1) It means we will have four players (and maybe more if Cord Howard is selected) drafted by the NFL this year. That's the mark of a talented, successful program. Perhaps most importantly, BayBay's impending selection shows big time high school receivers there's a place for them at GT. Every time a program negatively recruits against us saying we run a "gimmick" offense that won't get you to the NFL, we can simply point to these four.
2) It opens up four additional scholarships for the class of 2010. That puts us up to 17 plus we've learned at least one player will transfer (desire for more playing time) and we'll have one academic casualty (it is Tech, after all). So we sit at 19 scholarships for year year with 13 verbal commits. I expect we'll take three more commitments (preferably on the defensive side of the ball, per CPJ), place B-back Preston Lyons on scholarship (he payed his own way this year as a transfer from Colgate), and hold two scholarships in reserve for transfers, etc. Who will we offer the three scholarships to? Hard to tell but we're in pursuit of some highly regarded players.....
3) How will we replace these four, who have been such a key part of our success? It will be hard but we have some pieces in place. Let's work from the easiest to the hardest as far a replacement goes. The transition at B-back should be seamless as #18 Anthony Allen takes over for Jon Dwyer. CPJ has stated that Alllen is a natural B-Back & will replace Dwyer so we know who's going to play there. Allen is a tough, violent runner who doesn't go down on first contact, much like Dwyer. He might not have the break-away speed the Diesel possessed but there's enough speed there to get the job done.
The drop off from Dwyer to Allen will be minimal
It's hard to tell who will replace both Derrick Morgan & Morgan Burnett right now as the defense, without a coordinator, is in a state of flux. If it's Groh, we'll switch to a 3-4 which will necessitate all kinds of personnel movement up front. The secondary shouldn't change too much & we expect Cooper Taylor to return from injury & play in Morgan Burnett's spot. Taylor is fully healed & ready for spring ball - his experience playing as a freshman will help ease the transition. On a side note, expect quite the battle at the other safety spot between Mario Edwards, Domenique Reese, & Jemea Thomas. It will be fun to watch....
Cooper Taylor is fully healed & ready to step in for UNO....
BayBay's departure will really hurt us as he consistently provided two things this year: 1) devastating blocking on the perimeter, & 2) a near foolproof way to pick up 10 yards when we needed it. Because #8 was such a deep threat, we could simply have him run an 10 yard out or hitch & always pick up a third down. We did this countless times this year on 3rd & 7 or more. We do have a terrific athlete of BayBay's caliber in Stephen Hill. Not as thick as BayBay, Hill posesses maybe greater speed & a tremendous vertical leap. In time, he'll be able to go up & snatch balls out of the air much as Thomas did. A willing blocker, Hill just needs to improve his size & technique, something he has all off-season to work on. And we'll have more depth at WR next season. Expect Melton & Sims to see time but the darkhorse to emerge as a consistent threat is red shirt freshman Jeremy Moore. CPJ has mentioned him a couple times this year & my feeling is they expect him to contribute next year....
Stephen Hill will be counted on to replace BayBay....
Finally, you don't really replace a Derrick Morgan. Those type of players are few & far between. A system change & some different schemes is our best bet to mitigate his loss. Watch for Izaan Cross to get more time but my biggest hope is that Emmanuel "Too Tall" Dieke can step up. At 6'7" & 260 pounds he certainly has the frame to play end in either the 4-3 or 3-4. We chose not to burn his red shirt but the feeling around the program was he could have really helped us at the end of the year....
We'll need Too Tall to step in & contribute to help lessen Derrick Morgan's departure....
So there's a brief overview of where we stand as far as replacing the departed juniors. They were all fantastic players & will be missed. But the cupboard isn't bare & we'll rebound. We won't start the season as a top 10 team or favorites to win the Coastal Division as we would have had the juniors returned. So what? It's not where you start that counts, it's where you finish.....
-Hash
Another thought on Derick Morgan. Tech played the entire year with only two down line man that were up to ACC standards in DM and Ben Anderson, and Anderson looks more like a role player. The loss of Derick Morgan can be partially off set by getting production out of the other two spots, and maybe improvement out of Anderson.
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