DEL.ICIO.USNesbitt shows growth during Tech practices
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Morgan Burnett has been seeing it four days a week.
As Georgia Tech’s defense has worked against the Jackets’ offense during spring practice, the Jackets safety has been witness to — and victim of — quarterback Josh Nesbitt’s development as a passer.
Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com
Josh Nesbitt listens to instructions from quarterbacks coach Brian Bohannon, who says he has seen improvement.
“One play today, we had a guy that was defending very well, and he found a way to squeeze it in there,” Burnett said after Tech’s Wednesday practice. “He’s looking good each day.”
Nesbitt’s work this spring may be complete after sustaining a shoulder injury at practice Saturday that coaches didn’t believe to be serious.
Regardless, he stands at the center of Tech’s plans to build off its 9-4 season in 2008, particularly its aim to buttress its powerful running attack with an improved passing game. Nesbitt, who had the lowest completion percentage of any starting quarterback in the ACC last season, can’t do it alone, but he’ll have plenty of responsibility.
A higher completion percentage is “a big goal,” Tech quarterbacks coach Brian Bohannon said. “That’s one of the top things we talk about. I don’t put a number on it. I just know it needs to be better.”
As a sophomore last season, Nesbitt completed 43.9 percent of his passes. Of the 14 other ACC quarterbacks who threw as many passes as Nesbitt, all completed passes at a higher rate. Only one other quarterback, Dominique Davis of Boston College, was below 54 percent.
“Of course I want to do better than that, but I don’t care anything about numbers,” Nesbitt said. “If my numbers are low and we win, I’m happy.”
Bohannon has hammered his players this spring on fundamentals, whether it’s the proper footwork on the triple-option play or the right throwing motion. Bohannon said that Nesbitt had “gotten kind of lazy” in his dropback, costing him time to find a target, and was not using proper passing form.
“He’s got such a strong arm, a lot of times, that’s all he uses,” Bohannon said. “We want him to use his whole body to help with his accuracy.”
In addition to better mechanics, Nesbitt’s comfort with the offense should help, as should better protection and his teammates’ stronger grasp of the system. Simply participating in spring practice — he missed much of last year’s spring with a hamstring injury — has given him valuable experience that he lacked last season.
Said Nesbitt of watching himself on film: “I didn’t like it at all. I was too antsy, ready to run every time I dropped back. I’ve really been working on it.”
While Nesbitt completed 60.3 percent of his passes as a senior at Greene County High School, his numbers likely won’t reach that high. Much of Tech’s passing game involves throwing deep balls — Nesbitt’s yards-per-completion average was the highest in the ACC.
Still, Nesbitt is being charged to improve his deep passes, as well as making the easier, shorter passes. In Tech’s ideal situation, his completion percentage and his yards-per-completion numbers will both rise this season.
A staple of Tech’s practices this spring has been Nesbitt delivering on-target spirals to receivers downfield and near the sidelines. Nesbitt has hardly been flawless — on the same afternoon that Burnett bragged on his quarterback, Nesbitt also threw an easy interception to Burnett in a passing drill — but looks better.
“He’s definitely made improvement,” Bohannon said. “There’s no doubt.”
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