A.J. Gray has given teammates and coaches an encouraging taste of what lies ahead from the Georgia Tech safety for the coming season and beyond. It isn’t necessarily because of an adherence to the Yellow Jackets’ defensive scheme.
“It’s just like, he might do something wrong, but he’s still going to get an interception or pick up the ball,” Tech safety Lawrence Austin said. “It’s like the ball’s attracted (to him).”
Gray, who will be a sophomore next season, has rising star stamped across his chest. Gray’s instincts and athletic ability practically forced coaches to put him on the field last season in a secondary stuffed with seniors. He played 10 games, showing himself to be a dependable tackler with a nose for the ball.
“Probably the guy who caught my eye (in Saturday’s scrimmage, and) has been the most consistent, has been A.J. at safety,” coach Paul Johnson said. “I think he’s more confident, and he’s playing really well.”
Gray came to Tech last year from Washington County, one of the more accomplished prospects in recent history. He was named a Parade All-American and the all-classification state player of the year by the AJC, among others, and also led Washington County High to back-to-back state runner-up finishes, playing both quarterback and defensive back.
Playing behind safeties Jamal Golden and Demond Smith, he showed glimpses last season. In only his fourth game, he baited Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk into throwing to what he presumably thought was an open receiver running a short hitch route. Gray jumped the pattern and scored his first career interception.
“On defense, you can’t be taught some of the plays that he makes,” cornerback Step Durham said.
This offseason, Gray has invested time in the video room, trying to understand defensive coordinator Ted Roof’s scheme as a whole and how he fits into it at safety. He watched before weightlifting sessions, he said, “and then after I get finished lifting weights, I go back and watch some more film,” he said.
Fully recovered from an IT band injury suffered in the Florida State game, Gray said in the first week of spring practice that he feels great, and the play on the field would suggest as much. Since the start of spring practice, which Monday began the third of its four weeks, the homework, his playmaking instincts and superior physical ability have begun to knit.
“Last year, I was thinking too much, and it slowed me down,” Gray said. “This year, I know what I’m doing. I know my alignments. I know the little details, so it allows me to play faster and not think.”
Gray will be an important piece of Tech’s 2016 defense, which lost cornerbacks D.J. White and Chris Milton and safeties Golden and Smith to graduation. Linebacker Brant Mitchell, who also had a promising freshman season last fall, and Gray look like they could help the Jackets be strong up the middle for the next two or three seasons.
Gray could similarly lead a secondary that is light on experience but has talented replacements such as Corey Griffin, a technically sound safety with some pop, and Lamont Simmons, a long-armed cornerback who sat out last season as a transfer from USC, and the Austin twins, Lance at corner, Lawrence at safety.
“Basically, this is our time to step up,” Gray said.
