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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Kyle Jackson tidbits, Andrew Gardner combine update
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I talked to linebacker Kyle Jackson Wednesday for a Q&A that will run in the paper whenever we can find space for it. Apparently, space is pretty tight these days in our pages because we’re not selling a ton of ads (that might sound counterintuitive, in that you might think more ads would mean less space for stories, but that’s how it works. the more ads you sell, the more pages you can print, to speak very broadly.) If anyone out there wants to buy a big display ad to run in the sports section, shoot me an e-mail. (kidding) (sort of)
But before I get to some tidbits from the Q&A (sort of pre-leftovers, along with some stuff that will probably also go in the article), I talked to Andrew Gardner’s agent this evening. You may remember I wrote about Gardner rehabbing his shoulder to get ready for the draft.
Gardner’s agent, former Falcon Lester Archambeau, said that Gardner will not participate in drills at the combine. It sounds like he could have done them (40-yard dash, jumps and agility drills) if he absolutely had to, but they concluded it was wiser for him to wait for Tech’s pro day March 9 to give his best effort. By that point, he should be able to do all of the drills except for the bench press. Gardner flew up to Indianapolis Wednesday and will have his physical Thursday.
This is hardly a disaster. The drills are only one part of the combine. Players also undergo a battery of physicals and meet with coaches, scouts and GMs. Anyone who wants to see Gardner work out can do so at the pro day.
“I think people will be surprised when they put the clock on him,” he said.
Archambeau said Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon to the stars who operated on Gardner, said that he’ll be ready to play by the time teams go to mini-camp after the draft.
Anyway, just passing along some information. If I find out more about Tech’s other combine participants - Michael Johnson, Darryl Richard, Vance Walker and Jahi Word-Daniels - I will let you know.
Anyway, on to Kyle Jackson.
1) He is trying to add 2 to 7 pounds of muscle in the offseason. He felt he was a little underweight (he’s now 228) this past season and got pushed around more than he would have liked. He said he’s been eating “a lot of seconds and thirds” at the training table.
2) He’s been going over film from each game last season, analyzing his and the defense’s mistakes. He said he can improve next season just with experience and from studying film. He said another player who has been spending a lot of time watching film is quarterback Jaybo Shaw.
3) “Our biggest goal (for the offseason) is accountability and maturity as a team. We want to grow up as a team this year. … We felt like the difference between us and LSU beyond the physical experience was the maturation between the other team and us. Those guys had been there and they knew what they needed to do to get a win. We’re trying to get to that point.”
4) He likes the schedule, particularly the back-to-back Thursday night games at the start of the season. “It’s good, I feel like, to get those challenges early on, face that adversity and you see where your team’s going to be.” He also said that, if he could pick Tech’s 12th game for 2010-11, he’d get a home and home with Hawaii. Smart kid.
5) It pained him to say it, but if he were the Detroit Lions, he’d take Matthew Stafford.
6) He’s among the many touting freshman defensive tackle T.J. Barnes. During practice, when Jackson was resting, “I’d take a peek down to the offensive side and I’d just see him causing problems. And then I’d hear stories from all the o-linemen about how great T.J.’s going to be.”
7) He is hoping to get his undergrad management degree and MBA in five years, same as Darryl Richard. He said he took 16 credits in the fall (and is doing so again this term). That is impressive. He’d get the bachelor’s in 3.5 years (with summer school) and then the MBA I guess in either a year or year and a half. Richard got his MBA this past December, so it took him 4.5 years.
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