Reis flourishing in move from safety to linebacker

<p>Chris Reis did everything asked of him last season as a backup safety.</p><p>He worked hard in practice, earned the title of captain on special teams and came through when he got a chance.</p><p>With proven skills such as those, it only was a matter of time before Reis moved into a starting spot _ even if he did have to change positions.</p><p>The 6-foot, 210-pound junior moved to linebacker early in spring drills and quickly established himself as the starter heading into the fall, performing well enough to catch the eye of Yellow Jackets coach Chan Gailey and new linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary.</p><p>Georgia Tech lost all three starters at linebacker from the team that finished 7-6 in 2003, which led to Reis' much anticipated switch.</p><p>"He's too good of a player to be sitting on the bench," Jean-Mary said of Reis. "We're just trying to find a place for him."</p><p>That's fine with Reis, who got significant playing time in only two games last season. The first was against North Carolina State as part of the Yellow Jackets' "dime" defensive package, with six defensive backs.</p><p>He finished with eight tackles that day, including a sack and two others for a loss, and also broke up a pass. On special teams, he recovered a fumble by the Wolfpack on the kickoff and set up a field goal.</p><p>In the Humanitarian Bowl against Tulsa, he also had eight tackles with another sack and broken up pass.</p><p>"He's another kid that fit into that statement of getting the best 11 players on the field," Jean-Mary said. "We're going to try to mix and match and find the guys with the best."</p><p>So far, so good for Reis.</p><p>"Anywhere I can help the team," he said. "I don't care if they put me at defensive tackle. I just want to play. I love to hit and I love to play the run."</p><p>He's still learning the position, which was clear Thursday after the Yellow Jackets' last spring workout before their final scrimmage; he stayed after practice to go over something with defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta.</p><p>Most of the differences involve the speed of the game. At linebacker, he's several yards closer to the action, with offensive linemen that outweigh him by about 100 pounds ready to knock him back.</p><p>"It's quicker reads, my head's definitely spinning out there," Reis said. "But now that I'm getting used to it, I'm getting the reads a lot faster."</p><p>At some point, assuming he stays at linebacker, he knows he'll need to gain some weight. That that won't happen until Gailey and his staff figure out what role Reis will fill.</p><p>"If we're going to ask him to run a lot and cover people out of the backfield, we don't want him too heavy and bulky," Gailey said.</p><p>Reis is joined on the outside right now by KaMichael Hall, with Gerris Wilkinson in the middle. In the past nine months, Wilkinson has moved around even more than Reis.</p><p>He started off last fall at outside linebacker, then moved to defensive end for the entire season because of injuries. At the start of spring, he was back at his original spot, then got pushed inside in the shuffling.</p><p>"It's not just taking a look," Gailey said. "It's an honest effort to try to see if that is the best combination. We didn't do it initially, we waited to see and then made some moves."</p><p>And keeping Reis in the lineup is one of the goals.</p><p>"This gets him on the field, which I think helps all of us," Gailey said.</p>

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