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Tuesday, March 25, 2008
More from Day 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some information from Georgia Tech’s first spring football practice that didn’t make it into my story or Matt’s update on Jacob Lonowski:
A couple of players weren’t practicing on Monday because of illness: center Trey Dunmon and A-back Andrew Smith. Dan Voss ran with the No. 1 line at center.
With no tight end position, Austin Barrick, listed at 6-3, 254, was playing the same position as Jamaal Evans, 5-8, 186. That position is A-back, or slot back. I can’t remember the last time I saw such a size difference at one position on one team. (Maybe in high school?) It’s either a sign of the flexibility of Johnson’s offense or of the determination of Barrick to find somewhere he can play.
It’s way, way, way too early to care a lot about depth charts, real or imaginary, but … it looked like the first unit on the offensive line was Andrew Gardner, Jason Hill (6-4, 299 former tackle at left guard), Voss, A.J. Smith (6-7, 299 former tackle at right guard), David Brown (former defensive lineman who has spent, if I remember correctly, about a year on offense). I will follow up with the OL coaches (remember, there are two of them) about the theory behind big guards. Not all the big guys are on the inside: Clyde Yandell (6-5, 296) was at No. 2 right tackle, with Joseph Gilbert inside him, Andrew Folkner at center, Drew Brannon at left guard and Nick Claytor (6-6, 304) at left tackle.
Linebacker will be a key position this spring, with Gary Guyton (who was there watching) and Philip Wheeler both moving on to the pros. With Shane Bowen rehabbing after surgery, Brad Jefferson and Kyle Jackson worked with Anthony Barnes. Linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary spent a lot of time on Jackson’s case. I can’t remember Jean-Mary ever being as vocal on the practice field; that’s probably a sign of the difference that comes with a staff change. Jon Tenuta did enough yelling for everyone on defense in the past. Now, there’s room for the other coaches to be heard, and they were certainly being heard on Monday.
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