Five spring practice priorities for Tech

The questions facing Georgia Tech this spring are far different than they were a year ago, when the quarterback position and both lines were among major question marks facing a team coming off a disappointing 2013 season.

This year, excitement and enthusiasm will greet the Yellow Jackets when they begin spring practice Monday. In 2014, the Yellow Jackets were winners of 11 games and their first major bowl since 1956. This spring, Tech returns the bulk of its offensive line, most of its defense and All-ACC quarterback Justin Thomas. Among fans, anxiety levels are considerably lower.

Tech will go through the standard 15 practice sessions, concluding with the spring game at 7 p.m. April 17 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Coach Paul Johnson will face the usual challenges of replacing graduated starters, building up depth and heading into the summer free of injuries. Following offseason workouts that met his approval and spring break, the challenge begins anew.

Here are the top five spring priorities:

Get the B-backs ready. With B-backs Synjyn Days, Zach Laskey and Matt Connors graduating, the Jackets do not have a returnee with any playing experience at the offense's featured running-back position. The best they can do is C.J. Leggett, whom Johnson considered playing last season as a freshman but ultimately redshirted. Leggett will share spring snaps with early-enrollee freshman Quaide Weimerskirch and walk-on Brady Swilling, who is switching positions from quarterback. Leggett has the advantage of having practiced with the offense much of last season.

The onus will be upon quarterbacks and B-backs coach Bryan Cook to prep the trio to handle the ball-carrying and blocking elements of the position. Signee Mikell Lands-Davis will join the group in the summer.

“We’ll have to shape the clay a little bit, but we’ll get there,” Cook said.

Find some A-backs and receivers, too. The top two receivers (DeAndre Smelter and Darren Waller) and four of the top A-backs (B.J. Bostic, Deon Hill, Charles Perkins and Tony Zenon) also graduated. Competition for playing time at both positions should be wide open.

Each position will have one player available in the spring who has significant experience: Micheal Summers at wide receiver and Dennis Andrews at A-back. Wide receiver aspirants include Ricky Jeune and Antonio Messick, who mostly played special teams as freshmen. At A-back, Clinton Lynch and Qua Searcy redshirted last season, although Searcy practiced at wide receiver.

Tech will welcome a slew of freshman A-backs in the summer and bring back Broderick Snoddy, expected to miss the spring as he recovers from a broken leg suffered in the fall.

Get some answers on defensive line. The Jackets made it through 2014 relying largely on two interior linemen, Adam Gotsis and Shawn Green, with some help from Patrick Gamble and Francis Kallon. Defensive-line coach Mike Pelton called making it through such a successful season with four scholarship defensive tackles "nothing short of a miracle."

Pelton’s job in the spring will be to develop depth along the line, including getting more from Kallon and bringing along sophomores Tyler Merriweather and Antonio Simmons. Eyes also will be on defensive end Jabari Hunt-Days, who is trying to regain academic eligibility and last season impressed coaches and teammates with his play on the scout team. Early-enrollee freshman Kyle Cerge-Henderson will get a look at tackle.

Improve overall defensive play. The defense made undeniable strides in the second half of the season, particularly in forcing turnovers. However, the Jackets still finished 114th in third-down defense (46.1 percent) and 111th in yards-per-play (6.32). The ingredients are there, as Tech loses only three starters (linebacker Quayshawn Nealy, safety Isaiah Johnson and Green), bringing back playmakers such as defensive end KeShun Freeman, linebacker P.J. Davis and cornerback D.J. White.

Improving run defense and pass rush and the frequency of big plays will be areas to address, as counting on turnovers may be an untenable solution. Of the 22 teams that had the most takeaways in 2013 (top 20 plus ties), only five remained in the top 20 in 2014. Tech tied for 17th last season with 29 takeaways.

Maintain the hunger, attitude. Perhaps the overriding characteristics of the 2014 Orange Bowl champions was their willingness to practice hard, to play unselfishly and to not give in. They were seeds undoubtedly planted in the drudgery of the spring following the disappointment of the 2013 season. It was in the grind of last year's spring practice, for instance, that guard Shaquille Mason said he realized that his offensive line had "a pretty good chance of doing some great things."

Tech will need to find players to replace the pace setting and positive energy provided by the likes of Days, Mason and Nealy. It would seem to have some in Thomas, already a captain, guard Trey Braun and Davis, among others.