With a year behind him

#1
Nocleats

Nocleats

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#1
With a year behind him now, I wonder how much more physically ready is D Blair than he was this time last year.. I know coaches said he had the perfect frame last year, but his strength and stamina were NOWHERE Close to what they have to be to excel. With long arms you have to possess great strength in tour upper body, chest arms and hands and to play in the offense that Tennessee eventually wants to get to you have to be able to sprint for 6 seconds 95 times in 2 hours without getting gassed.. Just wonder how much Coach Lawson has been able to do with Donte.. This could be the difference next year..
 
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#2
#2
Look at how every member of this team progressed throughout the season. I really think we are in for a wonderful surprise in 2015. This team is going to grind all offseason and give us Vols fans what we've been waiting for....real visible progress! And bragging rights!!!
 
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#3
#3
Another Vol who will benefit believe it or not will be J Hurd.. Shoulder injury at end of Jr HS season kept him out of the weight room b4 his SR year ( other than rehab) and same thing last year as he recovered from another shoulder surgery and was very limited in last winters workouts as well.. This will be his first real chance to really take advantage of winter workouts in quite a while and I think you will see a much stronger and faster J Hurd next year because of it.. Improve the O line for him and BOOM!!!
 
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#4
#4
My main concern about Blair was he foot speed. With an year in our strength and conditioning program I think he will be ready come fall. We really need him.
 
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#5
#5
dduncan4163 said:
My main concern about Blair was he foot speed. With an year in our strength and conditioning program I think he will be ready come fall. We really need him.
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He has to go all out. Vols need him, coaches trusted him, and if he wants to make money at the next level, he HAS TO MAKE HIMSELF great. Every day make himself better, and then do even more.. The next 25 months for this guy could make him rich if he sells out!
 
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#6
#6
He needs to get his weight under control if he does he will see the field for UT. If he doesn't he will be a bust!
 
#9
#9
Truth is Dobbs could have used a redshirt year. He'll be a junior next year and still hasn't played a whole 12 game season. I do understand that he was needed, but I just wonder how much different he would have been with a full rs year!
Blair may finally be getting the year he always needed.
 
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#10
#10
Hopefully after this year Tenn gets back to where they can redshirt the biggest majority of the recruits, or the QBs and Lineman at least.. Its been a long time since the Vols have had that kind of roster depth but it sure pays off when you do...
 
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#11
#11
KKruzVFL said:
Why was he recruited if he had all of these issues?
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Because he was a top 10 overall juco player. Also, only 2 out of the top 10 JUCO OTs played this year, the rest including Blair redshirted. Think of it like this, Dontari Poe was draft out of Memphis in the first round with decent stats. Not bad, but nothing spectacular. He showed out in the combine, showing great speed, strength and movement. Sometimes you invest in a players potential instead of their immediate impact. Now with Blair, you've got a 6'8" 300+ LT, with long arms, big hands, and decent quickness. The coaches will try to get all they can get out of him but it falls on him. A year in the weight room and figuring out the differences between JUCO and SEC big boy football will do this young man a great service.
 
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#12
#12
Nocleats said:
Hopefully after this year Tenn gets back to where they can redshirt the biggest majority of the recruits, or the QBs and Lineman at least.. Its been a long time since the Vols have had that kind of roster depth but it sure pays off when you do...
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It would be nice to be able to sit a 4* out for a year and let him develop his strength and conditioning.
 
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#13
#13
gunner said:
He needs to get his weight under control if he does he will see the field for UT. If he doesn't he will be a bust!
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DB is 6'8" 300 lbs his weight seems to be just fine. He needed to work on his strength and conditioning. Hopefully he has done that.
 
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#14
#14
I like where this program is headed....

But just as Butch always mentions players can get better instead of "praising" them.....

Us fans need to be just a critical of the staff at times.

How do they know Blair wasn't ready? Dobbs was 3rd string behind Nathan ****ing Peterman because he "didn't practice well"......

What if Blair is just really the next greatest tackle and the staff never knew it because they don't allow him to play?

Many coaches have the philosophy that you actually learn by being on the field and learning from mistakes. Not standing on the sidelines watching. It's really hard for any rational person to think the top rated JUCO player is just soft or no good....
 
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#15
#15
madbamahater said:
I like where this program is headed....

But just as Butch always mentions players can get better instead of "praising" them.....

Us fans need to be just a critical of the staff at times.

How do they know Blair wasn't ready? Dobbs was 3rd string behind Nathan ****ing Peterman because he "didn't practice well"......

What if Blair is just really the next greatest tackle and the staff never knew it because they don't allow him to play?

Many coaches have the philosophy that you actually learn by being on the field and learning from mistakes. Not standing on the sidelines watching. It's really hard for any rational person to think the top rated JUCO player is just soft or no good....
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I'm sorry, but I am tired of hearing Dobbs was 3rd string. They were trying to REDSHIRT him and it didn't work. They put him 3rd so it would be an emergency if he played, not mop up duty. Peterman was never really ahead of Dobbs.
 
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#16
#16
ATLVols said:
I'm sorry, but I am tired of hearing Dobbs was 3rd string. They were trying to REDSHIRT him and it didn't work. They put him 3rd so it would be an emergency if he played, not mop up duty. Peterman was never really ahead of Dobbs.
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Bingo. A post above mentioned how it would be so awesome had Dobbs gotten to redshirt and reach 5th year SR potential. Well, perhaps the coaches new this and wanted him three more years instead of two. Now, we'll never know. Let's just enjoy the fact that we have a solid starter next year.
 
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#17
#17
WilliamDuVOL said:
Bingo. A post above mentioned how it would be so awesome had Dobbs gotten to redshirt and reach 5th year SR potential. Well, perhaps the coaches new this and wanted him three more years instead of two. Now, we'll never know. Let's just enjoy the fact that we have a solid starter next year.
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Thanks for the Amen!!
 
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#18
#18
madbamahater said:
I like where this program is headed....

But just as Butch always mentions players can get better instead of "praising" them.....

Us fans need to be just a critical of the staff at times.

How do they know Blair wasn't ready? Dobbs was 3rd string behind Nathan ****ing Peterman because he "didn't practice well"......

What if Blair is just really the next greatest tackle and the staff never knew it because they don't allow him to play?

Many coaches have the philosophy that you actually learn by being on the field and learning from mistakes. Not standing on the sidelines watching. It's really hard for any rational person to think the top rated JUCO player is just soft or no good....
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CBJ is managing the program for the long haul and not for instant gratification. If you can't understand that there is no hope for you. I am glad we have Blair for 2 more years instead of 1 and would have had Dobbs for another 3 if Worley didn't get hurt. I am just glad we have smarter people developing the program than the uninformed magpies chirping from their computer terminals.
 
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#20
#20
volroadwarrior said:
CBJ is managing the program for the long haul and not for instant gratification. If you can't understand that there is no hope for you. I am glad we have Blair for 2 more years instead of 1 and would have had Dobbs for another 3 if Worley didn't get hurt. I am just glad we have smarter people developing the program than the uninformed magpies chirping from their computer terminals.
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I wish we could have red shirted Dobbs this year to, but if we had we would have been 4 and 8 and this recruiting class would have fell apart.:eek:hmy:
 
#21
#21
Nocleats said:
Hopefully after this year Tenn gets back to where they can redshirt the biggest majority of the recruits, or the QBs and Lineman at least.. Its been a long time since the Vols have had that kind of roster depth but it sure pays off when you do...
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We will start stock piling talent in the 16 recruiting class, we will redshirt about half of the 15 class, we wont have to play 24 in 15 i hope.:thumbsup::
 
#22
#22
On TOS... there was a thread that discussed next years EARLY depth chart that was supposedly put out by coaches and some "Friend of a friend" saw it and it didn't even have Blair in the 2 deep. TFWIW. Who knows?
 
#23
#23
madbamahater said:
I like where this program is headed....

But just as Butch always mentions players can get better instead of "praising" them.....

Us fans need to be just a critical of the staff at times.

How do they know Blair wasn't ready? Dobbs was 3rd string behind Nathan ****ing Peterman because he "didn't practice well"......

What if Blair is just really the next greatest tackle and the staff never knew it because they don't allow him to play?

Many coaches have the philosophy that you actually learn by being on the field and learning from mistakes. Not standing on the sidelines watching. It's really hard for any rational person to think the top rated JUCO player is just soft or no good....
Click to expand...



Someday you might actually learn something about college football and how Championship teams are managed and built.

You also need to know that there's a HUGE difference in JUCO and having to go up against the best in the SEC and other top programs.

Coaches actually do see lots more than any of us ever will and they see how O linemen and D linemen compete against each other and have every player rated where they're at and know exactly what every player needs to do in order to be ready to compete at the highest levels.

It's been said many times that the coaches and O coordinator said that Dobbs passing was consistently over their heads or in the dirt in front of them and doing that consistently is NOT being ready to be the starter yet.

You say the same old, tired things over and over in many threads but you believing it and saying it over and over will never change the facts my friend.

Our coaches are well paid because they actually do know what they're doing.

#BrickbyBrick...VFL...GBO!!!
 
#24
#24
Nocleats said:
Hopefully after this year Tenn gets back to where they can redshirt the biggest majority of the recruits, or the QBs and Lineman at least.. Its been a long time since the Vols have had that kind of roster depth but it sure pays off when you do...
Click to expand...

Indeed.....Ohio State .......example
 
#25
#25
Is Blair going to be a Daniel MCcullars type player?
Obviously Blair is offense, just asking?
 
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