Getting to Know our New Recruits: OL Chase Roberts

Prior stories in this series: ATH (QB) Dennis Andrews, ATH (QB) Justin Thomas, WR Michael Summers,ATH (RB) Marcus Allen, DE Francis Kallon, WR Travin Henry, DT Adam Gotsis, LB Beau Hankins, DT Pat Gamble, DB Anthony Autry, LB Tyler Stargel, OL Freddie Burden, DE Rod Chungong, and DB Lynn Griffin.

via media.scout.com

Before we can get started on this one, I have to do something I haven't made a habit of and make mention of that picture. Can we have a caption contest for this? I can't tell if he's feeling thrilled, fierce, completely indifferent, has a bad case of gas or what but I find this picture hysterical. I also intimidating in that I feel like this kid is going to completely destroy my chances with any girl on this campus for the rest of my time here, and that includes my current girlfriend who would probably consider him a total heart throb. A lot like this guy, actually:

via profile.ak.fbcdn.net

Well anyways, now that the E! segment is over, let's talk a little about Chase Roberts. He's a 6'3", 285lb offensive lineman from Greater Atlanta Christian High School in my native Gwinnett County. He's a lifelong Yellow Jackets fan and the son of a Tech alum, making him a legacy, something we love to see around these parts. The 3-star prospect was the second commitment in the class, making it official last March with Coach Johnson, following only Junior Gnonkonde (awww, too soon...). He's also something of an academic phenom: he sports a 3.8 GPA in high school and plans to major in public policy at Tech in order to work his way into a law school after graduating. So in summary, we have a great offensive lineman prospect that's a borderline genius and loves Tech, making him....the next Sean Bedford?

Maybe, maybe not -- but if not, it likely won't be because Sean was better, but because he's better than Sean. Watching film on this kid reveals one thing, and one thing only: people lined up in front of him on the line have a good excuse for that smelly brown spot in the seat of their pants. If you come away from this article with one thing that you know about Chase Roberts (besides his clear dominance over me in picking up females), I want you to understand this: this kid BLOWS PEOPLE UP. He played offensive line and defensive line in high school, but regardless of which side of the line he was on, it always ended the same way: with at least one of his opponents lying on the ground face down, crying softly to themselves, questioning their very existence, along with what the repercussions would be if they just laid on the ground instead of going back to the huddle, much less having to face their coach on the sidelines and explain the extreme misfortune that they had just encountered. The moral of the story is that this kid is a bulldozer in the purest sense of the word, and should be a hell of an asset for our run-heavy offense.

Beyond the visualizations of questionable accuracy that I just provided you, he has pretty incredible upper body strength, which comes into play a lot in pass blocking but is also demonstrated in some nasty blocks he threw while pulling on a run play. He was recruited as an offensive lineman for us, and it's going to be interesting to see how his body changes and where he ends up falling into place on the line. Freddie Burden was intended to be a center, and while Roberts played tackle in high school, he's also made it known that he's open to switching to guard or center. We probably wouldn't want him any bigger to play tackle, but putting on 10-20lbs would likely land him at guard, making him the heir to Uzzi's throne. Either way, he seems to be a solid prospect who will do a lot for us in his time on the Flats. Welcome to the Insitute, Mr. Roberts!

Hope you guys had as much fun reading this article as I did writing it. It gives me such a feeling of youth being all giddy about things, although now it may be football prospects instead of Christmas. Have a great weekend everyone, and happy Friday!

Chase Roberts Jr Year Highlights - Combined (via richm64)