Mailbag 4/21

You are granted a SuperPower, you choose ___________.

This is always a tough question. Mainly because I wouldn't want a super power to save people. I'd use it to mess with people.

Anyway, for my super power, I'd go with telekinesis (moving things with your mind). I'd be able to screw with people soooo much with that, and it'd be so fun :D

Weimerskirch hurt, Leggett hurt, fire CPJ?

Duh....because it's definitely CPJ's fault that people can't stay healthy.

But really though, even in spite of their injuries, I believe that CPJ has done a good job of finding new guys to fill in for them with Marcus Allen and quite possibly Patrick Skov (whom I'll talk about later in this post).

It's my understanding that graduate students, in order to play, have to apply for/want a program that their undergrad school does not offer. Stanford offers an MBA, which is what I read Skov wants. How are we gonna work this? Is my understanding of how the process works wrong? If not, is our MBA significantly (enough) different? What programs do we offer that Stanford doesn't?

The way you described the process here is the way I've always heard it explained, so I'm not entirely sure how it's going to work. Since Skov is going for the MBA, the only thing I can think of would be that maybe he couldn't get into Stanford's MBA program (which is rated higher than Tech's).

Another possibility is that we both have a misunderstanding of how the grad transfer system works. But that's alright because as long as the coaching staff knows it's possible, I'm cool with whatever happens as long as we can bring him in.

Was Skov a back-up FB rarely on the field or did he play a lot without accounting for blocks and rarely carried the ball?

I couldn't find much about him being a starter, but in his profile on Stanford's website, it says that he played in 11 games and had 12 carries for 18 yards and four touchdowns. That tells me that he primarily played on special teams and/or at the goal line.

Without going in and watching the games, there's not really any way to know how much he played.

When should we expect a decision?

I would expect one sometime this week, but what the heck do I know? I thought the mysterious transfer was going to be Imani Cross (Izaan's brother).

When will the post-spring depth chart be released?

Again, I'd expect it sometime soon. It probably won't be too unexpected. The only things that will be of interest (to me at least) will be the O-line and the secondary.

With both, I'm just curious to see how CPJ lines everybody up there. I expect to see some shuffling with the returning starters from last season.

Describe what players will be working together this summer and what they will be working on.

I would say players that are going to be working together over the summer are ones that will be working together during the season. By that, I mean that the quarterbacks are probably going to work on chemistry with the backs and receivers. Anything other work being done will probably be done by position group.

Is there any way to explain what happened to the Jackets at BC this weekend, scoring one run in three games? Did BC sneak in the Red Sox pitching staff? Can they turn it around vs a somewhat struggling Clemson team, but they're playing well now, in friendlier confines?

The only way I can explain what happened this past weekend is by saying that that is just how baseball works. Teams have good games and bad ones. We just happened to have three bad ones against a team who, coming into the weekend, was 9-3 at home. We knew they were pretty good at home.

I think getting back to the Flats will do a lot of good for the Jackets. What will be even better is that Kel Johnson is getting healthy. Re-entering his bat into the heart of the order will do nothing but help the lineup. I'll talk some more about Clemson later this week when I'm previewing the series.

Since I haven't had time to watch the spring game yet, Joey will be answering the questions pertaining to the spring game.

How was Marcus Allen's performance in the Spring Game? Also, do you think with the addition of Skov, we might be OK?

For a guy who had played on defense for the last couple of years and hadn't lined up at B-Back until about a week before the Spring Game, I was thoroughly impressed by Allen. That being said, he's got a ton of polishing that he'll need to do if he's going to produce on the level of Paul Johnson's other B-Backs at Georgia Tech. Allen's pad level was very high (which will be a killer against most ACC-level defenses) and his blocking was far from perfect. There are plenty of things for him to improve upon (especially when he doesn't have the ball), but I was impressed with his showing given such little preparation.

Even with the addition of Skov, I'm not convinced that any one guy will be the focal point at B-Back -- I'd expect it to be more of a "by committee" thing unless someone really steps up. They'll play at least 3 guys there (meaning one of the true freshmen will get involved) and could play all 5 if Weimerskirch makes it back. None of the guys are likely to have enough all-around ability to force CPJ to get them 50 snaps a game, and I'd expect the rotation to be frequent with that group as situations require different players.

No DC in his right mind is going to let Justin Thomas run the ball. Are our (uninjured) A- and B-backs up to the challenge? How about the WRs? Were the drops a function of the weather, or do we have something else to worry about? Am I asking too many questions?

Nope, any and all questions about offensive skill positions are valid at this point. You're also right in saying that Justin Thomas will only be able to do as much as defenses will allow him to, and most will focus on taking him out first and foremost. That said, there's four solid A-Backs set to be in the lineup (Isaiah Willis and Clinton Lynch were both impressive to me in the Spring Game) and you very well could see more emerge in Qua Searcy or a true freshman. At wide receiver, the drops were probably a combination of weather and chemistry. I'd like to think that improves by the time we get to kickoff of the Alcorn State game, but only time will tell. There's at least one guy there that I think will be the next breakout player. Speaking of which...

How did the starting defensive front look? The defense as a whole? What do you think of Allen? Is he the guy at B-back? Were there any WRs that jumped out at you?

We'll start with wide receiver since that's what I teased in the previous answer. The one guy that jumped out at me was Ricky Jeune -- he made a couple of nice catches in particularly tight coverage and was plenty physical on the outside when it came to blocking. He's a guy I see being the next go-to guy for Justin Thomas and Georgia Tech's other quarterbacks. Working backwards, see above for my thoughts on Allen. I'm tempted to think that he'll be the starter, at least for the Alcorn State game, but the job is likely going to be up for competition throughout the season more than most positions will be. He did a nice job in a tough spot of little preparation, but there's a long way to go until he's a star there. The defense should be really good with as much experience as they have and as many returners as they have. The biggest problem in Friday's game was the absence of linebackers due to injury. They should have everyone back for fall camp, plus three more that easily could push for playing time in Tyler Cooksey, Brant Mitchell, and Victor Alexander. Up front, Jabari Hunt-Days looked good and should look better against a more "traditional" style of offense and blocking. Also, he was going up against Freddie Burden at offensive guard for much of the game, who may be Georgia Tech's best offensive lineman at this point.

Overall the spring game made me a little more comfortable about the wide receiver group, but my biggest question is still the B-Back spot. I'm excited about the defense and expect that it'll be a similar output to last year from the quarterback and offensive line.

Thanks for the help Joey! And thank y'all for the questions!