Long-ago advice from Benjamin Franklin: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron hopes that applies to his Tigers. The noon Central time kickoff for Saturday’s critical Florida-LSU matchup at Tiger Stadium has Orgeron revising the team’s normal weekend schedule, The Advocate of Baton […]
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A look at daily fantasy targets for NFL Week 11.
South Carolina’s Saturday matchup with Western Carolina could be an unusually smoky occasion. Smoke from recent widespread wildfires in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee could persist through Saturday’s game at Williams-Brice Stadium. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control issued either a Code Red or Code Orange for most of the […]
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ATHENS, Ga. — The secret officially came out Tuesday. Asked if Georgia will wear black jerseys for Saturday’s game against Louisiana-Lafayette, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart gave a one-word answer in response. “Yes,” he said. But while Smart was succinct about it, some of his players had more to say about the alternates. Senior center Brandon […]
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Former Alabama offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio became a United States citizen Thursday, but not without giving a shout out to his former school first. After he was officially naturalized at a ceremony held at a U.S. District courthouse in Buffalo, New York – where he plays for the Buffalo Bills – Kouandjio ended an interview […]
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One day after Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher danced around a question about his interest in the LSU coaching vacancy, one national media member took the question head-on. “Jimbo Fisher will be the next head coach at LSU,” Russ Mitchell of College Football News told me on my statewide radio show in Louisiana. Fisher was […]
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NFL DFS Value Plays – Week 11
Avery Gennesy, the starting left tackle at Texas A&M for the second consecutive year, is on track to become one of this years darkhorse first-round draft prospects. Gennesy played high school football in Southaven, Mississippi before committing to East Mississippi, the recently documented “Last Chance U”.
Head coach Buddy Stephens played a vital role in recruiting Gennesy to East Mississippi Community College. Gennesy played for EMCC for two years and was a part of their National Championship team in 2013. It was a year in which the team averaged over 62 points per game and was anchored by Gennesy on the offensive line.
He was a consensus 4-star recruit coming out of junior college, the 5th ranked OT and 9th ranked player nationally, and would prove to be one of the country’s most coveted prospects.
He would go on to sign with Texas A&M and redshirted his first year in 2014 despite earning a role on the depth chart. That following year Avery came in and earned the starting job at left tackle, which would keep future 1st-round pick Germain Ifedi from protecting the QB’s blind side. Avery excelled in his first full year starting at the Division 1-FBS level. The Aggies averaged 424 yards per game and were the 7th team in school history to eclipse 5,000 total offensive yards. Ifedi is now starting for the Seattle Seahawks after being drafted in the first round.
Coming into his senior campaign, Gennesy led a very young, inexperienced offensive line that has less combined starts than the second year starter. The 6’5 315 pound tackle stepped into his leadership role and is a major factor in the overall success of the Aggies, who at one point in the season held the highest ranking in school history breaking into the top 4.
Gennesy is coached by one of college football’s best offensive line coaches in Jim Turner, a former Miami Dolphins offensive line coach, and is part of a program which has had 4 offensive tackles taken in the first round over the last four years; two of those were top 10 picks.
Gennesy has a heralded football IQ that allows him to play any position on the offensive line. He also has experience at the center position and is very familiar with the two guard positions. That type of versatility should have NFL scouts and coaches alike raving. So how does Gennesy compare to his four first round predecessors? Well, he does not have the experience of a perennial starter at the Division 1-FBS level, being a JUCO transfer. But outside of that he makes a compelling case to become the fifth first-round pick in Texas A&M’s last five years.
Gennesy has the ideal size and arm length required to compete at the next level. Furthermore, his speed and overall strength are immensely undervalued by most. In fact, he could be the most athletic tackle out of Texas A&M in the last decade.
Gennesy should see his draft stock increase throughout the season into all-star and combine season. He currently ranks fifth among his draft class of offensive tackles.
College football can be a great game of “what if?” For instance, what if Steve Spurrier had become coach at North Carolina instead of South Carolina? It almost happened. Steve Spurrier appeared on the “David Glenn Show” this week to promote his book and provided the back story. “I had talked to sort of a […]
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