Can we now put the youth excuse to bed?

#1
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walkenvol

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#1
Without doubt, Ut was a young team overall in 2014. Several on VN appear to want to carry that mantra into 2015. Will that still be a fair opinion? A player only gets 4 seasons - at what point are they no longer considered young?

Returning starters for 2015;

On O;
-Dobbs a Junior QB who has started games in both 2013 and 2014
-Pig a senior who has started games for 3 years
-North a junior who has started for 2 years
-Josh Smith a red shirt soph..started games in 2 seasons
-Pearson a 24 year old senior
-Croom a RS junior
-(2) 5* RB's one a soph and the other a red shirt soph
-(2) RS seniors and a returning soph starter maning the interior OL
-a probable highly ranked juco RS junior at LT pushing a RS senior over to RT.
- a RS senior, junior and soph at TE

On D;
-freshman All American soph and RS senior at DE backed up by a junior and rs junior
-RS junior and juco senior along with (2) 5* freshman DT
-all sec caliber junior LB, senior juco in Weathered along with tons of other talent from which to choose
-a senior and rs senior with 6 years of starts between them at sefety
-an all sec junior along with a bunch of soph talent fighting for the other CB

If you don't think UT is positioned to be competitive with everyone next season, then it must be that our players are simply not talented enough or we're thin on talented back ups. There's plenty of age and experience returning for 2015.

Of course this doesn't guarantee SEC championships, but UT is plenty experienced to compete with everybody in the NCAA IMHO, JMO, TIFWIW.
 
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#2
#2
walkenvol said:
Without doubt, Ut was a young team overall in 2014. Several on VN appear to want to carry that mantra into 2015. Will that still be a fair opinion? A player only gets 4 seasons - at what point are they no longer considered young?





I dont know...maybe when the majority of your team is Juniors and Seniors?
Click to expand...
 
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#3
#3
Full off season mode on VN. August can't get here soon enough. Signing Day & Spring Practice will be nothing more than minor speed bumps it appears..
 
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#4
#4
walkenvol said:
Without doubt, Ut was a young team overall in 2014. Several on VN appear to want to carry that mantra into 2015. Will that still be a fair opinion? A player only gets 4 seasons - at what point are they no longer considered young?

Returning starters for 2015;

On O;
-Dobbs a Junior QB who has started games in both 2013 and 2014
-Pig a senior who has started games for 3 years
-North a junior who has started for 2 years
-Josh Smith a red shirt soph..started games in 2 seasons
-Pearson a 24 year old senior
-Croom a RS junior
-(2) 5* RB's one a soph and the other a red shirt soph
-(2) RS seniors and a returning soph starter maning the interior OL
-a probable highly ranked juco RS junior at LT pushing a RS senior over to RT.
- a RS senior, junior and soph at TE

On D;
-freshman All American soph and RS senior at DE backed up by a junior and rs junior
-RS junior and juco senior along with (2) 5* freshman DT
-all sec caliber junior LB, senior juco in Weathered along with tons of other talent from which to choose
-a senior and rs senior with 6 years of starts between them at sefety
-an all sec junior along with a bunch of soph talent fighting for the other CB

If you don't think UT is positioned to be competitive with everyone next season, then it must be that our players are simply not talented enough or we're thin on talented back ups. There's plenty of age and experience returning for 2015.

Of course this doesn't guarantee SEC championships, but UT is plenty experienced to compete with everybody in the NCAA IMHO, JMO, TIFWIW.
Click to expand...
Year 3 of the CBJ era..... Be patient I here there's good things to come. There's a reason coach Fulmer could get players... I think CBJ knows the formula
 
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#6
#6
Well we will still be pretty young when you factor in depth, and the number of True Freshman we use next year. I think your right though about it not being an excuse, and we should be competitive with team we play.
 
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#8
#8
We still had several Freshman players this year that will be starters and significant contributors next year. A lot of this years recruits will see plenty of playing time as well. So to answer your question, no. We will still be young overall.
 
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#9
#9
We will be marketed better in 15 but still be depending on 1st and 2nd year players. The SEC is tough and predominant upperclassman that are studs and also experienced. That we are young and will be young in 15 is a fact that doesn't necessarily make that an excuse. GO VOLS!!!!
 
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#10
#10
Youth and experience are not always one in the same.

Still gonna be pretty young but the experience levels took a good leap this year with the youth being on the field. A lot of these kids would not have seen the field or in very minimal rolls as Fr in normal circumstances.
 
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#11
#11
When we reach a point that player development is equal to or greater than our opponent(s), we will have reached a point at which youth and inexperience are no longer a factor.

I think that statement uses about as much logic as the OP employed. :crazy::)
 
#13
#13
We will have a experienced young roster...which is a great combination for the LONG TERM future of the program.

Because next year is going to be really good and better than anything since 2007, but 2016 and beyond will be even better!

I think a player is not considered "young" after they are heading into their third full season in the program so RS SO or true JR or older.

I would say half of our two deep or so will fit that mold next year so that would still be pretty young.
 
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#17
#17
Yes, we will still be young because we will be playing a lot of true freshmen again. However, it's not a complaint if you win. It's something you celebrate because you're winning AND you're team will be in tact for several more years.
 
#19
#19
Young maybe but drop Freshman comments. The old saying "there are no Freshman in November" should apply for this group of Freshman.
 
#20
#20
I think you are jumping the gun just a bit. If we have no injuries, especially at QB, you may be close to correct. However, if Dobbs is injured, we will have two true freshmen who will have to take the reins. We still have inexperience at MLB and it will take time to gain experience there. If whom ever starts at MLB is injured, we are in trouble at a very important position.

We still need experienced backups on the OL We are on the way and should have a really good season in 2015, but lets not claim the SEC title until we play the season. We lost a lot of playing time from a number of starters this year and we saw in the bowl game the importance of fielding a healthy team which has some experience. We need to build the depth at all positions for us to be the team we want.
 
#21
#21
We will definitely not be as young as we have been the past couple years.. So I do not think overall the youth will be used as an excuse for anything.

We will still see freshman getting significant play time, but the caliber of the freshman CBJ n Company are bringing in make it not much of a concern in my mind.

Depth will be improved, Experience on the field will be improved..And I think rightfully, that expectations for the team will be much higher for 2015.

If we are not at least in the hunt for the east. I personally will be disappointed. Not saying we should win it. I have not checked but I am sure teams like UF and UGA have vastly easier schedules then we do, as they do every year. But we should at least be in the conversation.
 
#22
#22
Volnation won't be satisfied until we have all red-shirt juniors and seniors, a depth chart of four star recruits 50 men deep, and not a single injury for an entire season...then, and only then, will they finally hold the coach accountable for the outcome of games and expect him to win about 8.
 
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#23
#23
walkenvol said:
Without doubt, Ut was a young team overall in 2014. Several on VN appear to want to carry that mantra into 2015. Will that still be a fair opinion? A player only gets 4 seasons - at what point are they no longer considered young?

Returning starters for 2015;

On O;
-Dobbs a Junior QB who has started games in both 2013 and 2014
-Pig a senior who has started games for 3 years
-North a junior who has started for 2 years
-Josh Smith a red shirt soph..started games in 2 seasons
-Pearson a 24 year old senior
-Croom a RS junior
-(2) 5* RB's one a soph and the other a red shirt soph
-(2) RS seniors and a returning soph starter maning the interior OL
-a probable highly ranked juco RS junior at LT pushing a RS senior over to RT.
- a RS senior, junior and soph at TE

On D;
-freshman All American soph and RS senior at DE backed up by a junior and rs junior
-RS junior and juco senior along with (2) 5* freshman DT
-all sec caliber junior LB, senior juco in Weathered along with tons of other talent from which to choose
-a senior and rs senior with 6 years of starts between them at sefety
-an all sec junior along with a bunch of soph talent fighting for the other CB

If you don't think UT is positioned to be competitive with everyone next season, then it must be that our players are simply not talented enough or we're thin on talented back ups. There's plenty of age and experience returning for 2015.

Of course this doesn't guarantee SEC championships, but UT is plenty experienced to compete with everybody in the NCAA IMHO, JMO, TIFWIW.
Click to expand...

The musings of an impatient fan. When we get to the point where we are no longer depending on true freshmen, we will not be young. We are depending on two frosh dt's, at the very least inexperienced offensive tackles, freshman or RS freshman mlb, and our depth chart period will be littered with true freshmen. We need to get to the point where redshirt everyone except bonafide 5 stars.
 
#24
#24
ImportedVoL said:
We will definitely not be as young as we have been the past couple years.. So I do not think overall the youth will be used as an excuse for anything.

We will still see freshman getting significant play time, but the caliber of the freshman CBJ n Company are bringing in make it not much of a concern in my mind.

Depth will be improved, Experience on the field will be improved..And I think rightfully, that expectations for the team will be much higher for 2015.

If we are not at least in the hunt for the east. I personally will be disappointed. Not saying we should win it. I have not checked but I am sure teams like UF and UGA have vastly easier schedules then we do, as they do every year. But we should at least be in the conversation.
Click to expand...

Bama has had several five star busts. We will not know about a single prospect until they arrive......including Mckenzie.
 
#25
#25
VOLINVONORE said:
I think you are jumping the gun just a bit. If we have no injuries, especially at QB, you may be close to correct. However, if Dobbs is injured, we will have two true freshmen who will have to take the reins. We still have inexperience at MLB and it will take time to gain experience there. If whom ever starts at MLB is injured, we are in trouble at a very important position.

We still need experienced backups on the OL We are on the way and should have a really good season in 2015, but lets not claim the SEC title until we play the season. We lost a lot of playing time from a number of starters this year and we saw in the bowl game the importance of fielding a healthy team which has some experience. We need to build the depth at all positions for us to be the team we want.
Click to expand...

If Dobbs gets injured early, we could go 5-7.......he must stay healthy. We aren't bringing in a Heath Shuler or Peyton at qb.
 
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