Good looking team

#126
#126
rdk4121 said:
Are you good bud? UT didn't lose to UK by 3. We lost by 24 in our own place. What are you talking about?

Missouri still finished the year better then we did. Missouri lost key players, but then again we lost about 4 times as many so I say that evens out. Missouri isn't some world beater, but I stand by the reasons I gave. That same Arkansas team they beat by 2 had just beat us by 2 touchdowns.
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“Bud” UK just lost their 10 best players and have to replace their starting QB out of a room where any of UTs four would be the best player.

You’ll just have to do your own reading on Mizzou. They had a decent system for finding and polishing diamonds but the last coach couldn’t sustain it. They have serious talent gaps and are thinner than UT
 
#127
#127
rdk4121 said:
Well if they finish ahead of you they have certainly passed you, and both of those teams did that, and therefore they are ahead of us. They also aren't in the first year of a new head coach with unprecedented roster turnover in the history of college football.

I'm as much of a sunshine pumper as the next guy, but you guys are delusional. I'm being realistic, I'm not going to put unrealistic expectations on a team that lost 35 transfers and 2 more that just retired. I just don't expect that team to go 9-3 or 8-4. There's still talent on this roster, but we're 2-3 injuries away from being in serious trouble at certain spots.

It would be really nice to finish ahead of Missouri and Kentucky (and Vandy and USCe), as that would be a clear sign of progress given we finished behind Missouri and Kentucky last year.
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And what about the depth of Mizzou and Kentucky?

People keep talking about what we lost. But what did we add???
What were able to keep because of Covid?

You all act like half the team left and nothing replaced any of that...
There's still 80 scholarship players on the team
3 deep at QB
4 deep at RB
8 deep at WR
11 deep at OL
9 guys at DL (not including transfers) that have played
5 deep at OLB
5 deep at ILB
6 deep at CB
5 deep at S
 
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#129
#129
LittleVol said:
Maybe we do end up 5-7...
But I'd be very surprised.
I lowkey think we have 9-3 , 10-2 talent.

This is a talented team.
We have a 5 star QB who might not even be starter because of other talented guys.

RBs that can play WR and RB about 4 deep
- Small ( runs hard)
- Beckwith ( plus power)
- Evans (plus power)
- Wright - can all do everything.

WRa that can run. Some ranked high in prep.
Others just talented
Hyatt 4*
Keyton 4 *
Calloway 4*
Payton 4 *
Jones - All Conference Return Man
And MORE!

Big strong higley ranked OL. Two 5 *s starting at the tackles and big strong men in between.

And the DEFENSE is just littered with athletic fast dudes that are relatively unknown.

10-2.
And I ain't saying it's going to be Florida .

I'm ready for this!!
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Love the optimism. But I've fallen way too many time for this only to be sitting around pissed off in mid-October with another stinging loss to UF and UGA with Bama staring down our sites. I will have to see it to believe it.

And we may have talent, and we may be very underrated. But even if it were true, we still aren't in the same universe as UGA and Bama. And the UF hex on us is real, I'm convinced.
 
#130
#130
sjt18 said:
“Bud” UK just lost their 10 best players and have to replace their starting QB out of a room where any of UTs four would be the best player.

You’ll just have to do your own reading on Mizzou. They had a decent system for finding and polishing diamonds but the last coach couldn’t sustain it. They have serious talent gaps and are thinner than UT
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Any of our QBs last year would've still been their best player. Their QBs are a trainwreck, but it doesn't matter. We lost more than 10 starters as well believe it or not. Again, despite what you said, we didn't lose by 3. We got dismantled by a Kentucky in our own place. We still have to beat them on the field and finish ahead of them for any of that to matter.

Missouri is Missouri. They've never been the most talented, but they get the most out of what they got. They finished ahead of us as well in the standings. Yes we did beat them, but we got them at the perfect time. We certainly have a chance against them, but we'll be underdogs in that game most likely (especially at Missouri).
 
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#131
#131
LittleVol said:
And what about the depth of Mizzou and Kentucky?

People keep talking about what we lost. But what did we add???
What were able to keep because of Covid?

You all act like half the team left and nothing replaced any of that...
There's still 80 scholarship players on the team
3 deep at QB
4 deep at RB
8 deep at WR
11 deep at OL
9 guys at DL (not including transfers) that have played
5 deep at OLB
5 deep at ILB
6 deep at CB
5 deep at S
Click to expand...
Every team is 5-6 deep at every position. Just because you have literal bodies there doesn't mean they've played or excelled in sec competition before. Point to anyone in our secondary that's proven to be a dependable option for us. Maybe Taylor, at best? Pick a linebacker that has been even an average starter in the SEC? There aren't any. Yes we have good depth at line, but it has been that way for 3 years now. Depth doesn't mean anything if you don't have a difference maker.

On offense, I have hope for QBs, but you have two guys that were benched at their previous school and a guy that started 3 games (and was benched/ rotated out in all 3 games). We don't have a running back or WR on our roster that has had more than 300 years receiving or rushing in a single year in college. I'm not sure if our combined stats from every single player at those positions is much more than 1000 yards. OL lost their best player and two starters at tackle. Yes there's still talent, but a former walk-on is in a pretty good position to start.

What about any of that is inspiring confidence? There's still talent around, but again if Taylor goes down, who is starting at CB? If Cooper Mays goes down, who is our center (or who replaces Carvin at guard). Who is our backup nickel corner? Theo is only decent anyway, but he's still the best we got there. You guys have to be realistic about this season. They might put a run together and pull out a couple of the toss ups, but don't be shocked if that doesn't happen. Just winning the games were supposed to win would be a nice improvement.
 
#132
#132
Nationdom said:
Tennessee has more talent than UK, Vandy, usc, Missouri combined
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Talent that's probably significantly behind in terms of development in comparison to Kentucky any Missouri. Vandy is a dumpster fire, and USCe sucks, I'm not worried about them at all. Both of those are homes games as well. Missouri and Kentucky are both away games, which only adds to the difficulty.
 
#133
#133
LittleVol said:
Maybe we do end up 5-7...
But I'd be very surprised.
I lowkey think we have 9-3 , 10-2 talent.

This is a talented team.
We have a 5 star QB who might not even be starter because of other talented guys.

RBs that can play WR and RB about 4 deep
- Small ( runs hard)
- Beckwith ( plus power)
- Evans (plus power)
- Wright - can all do everything.

WRa that can run. Some ranked high in prep.
Others just talented
Hyatt 4*
Keyton 4 *
Calloway 4*
Payton 4 *
Jones - All Conference Return Man
And MORE!

Big strong higley ranked OL. Two 5 *s starting at the tackles and big strong men in between.

And the DEFENSE is just littered with athletic fast dudes that are relatively unknown.

10-2.
And I ain't saying it's going to be Florida .

I'm ready for this!!
Click to expand...
The issue like it has been for years is depth...we are lacking depth on defense and in the SEC you gotta have that. If we go 6-6 and get into a bowl, we've over accomplished
 
#134
#134
I’m expecting our team to be historically bad, particularly on defense. If the DC hire turns out to be a good one I will be shocked.
 
#135
#135
I am optimistic that we will be better due to the fact that at OL LB we were about as poor coached as any team I have seen. Also about as unhappy/ no fun at all last year as I have seen. 8-4
 
#140
#140
OffTackleVol said:
With average, not great, not good, just average QB play last year we win 7-8 games. Culture, coaching, and QB play last year killed us, not lack of talent.
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You seriously think we could have gone 7-3 or 8-2 versus an All-SEC schedule last year?
 
#142
#142
“First day of pads, where we were at last spring to where we are, it’s a different group,” Heupel said. “It’s different on the practice field, the physicality, playing upfield, disrupting and changing the line of scrimmage. Most importantly, it’s just a different group inside the meeting room, who they are, the accountability factor, every single day their consistency, their work habits, their ability to learn, their ability to want to play for the guy next to them and do it right and the accountability in that room is completely different. That’s why it’ll be different on the field, too.”
Vols' D-line hailed as ‘a different group’ after strong scrimmage
 
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#145
#145
rjd970 said:
And the UF hex on us is real, I'm convinced.
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More than anything else, missed tackles against Florida seemed to kill our momentum in so many games over the years, going way back. Guys will come out of the woodwork objecting to my saying this, but I watched our defenses miss so many tackles against Florida that it became a major humbug in my fandom. After the first scrimmage, Coach praised the defense for consistently making aggressive, open field tackles. I want to see that against all our opponents, but especially Florida. Knock, knock, knock, on wood.
 
#146
#146
S
rdk4121 said:
Every team is 5-6 deep at every position. Just because you have literal bodies there doesn't mean they've played or excelled in sec competition before. Point to anyone in our secondary that's proven to be a dependable option for us. Maybe Taylor, at best? Pick a linebacker that has been even an average starter in the SEC? There aren't any. Yes we have good depth at line, but it has been that way for 3 years now. Depth doesn't mean anything if you don't have a difference maker.

On offense, I have hope for QBs, but you have two guys that were benched at their previous school and a guy that started 3 games (and was benched/ rotated out in all 3 games). We don't have a running back or WR on our roster that has had more than 300 years receiving or rushing in a single year in college. I'm not sure if our combined stats from every single player at those positions is much more than 1000 yards. OL lost their best player and two starters at tackle. Yes there's still talent, but a former walk-on is in a pretty good position to start.

What about any of that is inspiring confidence? There's still talent around, but again if Taylor goes down, who is starting at CB? If Cooper Mays goes down, who is our center (or who replaces Carvin at guard). Who is our backup nickel corner? Theo is only decent anyway, but he's still the best we got there. You guys have to be realistic about this season. They might put a run together and pull out a couple of the toss ups, but don't be shocked if that doesn't happen. Just winning the games were supposed to win would be a nice improvement.
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So 8-4 is your pick?
 
#147
#147
Sin City Vol said:
The issue like it has been for years is depth...we are lacking depth on defense and in the SEC you gotta have that. If we go 6-6 and get into a bowl, we've over accomplished
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People always assume everyone else doesn't have depth issues as well.

We're straight up more talented than 8 of the teams.
Its a wash with Ole Miss....
 
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#149
#149
LittleVol said:
Maybe we do end up 5-7...
But I'd be very surprised.
I lowkey think we have 9-3 , 10-2 talent.

This is a talented team.
We have a 5 star QB who might not even be starter because of other talented guys.

RBs that can play WR and RB about 4 deep
- Small ( runs hard)
- Beckwith ( plus power)
- Evans (plus power)
- Wright - can all do everything.

WRa that can run. Some ranked high in prep.
Others just talented
Hyatt 4*
Keyton 4 *
Calloway 4*
Payton 4 *
Jones - All Conference Return Man
And MORE!

Big strong higley ranked OL. Two 5 *s starting at the tackles and big strong men in between.

And the DEFENSE is just littered with athletic fast dudes that are relatively unknown.

10-2.
And I ain't saying it's going to be Florida .

I'm ready for this!!
Click to expand...

which player or players have performed at an All SEC Conference level that is on this roster? Include incoming players. Talking about their performance in past seasons...

I've been asking this question for 3 months now and people that see the players everyday have been unable to name one..
 
#150
#150
Not trying to be negative but one thing to think about we have seniors coming back because of a Covid year.Do all teams not? Maybe we have more coming back than say Bama because theirs went to the NFL.We probably also lost more than any team due to the coaching change.Don’t we lead the portal? Thanks Gump.
 
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