Jatius Geer’s physical development in high school set up breakout season at Syracuse

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Jatius Geer resembled a baby deer when Kevin Smith first laid eyes on the high school freshman. He had a short torso, long legs and huge feet. Smith assumed Geer, at roughly 6-foot-2, 150 pounds, would be a wide receiver or defensive back. Surely not a defensive lineman.

Geer struggled in the weight room, displaying poor form and a lack of coordination since he hadn’t caught up to his body. He was awkward when performing power and hang cleans even with just the bar, and only bench pressed 95 pounds. His ankle mobility was so poor and his hips were so weak that he couldn’t squat.

“The first few times in the weight room he was God awful,” Smith said. “He was terrible.”

But Geer developed into a defensive lineman in the weight room, Smith said. As Belton-Honea Path (S.C.) High School’s strength and defensive line coach, Smith spent hours improving Geer’s mobility and explosiveness.

Geer’s weight room numbers skyrocketed as he filled out his now 6-foot-6, 233-pound body. He moved from tight end to defensive line, got bumped up to the varsity team and earned 19 Division-I offers. After playing in one game last season, Geer has become a key contributor in his second season at SU, recording 2.5 sacks over his last four games and 22 tackles over the last seven.

“He’s growing up right in front of our eyes,” head coach Dino Babers said. “I see him as someone that’s going to go from a baby bear to a grizzly.”

Russell Blackston, Belton-Honea Path’s head coach, told Geer the spring of his freshman year he had the chance to play D-I football given his length and ability to gain leverage. But Blackston knew Geer needed to spend time in the weight room, so Geer spent his freshman season on BHP’s junior-varsity team, and started there the following year, too.

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Blackston was still deciding if Geer would play varsity as a sophomore when he suited up against Greenville High School in the season opener. Geer had four sacks, and Blackston immediately promoted to varsity.

Opponents picked on Geer’s slender frame that season, though. He struggled to bend his knees and ankles, BHP defensive coordinator Jarad Jennings said, and teams pulled guards or halfbacks to knock him out of plays.

That’s where the weight room came in. Smith and Geer focused on power cleans, hang cleans and push presses. By the time he graduated, Geer power cleaned over 225 pounds. Players with long arms typically don’t bench press well, Smith said, but Geer loved the exercise even though his arms were so long he could tie his shoes standing up. He hit 275-315 pounds as an upperclassman.

“It was night and day,” Smith said.

Geer spent additional time improving his mobility. Smith explained if a player can’t bend their ankles, they can’t squat regardless of how much power they have. Smith had Geer do exercises where he kneeled down and pushed his knee over his toe, keeping his foot flat on the ground. He couldn’t do that when he started.

As his ankle mobility improved, so did his hips and overall explosiveness. Jennings said the mobility work helped Geer lift heavier weight and even opposing players.

Jennings knew Geer could control offensive linemen because of his long arms. He worked with the defensive end on hand placement, and gave Geer the freedom to rush inside toward the B-gap and get after the quarterback.

Everything came together at the beginning of Geer’s junior year, Jennings said. That year, Geer recorded seven sacks and 63 tackles. Opponents rarely ran the ball toward his side, and built pass protection around him.

“Everybody knew where Jatius Geer was at,” Blackston said. “Everybody had to game plan against Jatius.”

In pass rush situations, Smith saw Geer explode and dip his hips — boosted by their increased mobility — to beat offensive tackles outside. Former BHP offensive tackle Jackson Hall went against Geer everyday in practice, noting the defensive end was the longest player he ever faced in high school. Geer was strong at bull rushing, getting his arms on linemen and pushing them back, Hall said.

“From going against him in JV to senior year, you could just feel the difference in power that he got over the course of being there,” Hall said.

Geer had to handle the pandemic his junior and senior years. Blackston told Geer in spring 2020 he still had to work and train if he wanted to get recruited. Smith texted him workouts so he could get stronger. The summer prior to his senior year, only nine people could be in the weight room at once, and there were no spotters. Practices didn’t start until September, and only a six-game season was played.

Blackston had an existing relationship with Ryan Bartow, Syracuse’s then-director of high school relations, during Geer’s recruitment. When Blackston sent over Geer’s film, Bartow was “all over it,” and Syracuse offered him quickly.

After arriving at SU last year, Geer mostly watched. He learned from veteran defensive linemen like Cody Roscoe, the Orange’s sack leader. Geer said he saw Roscoe’s approach to every play and the weight room. He said his sacks — like many of Roscoe’s last year — came after not winning the initial one-on-one battle at the line, but eventually getting to the quarterback through extra effort.

Geer became a starter after Roscoe graduated last season. Chris Achuff, a former Arizona Cardinals assistant, moved from coaching SU’s linebackers to defensive line in the offseason. Achuff helps players with little fixes that can turn good plays into great ones. Geer sometimes works too far inside or outside in his first step during pass rush, for example, and Achuff has emphasized working vertically. Coming into the year, Geer wanted to make his hands more quick and violent, and has consistently worked with Achuff on quick hands drills.

“He knows what he’s talking about,” Geer said of Achuff. “We got the athleticism and the talent, he puts us in position to make those plays.”

On a 3rd-and-7 play against Notre Dame, Geer was shut down off the edge. But he chased quarterback Drew Pyne, who was scrambling left, and tackled him from behind for a crucial sack. It was the kind of second-effort he saw from Roscoe countless times, and one that reminded Blackston of the plays he chased quarterbacks on in high school.

“The best is still yet to come for Jatius,” Blackston said. “He’s going to keep growing and keep developing. I don’t think anybody’s seen his cap potential yet.”