The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find it informative, insightful and fun.
Where will the pass rush come from?
The dust has settled on the Falcons’ roster, and the perennial question must be asked: Where will the pass rush come from?
The Falcons finished with 42 sacks last season, which ranked 24th in the NFL. They waved goodbye to 13 of those sacks when they didn’t re-sign Bud Dupree and Calais Campbell.
Arnold Ebiketie, who was drafted to play in the 3-4 alignment when Arthur Smith was head coach, flashed as a pass rusher and finished with six sacks while playing 384 defensive snaps (34%).
Defensive end Zach Harrison also flashed down the stretch and had three sacks. He played 342 defensive snaps (32%.)
The Falcons certainly will try to get a push up the middle from defensive tackles David Onyemata and Grady Jarrett, but Ebiketie and Harrison appeared to be the best candidates to provide some pressure from the outside.
Ebiketie played in all 17 games and made six starts. To go with the six sacks, he had five hurries and four quarterback knockdowns. He also had 25 tackles and two missed tackles.
In new coaching staff’s 3-4, Ebiketie’s playing time should increase.
Harrison played in 16 games, with no starts. He also had five quarterback hurries and one knockdown. He had 33 tackles and two missed tackles.
“I’ve seen slow guys who (run) 5.0 and 4.8 (in the 40-yard dash), and I’ve seen fast guys, who run 4.4, but are you trained and skilled (enough) to be able to get off the ball,” Falcons outside linebackers coach Jacquies Smith said. “So ‘get off’ is the key. You want to place pressure on the offensive linemen, no matter if it’s run or pass.”
Ebiketie and Harrison have potential.
“Then being able to coordinate your feet with your hands,” Smith said. “That’s what would … help you the most when you’re talking about good edge rushers. You have to train those things. Those are your knives that you’re sharpening every day in practice.”
Smith believes that players can improve on how fast they get off the ball and put pressure on the offensive linemen who are trying to block them.
“As you study tape, you can see guys who in their past have run 4.4, and you can see older guys, for example, be able to get off the ball faster than others,” Smith said. “That’s something you can train. Something you work on every single day. The minute that you don’t work on it, (that’s the) minute you lose it.”
Smith said the Falcons have some “get off” guys.
“Oh yeah, no doubt about it,” Smith said. “That’s the first thing that we do when we get out there at practice. In this defense, you’re going to have a chance to get off the ball and get vertical. We want to be an up-the-field penetrating defense.”
Tech releases volleyball schedule
Georgia Tech announced Tuesday its 29-match schedule for the 2024 season. The slate contains 16 home matches, highlighted by a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament second-round match between Tech and Florida, at McCamish Pavilion on Sept. 11.
The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to play nine non-conference matches, beginning with the season opener Aug. 30 against UCLA at O’Keefe Gymnasium. The battle against the Bruins is one of three matches in the opening week as Tech will take on New Mexico State on Sept. 1 before hosting reigning Sun Belt champions Coastal Carolina on Sept. 2.
After a road trip to Provo, Utah, to face Lipscomb on Sept. 6 and Brigham Young on Sept. 7, Tech returns home for the Georgia Tech Invitational featuring matches against Florida (Sept. 11), South Alabama (Sept. 12) and Alabama State (Sept. 13). Tech concludes the nonconference with Georgia in Athens on Sept. 20.
The Jackets will face a new 20-match ACC schedule with the additions of SMU, Stanford and California to the conference. The conference opener comes against SMU on Sept. 27 before hosting Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. October features five home conference matches against Virginia Tech (Oct. 11), Virginia (Oct. 13), Clemson (Oct. 16), North Carolina State (Oct. 25) and Wake Forest (Oct. 27). Seven of Tech’s final 10 matches of the season come on the road with a weekend homestand against Boston College (Nov. 15) and Syracuse (Nov. 17) before the home finale against Stanford (Nov. 26).
Tech will play 13 matches against teams from the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Tech’s Powell-Lee nominated for Good Works Team
Georgia Tech defensive back Clayton Powell-Lee is a nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, the American Football Coaches Association announced Wednesday.
The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team recognizes college football players for their commitment to community service and good works off the field. From the 178 nominees across all levels of college football, 22 players (11 from the FBS and 11 from the FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA combined) will be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team in September. The team is selected by a voting panel of former Good Works Team members, current and former head coaches and journalists.
Powell-Lee has been one of Tech football’s most active players in the community since his arrival at Tech in 2022. The initiatives that he has participated in include 404 Day of community service in the Atlanta community, Salvation Army Volunteer Day, representing Tech at the Black Student-Athlete Summit in Los Angeles and the 2023 ACC Unity Tour in Washington, D.C., and leading the creation of the athlete chapter within Tech’s African-American Student Union.
United’s Thiare turns to baseball
Watching Atlanta United’s Jamal Thiare leap high over defenders to win headers, it would be natural to presume that Thiare would be a decent basketball player.
In fact, Thiare said he has learned to enjoy baseball, a sport he had never before paid attention to.
Since moving to the U.S. to join Atlanta United during the summer of 2023, he said he has started watching the game and frequently goes to Truist Park to watch the Braves.
Hawks summer injuries piling up
The injury bug caught up to the Hawks at the NBA Summer League. The Hawks did not have sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin and sophomore wing Seth Lundy, who had injuries before the team left for Las Vegas.
But since the team began competing, rookie guard Nikola Djurisic went down with a left foot fracture.
Before their third game, they ruled out Zaccharie Risacher with a right quad contusion and Dylan Windler with an elbow injury. They lost second-year wing Mouhamed Gueye to a hip contusion, as well as guard Keaton Wallace to a lower leg injury during their loss to the Lakers on Wednesday.
Hawks In-Season draw
The Hawks have a tough task ahead in their group in NBA Cup, formerly known as the In-Season Tournament.
They’ve drawn East Group C – Bulls, Cavaliers, Celtics, Hawks and Wizards.
The Hawks will play their opponents on designated “Cup Nights,” which take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 12-Dec. 3. The games, excluding the Cup Championship game, count toward the Hawks’ regular-season standings.
The top eight teams with the best standing in their groups will advance to the knockout rounds.
The winners then advance to the semifinals and final, which take place Dec. 14 and Dec. 17.
Georgia baseball weathers draft
With the MLB draft now behind them, the Georgia Bulldogs appear to be poised to field another competitive team next year.
Everybody knew the Bulldogs’ were going to lose star slugger Charlie Condon, who went third overall to the Colorado Rockies. They also lost first baseman Corey Collins, who went in the sixth round to the New York Mets.
This week, they learned that outfielder JoJo Jackson, who was set to transfer in from Georgia State, decided to sign with the Yankees. They drafted him in the 17th round. Also, Georgia lost pitchers Chandler Marsh and Christian Mracna, who signed free-agent contracts with the Mets and Blue Jays respectively, and outfielder J.R. Freethy, who was to transfer in from Nevada, but opted to sign with the Blue Jays after they drafted him with the 427th pick overall.
But some of the Bulldogs’ core players from last season’s 43-17 team should be back. Shortstop Kolby Branch announced Wednesday he intends to return after setting a UGA record last year with four grand slams. Georgia also hopes hard-hitting second baseman Slate Alford returns after going undrafted.
Georgia is still awaiting word from some other key players who are weighing draft decisions, including shortstop Erik Parker (Dodgers, 15th round), and Virginia Commonwealth transfer pitcher Brian Curley (Pirates, 16th round). Some of the Bulldogs’ key high school signees did not get drafted after establishing with MLB teams that they intended to honor their commitments. Those players include top-50 recruits Bryce Clavon, a shortstop, and Michael Mullinax, an outfielder. Highly touted infielder Cade Brown and pitcher Nate Taylor also will join the team.
Meanwhile, there are indications that senior left-handed pitcher Charlie Goldstein might utilize another season of eligibility to return to UGA. Goldstein was the Bulldogs’ No. 1 weekend starter before an arm injury cut his season short.
Braves All-Star notes
*The Braves do an excellent job developing and maximizing pitching. Just ask one of their biggest rivals.
“Atlanta pitching, man, it’s been that way for a minute,” Phillies MVP Bryce Harper said, referencing Chris Sale and the team’s rotation. “The way they approach it, and Kranny (pitching coach Rick Kranitz) does such a good job over there with their pitching staff. (Sale is) just a really good player, really good pitcher.”
*During All-Star media day, Chris Sale reiterated his appreciation for how smooth his transition has gone since he was traded to the Braves.
“I’m thankful for (the trade),” Sale said. “People talk about getting traded and the transition, and sometimes it can be tough, but this was a pretty easy transition because of how open the clubhouse is, how relaxed they are. Very laid back. It was a relatively easy transition because of how awesome those guys are in the clubhouse, how our staff is.”
*Sale has been masterful, posting a 2.70 ERA in 18 outings with 140 strikeouts and 24 walks. He has finished in the top six of Cy Young voting seven times in his career, including two top-three finishes, but he’s never won the award that goes to each league’s best pitcher. Is he thinking this could be the year?
“I’m thinking about: I have to start coming up whenever they hand me the ball and I’ll take it from there,” Sale said in response to that question.
*Speaking of Cy Young contenders, the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal is among the American League’s leading candidates. A lefty, Skubal told the AJC he’s long admired Sale and Max Fried, the Braves’ pair of All-Star southpaws. He believes any player could learn from both of them.
“Those guys, you hear great things about who they are in the clubhouse and the teammates they are,” Skubal said. “You see them on the mound, they’re coming right at you. You’re going to have to beat them. They’re not going to beat themselves. I think that’s something anyone in the game can learn from, whether it’s pitching, hitting, anything. Just getting that bought in and aggressive is a good thing.”
*Fried has been around a while now (“he’s getting old,” said former teammate Freddie Freeman, 34, jokingly). He hasn’t started to appreciate that other pitchers are studying and admiring him as they progress through their own careers.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Fried, who is 30 and made his MLB debut in August 2017. “It’s not something that I guess has hit or settled in because I still look at guys like Chris and (Clayton) Kershaw, and all these other great left-handed pitchers that I’m still looking at. I think all it means is that I’ve been around for a little bit. But it’s cool.”
-Staff writers D. Orlando Ledbetter, Chad Bishop, Chip Towers, Doug Roberson, Gabriel Burns and Lauren Williams contributed to this report.
