Recently the Atlanta Journal Constitution discussed the quarterback competition at Georgia Tech between the incumbent Tevin Washington, and backups Synjyn Days, and Vad Lee.
Competition is never a bad thing, but this has created a real dilemma for Paul Johnson. Johnson isn’t on any hotseat, but there is a little restlessness among the Yellow Jacket faithful. Did Johnson peak his first two years?
This is where picking the right QB for the 2012 season either makes the Jacket’s 6-7 season of 2010 and 2-5 finish 2011 look like hiccups or it may make those seasons appear as if they will be norm in Atlanta.
Here’s the problem… Tevin Washington is a senior that started every game last year. Generally Washington makes good decisions. He runs the triple option effectively. Georgia Tech led the ACC in scoring and total offense. Those are pretty good results, but the issue is Washington is limited athletically. He’s not particularly gifted at any one skill. There a number of times last year when I thought – great decision Tevin, but he couldn’t break that last tackle. A potential 25 yard gain became a 5 yard gain. Basically Washington couldn’t necessarily win the game for you, but he probably wouldn’t lose it either.
You’ve got Synjyn Days. He’s easily a better runner than Washington. He had over 100 yards rushing in Georgia Tech’s spring game last year. The RS Sophomore has been in the program for a while and knows the offense. Frankly I think if Days were a better “option” so to speak Johnson would have already went with him. When he did play last year, his ball safety was questionable.
What about Vad Lee? The highly rated RS Freshman recruit out of North Carolina threw for over 3,000 yards and ran for over 1,000 yards as senior. He was considered the gem of GeorgiaTech’s 2010 class. He has arguably the highest ceiling of the 3 quarterbacks, but the least experience.
So what is Paul Johnson to do? Go with the experienced QB? the better runner? or the guy who has yet to appear in a game, but has the most potential. The Spring Game is going to awfully interesting in Atlanta this year.
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