Will Georgia Tech football improve in year two of Geoff Collins?
Experienced defense looks to take that next step
Georgia Tech’s defense was young in a lot of areas last season and they also suffered a rash of injuries which caused the unit to never really get cohesive.
Antonneous Clayton is a senior transfer from Florida and Tech is hoping he can step in immediately and bring some pressure on the quarterback, as that was something that the Yellow Jackets did not do a very good job of last year.
The defensive line is a very experienced unit that is bring back two other seniors as well in Antwan Owens and Chris Martin. One of Geoff Collins’ trademarks at Temple and as the defensive coordinator at Florida was strong, physical play up front and the Yellow Jackets should be better than they were last season if they can manage to stay healthy.
Linebacker David Curry was the team’s top tackler last season and he is back once again after having 97 tackles last season and he will be playing alongside Quez Jackson, who finished with 49 tackles and he could see a big leap in production this season since he is slated to become a full-time starter. The linebackers have some interesting depth pieces in former running back Jerry Howard and Demetrius Knight, who is full of potential.
The secondary should be the strength of the defense once again with four of the five starters from last year’s team returning to a pass defense that finished the ranked 36th in the country.
Zamari Walton and Tre Swilling are back to man the cornerback position spots and they combined for 13 pass deflections and an interception last season. One of the starting safety spots will once again be filled by Tariq Carpenter and he is one of the defenses best players. Juanyeh Thomas is also returning and he is a big and physical safety that should help in the run game as well.
Collins is known for building defenses and this years unit in Atlanta should be much better than a season ago because of the returning experience and hopefully no injuries.