Georgia Tech completed its fourth day of spring practice Saturday, training at Bobby Dodd Stadium under overcast skies. Following the workout, wide receivers coach Buzz Preston was ready for a proclamation.
“We’ve got some guys with some talent,” he said. “I really feel this is the most talented group, as a group, that we’ve had since I’ve been here. And if all keep minding and keep working and improving, we’ll find ourselves in a real good position.”
Preston’s opinion resonates all the more because he is not given to hyperbole. And while the Tech receiving group has not been a stable of first-round picks since Preston came to Tech after coach Paul Johnson’s hire following the 2007 season, it’s nonetheless a promising assessment for the Yellow Jackets.
For its 2014 offense, Tech will replace three starters on the offensive line, two at running back and at quarterback. A wide receiver group that consistently contributes playmaking, blocking on the perimeter and depth would be useful.
“I feel like there’s some guys that are not necessarily starters that can push and be a factor in the deal and feel comfortable putting in the game,” Preston said.
At wide receiver, 2013 starters DeAndre Smelter and Micheal Summers return, backed by Anthony Autry, Corey Dennis, Ricky Jeune, Antonio Messick and Darren Waller. Jeune and Messick redshirted last season. Autry was recovering from a torn ACL.
That four of the players have career receptions — Waller (25), Smelter (21), Summers (10) and Autry (3) — is a departure. Going into the 2012 season, no receivers on the roster had a single catch. In 2013, it was just Waller. All four have also started, which should foster a competitive environment for playing time.
Smelter is poised to break out after a promising 2013, his first with the football team after playing baseball during his first three years at Tech. Johnson has long touted Waller for having the physical tools to follow in the path of game-breakers Demaryius Thomas and Stephen Hill, but sometimes lacked drive. “I see that potential in him that he really wants to, but we forget at times that these young men are (indeed) young,” Preston said.
He also said that Waller “is doing some really good things that I didn’t see him do before” in demonstrating a deeper understanding of the offense. Dennis “just needs to keep improving and working hard,” Preston said.
Jeune was close to playing as a freshman last year. “I think he’s really got a lot of upside,” Preston said. Jeune has been sidelined with a knee injury suffered in spring practice, however. Of Messick, Preston said that “he wants to be really good. That’s the No. 1 thing a guy has to have, the ‘want-to’ to be really good.”
Messick, Jeune and Dennis may have to contribute early next season, as Waller and Autry are suspended for the first two games of the season, nonconference matchups against Wofford and Tulane, Waller for breaking team rules and Autry for violating the Tech athletic association student-athlete conduct code. The suspensions for Autry and A-back Dennis Andrews were announced Friday.
“Unfortunately, (a suspension) tends to reflect on (the team) because people tend to associate the whole thing with us,” Preston said. “But it’s a reflection of the individual not making a good decision. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad person. It just means whoever it is needs to make a better decision in what they’re doing.”
Preston said he was disappointed, but “you move forward. You just hope that they learn from it.”
This spring, two teaching points that Preston is stressing are adjusting routes according to the defense and being aggressive in going after the ball. Last season, the passing game had any number of flaws, including the receivers’ route running and aggressiveness in beating defenders to the ball.
“When the ball’s up in the air, when we have an opportunity to make a play, make the play,” he said.
Preston cited one of Tech’s better plays of the season, when Smelter outfought two Pittsburgh defensive backs to bring down a 42-yard reception on a critical third-and-17 in the fourth quarter. “That’s the way it’s got to be, that kind of attitude,” Preston said.
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