April 29, 2008
Tech to lose another player
Earlier this week, the Jackets lost Taylor Bennett, last year's starting QB, to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. That transfer was hardly news as Bennett was ill suited for the triple option attack (sic) of Paul Johnson, and he had been looking to transfer for months.
Now, rumors are swirling that Trey Dunmon (redshirt junior offensive lineman) will transfer to Georgia Southern. Dunmon is no longer listed on the official Georgia Tech roster. The story has gained momentum via 'demjackets" (the respectable moderator of Stingtalk.com) and the GT Sports Blog (which is experiencing technical difficulties, but generally doesn't run with bad info if it hurts Tech).
(video: That's Dunmom in action. Right side of screen. He was ejected for that classy move. Ht- The Comment Posse)
Dunmon was a likely starter at LG, RG or Center for the Jackets. "demjackets" also says the Jackets are at risk of losing another offensive lineman before the season starts.
Tech reaction is mixed but the bulk of the PJ Believers are saying: "We didn't need him anyway." Or, "If he's not buying into Johnson's proven ways, get rid of him."
That's true to some degree. But they've also lost their top TE (Peek), their top returning WR (Johnson), one of their most athletic young players (Donley - WR/S), and their starting QB from last year (Bennett). Those issues are compounded by the last GT recruiting class falling apart at the seams prior to signing day.
Taken as an individual event, none of the departures are that big of a deal. Taken as a collective bulk, it is most certainly a big deal.
It'll be interesting to see if the GSU faithful embrace a guy that couldn't get along with Paul Johnson. As a UGA fan, I wonder if we'll see Dunmom playing between the Hedges this year for the Eagles?
See Also:
-- The Sky is Not Falling - Mash on the Gas
-- Dunmon Leaves - In the Edge
PWD
(PS -- UGA draft coverage of some variety later)
24 comments:
Wasn't he the guy who chop blocked Brandon Miller last year?
sure is, anon
Schadenfreude!
Now if only FL would catch the same disease as GT.
Yeah, I thought so. Found the YouTube of the incident.
Tech Man
hey paul, since you are including some UGA draft coverage soon, in case you haven't seen the front page of espn.com recently, it's a picture of stafford, tebow (ugh), and knowshon for todd mcshay's coverage of the 2009 draft.
He has stafford going 3rd overall to the Chiefs if he declared, knowshon 10th to the Jets if he came out and tebow 7th to the bears if he left early. just a heads up!
And Dunmon's dad was the GT alum that was talking trash on the forums about the chop block and what a great program Tech is.
McShay also has 2 GT defensive linemen in the first round (including Michael Johnson at #2 overall) - and neither is first team All-ACC Daryl Richard. GT's defensive line is going to be ungoldy good ... so not all the talent has left the building.
PWD - GT's class under Gailey did have some departures, but PJ did a good job landing talent of his own as the class wound down, including Omergie Uzzi, Jaybo Shaw and Marcus Wright. The recruiting class was quite solid - at least up to normal Gailey standards. The '09 class is going very, very well - PJ is proving to be a solid recruiter (it helps that high school coaches in Georgia love him)
Losing Dunmon is going to suck, no lie. Easily the biggest loss of the offseason that wasn't named D.J Donley (who just flaked out, nobody has a clue what's going on with him). GT is going to have a very thin roster for next year, with quite a bit of talent on the defensive side of the ball, but very little depth. If we can win 7 games and keep the bowl streak alive, I'll be happy.
Karma's a bitch, huh? Punk moves will always come back to bite you in the ass.
What a loser. His dad is ass as well.
Hey Nathan, I emailed Todd McShay to let me know the first time that Michael Johnson makes a tackle against UGA.
That kid is the essence of "look like Tarzan, play like Jane."
#2 pick, ROTFLMAO...kid is too weak to beat out Adam friggin Oliver...lmao...Vance Walker...I am literally having a hard time typing because I am laughing so hard...
Vance Walker had 14 TFL and 8.5 sacks last year as a DT, and was 3rd team AP All-America ... dude had a tremendous year. At his size and speed, if he has even half those stats next year he'll be in the mix for a first round pick. Not sure why that's crazy to think, he's gotten pretty rave reviews on most draft sites. Pass rushing DT's don't exactly grow on trees, especially not ones who weight 300lbs with his quickness off the ball.
As for Michael Johnson - he still had 6 TFL, 4 Sacks, 3 forced fumbles and he blocked a couple of kicks last year. That's not exactly "plays like Jane" - his biggest problem is that he can't stay healthy, he's been injured off and on for basically his entire GT career. If he can stay healthy, then he's a very high draft pick. Obviously, the staying healthy part is a big key.
I honestly would be surprised to see single UGa DL who would start for GT - Walker, Richard and Johnson for sure would be the 3 best DL in the red and black the moment they stepped foot in Athens if they decided to transfer, and if you made a 2 deep from the two rosters there'd probably be 6 GT DL and 2 from UGa. I don't know why, but Gailey did a tremendous job recruiting DL the past few years (too bad he didn't do it basically anywhere else in depth).
Anyways, GT probably will have one of the top 2-3 defensive lines in the country. It's by far the best line we've ever had, and they will have to carry the rest of the team, who's going to be very thin and very inexperienced. Our secondary scares me, our WR corps is extremely yikes outside of Demaryius Thomas and we've got no clue how the o-line is going to play, but I'm not expecting much. I think the offense is going to struggle badly at times - the o-line in particular could be a trainwreck.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/insider/columns/story?columnist=mcshay_todd&id=3372132&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2fdraft08%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dmcshay_todd%26id%3d3372132%26lpos%3dspotlight%26lid%3dtab1pos1
that is the espn link to the story about next years draft
no matt & knowson cant leave early! :[
Hate to break it to you Nathan - oh wait, no I don't - but Geno Atkins, Jeff Owens, and Kade Weston would all be starters on any GTU defensive line. Don't believe me? Wait til they set up camp in the GTU backfield Thanksgiving weekend, making it a sextuple-option offense: fumble, tackle for loss, sack, incomplete pass, intentional grounding, and holding...
Only one win from the two 1-AA games tech plays this year counts towards bowl eligibility.
isnt Jaybo Shaw the guy GTU stole out from under the nose of Furman and/or Middle Tennessee State? I guess the term "quite solid" as it applies to recruiting classes is Tech-speak for "everyone has a pulse." What's next? Does Kelley Rhino have any little brothers? Maybe you could plug one of them in at DE. They're all very plucky, I hear.
as for Michael Johnson, wow. Six TFL last year? I think Marcus Howard had that many in the first half versus Hawaii. I'm sure he's a solid player (despite not being able to beat out the immortal Adamm Oliver for a starting job), but I wouldnt get too excited over some second rate "draft guru" proclaiming him the next Mean Joe Greene, or whatever. These are the kind of guys who thought Aundray Bruce was a cant miss pro, too. Maybe you nerds should wait until he makes a tackle against someone besides, oh, I dont know, The Citadel, before you get too excited.
Then again, considering the train wreck that your offense is likely to be this year, maybe you should just keep grasping at whatever straws of optimism you can find over there.
Nathan, you score a perfect '10' on the unintentional comedy scale. Thank you sir for making my day.
Is this the same stalwart GT line that a bunch of freshmen from Athens manhandled last year?
Richt-Flair
Hey there, this is Justin from over at In The Edge.
Colin and Taylor were probably not significant losses at all. We don't have a TE in this offense so Colin probably would have been moved anyways. Taylor is simply not mobile enough to play the option.
The other losses are probably much more significant. We are definitely going to be thin this year and we are all just hoping to hang on to the bowl streak. However, Coach Johnson has to got to be given some time to build his team and get the right players in here and get everyone running the option smoothly.
As far as Michael Johnson, part of it is the new defense. He will be able to split wide a little more so he may have a lot better pass rush numbers.
Oh, and as far as the chop block, I thought that was kinda cheap too. Some GT fans just think we are too high and mighty to say so.
If Michael Johnson is a 1st Rounder, I'm John Holmes.
If he's the #2 pick of the draft, I'm Jenna Jameson.
Since you only focus on Tech and other random sports during the spring, here is a look ahead by ESPN....
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/insider/columns/story?columnist=mcshay_todd&id=3372132&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2fdraft08%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dmcshay_todd%26id%3d3372132%26lpos%3dspotlight%26lid%3dtab2pos1
100 cocktails to you, PWD, for the John Holmes/Jenna Jameson line. I'll be using that one for months.
Watch out, PWD...monkeys did fly out of your butt a couple of months ago...
Anon 9:42,
Are you looking for a refund?
PWD
Dunmon's dad isn't a tech alum!
Only thing that bothers me is the more players Johnson runs off, the more ships tek will have to give. With UGA having a fewer number to give this year, and cherry picking a few out of state, tek could have a very good year in stae.
Drago
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