Daniel Drummond? It may surprise you that as tough as Nesbitt is, he is probably not the ideal QB for this system. He misses a lot of reads and misses even more wide open receivers because he doesn't see them or his throws are off the mark.

Bebe is a great receiver. But Paul Johnson has Stephen Hill and Chris Jackson in the wings. Having a receiver like Bebe is a great luxury but don't assume it's necessary or that CPJ can't bring in those kinds of players. Ever seen Charles Perkins play? Looks like a pretty talented group of recruits being brought in for next year.

If you don't believe me, stick around. With 6 scholarship seniors on the roster, GT will be right in the national title mix next year. For now, I'll be satisfied with the BCS. And shutting up the morons that know nothing of what they speak. At some point, people will stop trying to make excuses for why GT and Paul Johnson are having success. And realize that Paul Johnson is a winner and has won everywhere he's been a coach. That won't be changing anytime soon.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

GREAT BLOG!!
I'm glad i found it..the flexbone is the most exciting offense in football