Technical Tidbits 6/27

CBS Sports released their annual breakdown of Georgia Tech football, citing the task of replacing Vad Lee as the biggest obstacle faced by the Jackets this season-- the article even quotes FTRS's own breakdown of the QB situation at Tech in their analysis. I'm sure that Justin Thomas will be the guy when week one rolls around, but Tim Byerly could absolutely give him a run for his money. His Nesbitt-esque skill set makes him a very interesting option, so a dual QB system could very well be in place for the upcoming season.

The folks over at Backing the Pack took the time to sit down and (painstakingly) find and add up every NFL player from every ACC team. The results, while they don't show any real correlation between success and number of alumni in the NFL, are a bit disappointing for Tech fans in particular. There are just 23 former players from Tech in the NFL-- good for just 9th out of the 14 ACC teams, including Maryland. If  I keep Maryland in and add Notre Dame and Louisville, we fall to 11th place out of 15 teams, anything but encouraging from a recruiting point of view. I still, however, don't believe that our poor recruiting is a direct result of Paul Johnson's system. We have different values in the people we recruit and the normal rankings just don't always apply.

The incriminating story presented by former UNC player Rashad McCants is looking less and less credible by the day. His most recent issue? A 20 minute interview that he gave with ESPN's Inside the Lines-- nothing he said feels right, especially given his history of on and off-court attitude issues. That said, what he said just might be true based on what little evidence there is to support his claims, including his college transcripts and possibly those of other players whom he claims were impacted. Whatever the case may be, the closing paragraph explains the situation best-- the more McCants talks, the more likely it is that this situation will be swept away and disregarded.

Many of you may have heard this inspirational story of former Baylor star Isaiah Austin. If you haven't, when he was very young he got hit in the eye with a baseball, disconnecting his retina and half blinding him. When he dunked a basketball in middle school, it came completely loose, requiring surgery to remove the eye. Despite this, he continued to play basketball at a high level and was considered to be a top-ten talent in yesterday's draft, until being diagnosed with Marfan syndrome just about a week ago, ending his career for good. The article doesn't explain what Marfan syndrome entails, so I'll explain it here-- it's a genetic disorder that affects connective tissue in the body, typically causing the elongation and thinning of different parts of the body, such as arms, blood vessels, or fingers (read more here). It really is a tragic story for a fantastic talent and great person-- we all wish the best for Austin in the future.

Daily Debate: Is McCants a reliable source or is he making up his claims as he goes?