2013 Outlook - Georgia Tech

Coming off an 8-5 season last year, you have to wonder if Paul Johnson and his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are on their way up or on their way down.  I really like Johnson as a coach, and I think he has some real talent on the roster.  The only question is will they play as their talent suggests, or will the under perform again?

SR QB Tevin Washington will take the reins again this season, and he will really need to improve if this team is going to take the next step.  He is a pretty good athlete, but he has not shown that he has what it takes to be a good QB.  Last season, he started strong, but then completed only 38.7% of his passes over the last 8 contests.  He absolutely has to improve on that this year.  Now some of the incomplete passes last year could not be hung on Washington's neck though.  Speedster Stephen Hill continued his inconsistent play, dropping way too many passes, and this hurt the whole offense.  Hill is now a New York Jet, and it leaves Washington with two primary targets who have a combine total of zero catches at the collegiate level.  No doubt about it, this is a big question mark.  To put up points, the offense will rely on their option running game, led by SR Orwin Smith.  Smith is one of the more uinderrated backs in the nation.  I like his speed, and his toughness, and I think he is a good asset.  He has one of the better interior o-lines in the nation in front of him.  SR OG Omoregie Uzzi and JR OG Will Jackson are both very good pulling guards with a road grader mentality that I love.

Defensively, this team also has some real talent.  Unfortunately, not much of it resides up front.  Since losing Derrick Morgan to the NFL, Tech has struggled getting an edge pass rush, and I don't really see that changing much this year.  Any pass rush they do get will likely come from OLB Jeremiah Attaochu.  He has improved each of the last two seasons, and now going into his JR year, I think he could emerge as the type of linebacker that opponents have to scheme for.  Even with Attaochu emerging though, the true strength of this defense is their secondary.  JR CB Louis Young has all of the tools you want in a corner, and he has NFL prospect written all over him.  Unfortunately though, he has been in trouble in the past, and now could be facing a suspension to start the year.  He will still be a great ball player, but he needs to grow up.  SR CB Rod Sweeting is another good ball player on this team.  He may not be as talented as Young, but he is good in his own right, and as a pair these two are quite formidable.  I also really like JR S Isaiah Johnson.  With 78 tackles last year, he has broken into the picture as one of the best safeties in the conference, and if he continues to improve, he will make this secondary one tough unit for opponents to deal with.

The Yellow Jackets are a good team, and they could be poised to make that jump to conference contender, but it will take a serious improvement in the passing game for the team to do that.  Washington needs to show better decision making and accuracy, and he needs receivers who can catch what is thrown to them.  If this can happen, Tech could challenge in the ACC in 2013.