When Notre Dame faces Georgia Tech in the first game of their 2007 schedule, the Yellow Jackets will be without star wide receiver Calvin Johnson who declared for the NFL Draft on Monday.
“It’s one of those situations where he’s got to maximize the moment,” Calvin Johnson Sr. said. “These opportunities don’t come along very often. He made the right decision for himself. He didn’t feel a lot of pressure from us.”
Almost from the day he stepped on campus, the younger Johnson was expected to last only three seasons with the Yellow Jackets. It was immediately clear that he was a rare combination of size (6-foot-5, 235 pounds), athleticism and hand-eye coordination.
He runs a 4.4 40-yard dash and has a 45-inch vertical leap — a combination that makes him difficult to defend, even with a scheme keyed to stop him.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. “He has all the tangible factors to be a great, great player. He has all the intangible factors to be a great, great player.” (ESPN)
Not having to cover Johnson is huge for the Irish. Johnson is the kind of receiver that can simply take over a game. With Notre Dame breaking in a new quarterback and two new starters in the defensive backfield in that season opener, not having to worry about game-planning around Calvin Johnson is a huge plus for the defensive coaching staff.
Gotcha Frank! I didn’t think you were suggesting that at all. My bad. What I meant to say was; Chan Gaily(sp) may have done a lot of teams a favour by not switching QB’s early in the season. Reggie Ball was mulish/defiant and did what he wanted (it appeared) in some of their games. When you see how well this other guy (QB; don’t know his name) did for GTech, man it’s good thing C. Johnson is movin on, Totally True! Plus they seemed to have a good receiving corp altogether. Kinda chilling!
It’s funny that all the so called “experts” say, “If Calvin Johnson would have had a QB to throw to him, he’d set every receiving record imaginable & won the Heisman”. I agree, but would say similarly about Quinn, “If Brady had an O-line that could provide adequate pass protection & control the trenches well enough to offer a consistent run option, Brady would have lived up to his hype”. Instead he gets to read how overrated he is along w/ his inability to produce in the big game…written or spoken by the same “experts” who overrated him to begin with. At least Quinn is mature enough to realize that it comes w/ the territory when you’re QB at ND.
I’m not suggesting that Tech won’t have playmakers next fall, but after seeing what LSU and USC did to the ND secondary, as a Notre Dame fan, I am very pleased we won’t have to worry about Calvin Johnson. Notre Dame’s next QB is going to have a baptism by fire with that early season schedule so I’ll take any advantages we can get.
I look forward in seeing Calvin play on Sunday’s next year. I hope the Giants get him(I doubt it). He’ll be fun to watch and should he be as good as it appears he might be, I hope he keeps his head clear and mouth shut. We don’t need another talented sideshow athlete like the one in Dallas. Best of luck to Calvin, see you on Sunday’s.
Ps Irish. When you play GTech next year, note GTechs bowl game. They will have a QB and talented receivers waiting. Reggie Throw the ball badly won’t be there anymore.