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Friday, December 5, 2008
The underrated Derrick Morgan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When the All-ACC teams came out earlier this week, Georgia Tech was well represented.
But CPJ thought a few players deserved more recognition than they got. S Morgan Burnett made the second team, DE Derrick Morgan got honorable mention and WR Demaryius Thomas was left off completely.
Burnett tied for the lead nationally with seven interceptions and led the Jackets with 79 tackles. Morgan led all Tech defensive linemen with 48 tackles. He had seven sacks (tied for the team lead with Michael Johnson, tied for fourth in the ACC), played the run well and drew several holding penalties that killed drives. Thomas caught 36 balls for 595 yards and three touchdowns.
“Derrick Morgan had a great year,” CPJ said. “He may have been one of our best players on the whole team all year. Morgan Burnett jumped out, but there’s a lot of guys that are deserving. Bay-Bay Thomas had a good year. He’s not going to have the 75 catches but he had 35 catches and blocked his tail off and was a big part of us winning. But you start singling guys out, you’re going to miss somebody.”
Morgan, a sophomore, will be the only returning starter on the D-Line next year. Tech also loses top backup Elris Anyaibe.
But throughout this season, coaches have expressed a lot of confidence in the backups, which bodes well for next season. The backups got a lot of playing time, enabling Michael Johnson and company to stay fresh. D-Line was one of the few areas where Tech was blessed with depth.
DE Robert Hall, a redshirt sophomore, played in all 12 games. He had 11 tackles, 1.5 for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. DE Jason Peters, a redshirt freshman, had two sacks and three tackles for loss. DT Ben Anderson, a redshirt sophomore, played in every game but one.
Replacing Michael Johnson, Vance Walker and Darryl Richard will be difficult, if not impossible. Morgan will see plenty of double teams, just like Johnson did this year.
Do you think Morgan and the guys waiting their turn can continue the outstanding D-Line play? Or do you think we’ll see a big dropoff?
