Technical Tidbits 7/23

Alabama transfer Nick Jacobs is arguably the least talked-about player to become a Yellow Jacket this off-season, but his impact could potentially be one of the greatest among Tech's new faces. He is an athletic 6'-8" forward from Atlanta with a lot of raw talent; the coaching staff at Alabama never really helped him reach his ceiling for a player of his age and caliber. The article above does, however, neglect to mention one thing regarding his transfer -- he was granted an indefinite leave of absence from the Crimson Tide last season after "a pattern of behavior and inconsistencies with his responsibilities as a student athlete" (as described by Alabama head coach Anthony Grant). That hopefully won't translate to more disciplinary issues for a Tech team that was seriously hurt by suspensions last season; Solomon Poole was dismissed (and Stacey Poole, Jr. exited shortly after) and Chris Bolden was not the same player after his suspension early last season.

Tech's basketball team was hit hard by disciplinary issues last season, but very few teams have experienced as many issues of this variety as uga -- yet another defensive player was sent packing this week, the most recent being DT Jonathan Taylor. Taylor was arrested Tuesday morning on a felony count of aggravated assault/domestic violence against his girlfriend, which isn't even his only arrest this year; he was one of the players arrested for double dipping on his stipend check earlier this season. GTSwarm's Eric Thompson sends out the exact same tweet every single time something like this happens to uga, and it remains true each time: "You can't teach character." Mark Richt needs to figure something out in a hurry to stop the bleeding.

DeAndre Smelter is garnering some serious interest among NFL front offices going into 2014, writes Yellow Jacked Up. Smelter is ranked as the No. 12 wideout in the nation for this coming season, a number that surprised me despite Smelter's obvious talent. The No. 12 in the nation going into last season was LSU's Jarvis Landry, a guy with a ton of NFL potential who went relatively early in the draft last year, so being ranked that high is a big honor for a guy playing in a system like CPJ's. His blocking ability is just the icing on the cake for most NFL teams; he showed the ability to flat out smash some folks last season, particularly late in the season.

Georgia Tech has been invited to play in the 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in what could be the first event ever held in the brand new Falcons stadium. The game would be played against an SEC, excluding Ole Miss and uga, which would surely bring the fans out in droves to watch. If it is in fact the first game played in the new stadium, it would be a guaranteed sellout no matter who the opponent is-- nothing draws people in like a sparkly new venue-- and some good exposure like that could be exactly what the Tech football team needs to gain some public attention. College football, however, could look totally different by 2017-- Paul Johnson could be two years departed by then and Tech could be coming off an 0-12 season (or a 14-0 season for all we know).

What do you think Tech football will look like 2017? What opponent would be a good match at that time for the Jackets? Could DeAndre Smelter be the next big Tech receiver in the NFL?

Have a great Wednesday!