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Former West Virginia All-American Tykee Smith keeps reloaded Georgia defense straight
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Former West Virginia All-American Tykee Smith keeps reloaded Georgia defense straight
ATHENS — It didn’t take long for former West Virginia All-American Tykee Smith to realize Georgia football would be a different world.
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Given how good he was at West Virginia, I expected Tykee Smith to be our best safety last year, particularly in coverage. Then he got injured, and Cine really rose to the occasion.
If Tykee's able to come back as strong as he was, and we have Chris Smith at the other safety, we'll be in great shape with starting safeties (with the caveat the neither Smith has shown himself to be as strong against the run as Cine was).
Ratledge and Blaylock are in similar boats: Coming back from pretty serious injuries, you've got to hope they're able to overcome the challenges and return to what they flashed a year ago (or two in Blaylock's case). Gotta admire these kids for working so hard to get back into shape -- as well as the program for motivating them and giving them the tools to succeed.
If I'm not mistaken, Cine was a Strong safety and C. Smith was a Free Safety. They have different responsibilities. The Strong safety is more of a run stopper and responsible for the TE in coverage, while the Free Safety is a last line of defense guy. Typically.
I think Tykee Smith is a Free Safety type as well. Maybe they'll move Chris to Strong Safety and Tykee to Free Safety. Chris can hit almost as well as Cine. Not sure he has the size, though. Strong Safety needs to be able to time his hit, to separate the receiver from the ball just when the ball arrives.
Chris showed excellent aptitude for playing the SS position throughout 2021. Maybe Smart had this move in mind, all along. C. Smith is probably beefing up as we speak. LOL
On a side note...
I'm watching the CFP Championship game again, right now. I couldn't be more disgusted with the syrup pouring out of Kirk Herbstreit's mouth, regarding Wil Anderson. UGA can't run an offensive play without Herbstreit talking about Anderson. Even though Turner had a better game. In Herbstreit's words, "I don't want to compare Turner to Anderson"....Why not?
Consider this...in 2 games this year, the SECC and CFPC games, Anderson only had 6 tackles, 2 were solo and 1 sack, with about 2 minutes to go in the SECC Game when it really didn't matter. Does that sound dominant? He was given credit for hurries that weren't his, by Herbstreit.
What is his and ESPN's agenda. I guarantee you they have one. I think they're pushing him to the Heisman. Our sportswriters need to get involved in the "Hype Game" and stop ****-footing around. We've got a FEW candidates, including Bennett. Get involved Dawg Nation!
I actually thought Tykee played strong safety at WV based on how much time he spent along the line and in the offensive backfield. But I certainly could be wrong.
From what little I saw of Tykee, he doesn't nail guys hard as Cine does. Of course, Cine is exceptional in that regard, and Tykee actually did have a way of getting at running backs, TE's and slant receivers in 2019 and 2020.
Get this: Tykee had EIGHT TFLs in 2020 (per Sports Reference)! For comparison, Cine had 3.5 in all three years and C. Smith hasn't had a TFL in four years (although we all know that Big 12 ain't the SEC).
Tykee's listed at 198 lbs while C. Smith is 190 and Cine 201. The slight weight difference would argue marginally for putting him a strong safety C. Smith. Right? On the other hand, Tykee seems faster than Chris Smith so that might help in coverage.
I don't know much about Tykee at WV. Good info.. If the weights are right and Tykee is faster and better in coverage, he may be the FS. Chris can hit, and he has the timing down, too...Remember the Pick Six against Clemson? If he can put just 5 pounds on between now and the Fall without effecting his speed, I think he moves to SS and Tykee takes FS. You might actually see a slight improvement at that position.
Those TFL numbers don't seem right. I could've sworn, I just watched Cine get 2 TFLs in the NCG. I'm going to have to pay closer attention. LOL