Georgia Tech vs. USF | Saturday | 2 p.m. | TICKETS
By Andy Demetra | Inside The Chart
Jahaziel Lee has already learned a key difference about being a two-way player.
The chairs.
During games, offensive and defensive linemen often sink their 300-pound frames into metal folding chairs following changes in possession. They’re usually arranged in a semi-circle so their position coach can talk to them.
Those chairs may not be comfortable, but on a sweltering game day they’re an aluminum oasis, giving linemen a precious few minutes to catch their breath and get off their feet.
Lee no longer has that luxury. The 6-2, 300-pound senior, newly minted as both an offensive and defensive lineman under head coach Geoff Collins, is now engaged in his own hurry-up drill on the Georgia Tech sideline.
“I don’t really have a chance to sit down or get water. It’s just go, get a little sip, get the correction on defense, jump up, go [stand by [offensive line] Coach [Brent] Key, get what’s going on on offense, get the corrections on offense, and come back to defense. It’s just down and back and forth, down and back and forth,” Lee explained.
But, he added, “I’m ready for it.”
Collins has long been a believer in “positional flexibility,” cross-training players at different positions in order to maximize their value. With the Yellow Jackets depleted on the defensive line, Lee – a veteran of 17 starts at center and tackle – gladly heeded Collins’ casting call, repping at defensive tackle during the spring.
Not all of Tech’s two-way experiments lasted. Lee’s did. And last Thursday, that experiment finally entered its rollout phase. The Ponchatoula, La., native made his debut as a two-way player against No. 1 Clemson, logging 20 snaps on offense and 16 snaps on defense.
“It did feel weird. I felt a little nervous,” said Lee of his first defensive series, which came late in the first quarter.
“But this is my primary position. These are my roots.”
Indeed, Lee had never played a snap of offense before arriving at Tech in the summer of 2016. Playing in the largest high school classification in Louisiana, he earned all-district honors at defensive end as a senior. Lee took to his new position quickly at Tech, earning his first start at left tackle by week 10 of his freshman year. He appeared in 31 games over his first three seasons.
Yet when the opportunity presented itself, Lee couldn’t resist the siren song of his old side. He successfully lobbied Collins to try him at defensive tackle during the spring. Collins and defensive line coach Larry Knight saw enough flashes to make the two-way experiment official. The move was confirmed in August when Lee switched from No. 95 to No. 51 to comply with NCAA rules for the type of number an offensive lineman must wear. Lee says he chose the number because his cousin, Reginald Walker, a second-team all-Big 12 defensive lineman at Kansas State, also wears it.