In Georgia Tech’s attempt to fill the estimable shoes of Jeremiah Attaochu, Jabari Hunt-Days will get the first crack.
As the Yellow Jackets began spring practice Monday afternoon, one of the biggest questions surrounding the team was how it will compensate for the loss of three starters on the defensive line, defensive tackle Euclid Cummings and ends Emmanuel Dieke and Attaochu, the All-American and Tech’s all-time sack leader.
Coach Paul Johnson and defensive coordinator Ted Roof will begin the search with Hunt-Days, who has played his first two seasons at middle linebacker. At 6-foot-3 and 249 pounds, Hunt-Days has a similar frame to Attaochu, who was 6-3 and 242. Attaochu moved to end after playing outside linebacker in former defensive coordinator Al Groh’s 3-4 defense.
“I think he’s a good athlete and we’ll see how it works,” Johnson said of Hunt-Days. “Certainly, he’s got the physical tools to do that on pass downs.”
Should Hunt-Days flourish at end, it might help solve another puzzle. Hunt-Days played in the base defense, but came out when Tech played its nickel defense. Out of the 765 snaps the Tech defense played last season, Roof said more than 600 were against offenses using three wide receivers, one running back and one wide receiver, which typically calls for the nickel defense. Hunt-Days’ tackle total fell from 84 as a freshman to 45 last year.
“So this is a way to maybe get your best 11 guys out there,” Johnson said.
Monday, Hunt-Days was with the first-string defense at rush end. Adam Gotsis was at defensive tackle, Shawn Green at the nose and Tyler Stargel at the other end spot.
“It means nothing at this point, but you’ve got to have a starting point,” Roof said.
Thomas with the first string: Monday was also the first day for quarterback Justin Thomas to work as the first-string quarterback, following the January transfer of quarterback Vad Lee to James Madison.
“It just feels more comfortable out there,” Thomas said. “We had a lot of reps today. Everybody did good, had a lot of progression from last season to this season, so we did good.”
Thomas is adjusting to working with center Freddie Burden, who missed last season with an ACL tear. Burden will compete with Thomas O’Reilly for the starting center spot. Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Bryan Cook is looking forward to the Saturday scrimmages to give Thomas full-speed, full-contact repetitions.
“I think his ball management (and) decision-making with the ball on Saturdays, that’s where this spring we really need to see him take some steps forward,” Cook said.
New spots: Hunt-Days was not the only player to work at a new position. Chris Milton, a safety, was moved to cornerback to alleviate a logjam at the safety spot, where Jamal Golden, Isaiah Johnson and Demond Smith are leading candidates. Broderick Snoddy is trying A-back after playing B-back last season. Donovan Wilson has moved from A-back to B-back. Patrick Gamble has been moved from defensive end to tackle. Travin Henry switched from wide receiver to defensive end. Gotsis mostly played nose tackle last season but has been shifted to defensive tackle to allow Green to work with the first string. Most changes are not necessarily permanent.
“Right now, one of our goals coming into the spring is, as coaches, we’ve got to get our players in the best possible position, find the right combination. So that’ll be an ongoing evaluation through the entire spring,” Roof said.
Robbins to transfer: Defensive end Kevin Robbins informed Johnson that he intends to transfer. Robbins, from the Washington, D.C., area, redshirted as a freshman last season. He is the second defensive lineman to leave the team in the past two weeks, following Justin Akins, who was also redshirted last season.
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