Offensive Starters Returning Preview

The diagram above is the formation format I'm using. This isn't how we lineup because obviously Tech's got huge splits, the A-backs are supposed to be offset, etc.. It's merely for diagram purposes. A commenter mentioned that he'd like to see the transition from last year's starters to this years. I figured I'd show this analysis with diagrams to show EVERYONE in the world why GT fans are so incredibly excited about GT's 2009 offense.



This diagram shows the starters for our 2008 opener against Jacksonville State. Green boxes mean the players were not primary starters in 2007 while yellow boxes mean the players were primary starters in late 2007. Voss played guard in 2007 so I considered him a returning starter. This veteran line along with Josh Nesbitt's "escapability" was what won us several early games last year while we were still finding our way through CPJ's offense.



What we see by the end of 2008 (LSU bowl game) is a little mixing up on the offensive line after Gardner and Brown's injuries. We also moved a lot of people around at the second starting wide receiver position. The second receiver was in flux all of last season so several guys saw time there (e.g. Earls, Reid, Melton).



In 2009, GT returns ALL of the starters from the LSU bowl game. However, two linemen (Voss and Claytor) are still fighting for their starting spots and will probably rotate in. Thus adding increased depth to our crusty group of veterans on OL. Concerning the skill position players, Peeples and Allen will definitely be supplemented by Roddy Jones and Lucas Cox. Roddy will most likely return to his starting role when his cast is removed while Cox will probably be relegated to blocking assignments and backing up D-Train. Predicting what CPJ's gonna do with all of his talent is kinda like predicting which direction the wind's gonna blow in a CAT-5 hurricane off the coast of Cuba.

The offense returns 10 of 11 starters from last season's final game not to mention a lot of guys with real game experience at wide out and a-back. If we factor out Jaybo due to a possible medical redshirt, the offense returns 64.3% of its passing yardage, 88.7% of its rushing yardage, and 97.1% of its receiving yardage from last season. Literally, the only problem we should have on offense is finding enough touches to keep everybody happy.