McDowell taking ideal development path

#1
kamoshika

kamoshika

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#1
McDowell's 14 tackles on special teams last season topped Reeves-Maybin's team-leading mark of 11 in 2013. "Jalen has been a great mentor to Cortez," Jones said, "and they kind of laugh how they're following the same transition."

"He tries to call me his duo, but it's all good," McDowell said with a laugh."It's how we just make fun of each other. It's all fun. We love to compete. It's like two brothers going at it and trying to get at it."

Of course, Reeves-Maybin will be the one keeping McDowell from expanding his role to Tennessee's defense, but that's OK for the rising sophomore. "Whatever I can do to help everybody," he said, "that's all I'm looking for."

Reeves-Maybin certainly believes McDowell has a bright future. "I think Cortez is going to be really good," he said. "He's kind of the same-built player as me. He's a little faster than me actually, but don't tell him I said that. He's going to definitely be a good player. He's going to be able to make an impact on the game. He's a playmaker."
Vols' Cortez McDowell taking ideal development path | Local News | Times Free Press
 
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#4
#4
McDowell's time will come. If he's worthy, he will play. He may not start, but he will get playing time. One thing that is for sure is that he will be a really fast LB. I wonder if Butch will continue to convert Safeties into LBs in the future? He must of put on some good weight too, I believe he was only like 200 lbs. when he got to campus. The kid was legit coming out of HS too. He said some big time offers, including all the big boys in the SEC, FSU, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and several ACC schools. He will be a excellent player for us in time.
 
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#5
#5
ainge10heisman said:
McDowell's time will come. If he's worthy, he will play. He may not start, but he will get playing time. One thing that is for sure is that he will be a really fast LB. I wonder if Butch will continue to convert Safeties into LBs in the future? He must of put on some good weight too, I believe he was only like 200 lbs. when he got to campus. The kid was legit coming out of HS too. He said some big time offers, including all the big boys in the SEC, FSU, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and several ACC schools. He will be a excellent player for us in time.
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I hope Butch does. That approach is why our LBs were so good under Chavis.
 
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#6
#6
Cortez the Killer is a disgustingly good athlete to be able to lay the wood as well as he does. It'll be interesting to see whether or not he can maintain even a fraction of his athleticism while bulking up to play the outside. If so, he could end up being a star here.
 
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#7
#7
bhuff_32 said:
I hope Butch does. That approach is why our LBs were so good under Chavis.
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That was also our undoing. Many of Chavis' LBs were way undersized.

Eddie Moore, Kenyon Whiteside, Al Wilson, Eric Westmoreland, Kevin Simon, Dominique Stevenson, Ryan Karl, Ellix Wilson, etc were either 6' or shorter. The biggest these guys usually got was around 235 and most were closer to 220.

Just a note I thought I would add.
 
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#8
#8
agent|orange said:
That was also our undoing. Many of Chavis' LBs were way undersized.

Eddie Moore, Kenyon Whiteside, Al Wilson, Eric Westmoreland, Kevin Simon, Dominique Stevenson, Ryan Karl, Ellix Wilson, etc were either 6' or shorter. The biggest these guys usually got was around 235 and most were closer to 220.

Just a note I thought I would add.
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Undoing? Alot of those guys you mention seemed to do pretty well. A team built like that is for shutting down fast side line to side team. A defense like is more built Bama's is built more for combating a straight ahead running attack. Looks like Butch is trying to strike a happy median, but leaning more towards speed. Sounds like a great plan!
 
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#10
#10
VOLinNC said:
Jalen Reeves-Maybin - Yahoo! Sports
I just was wondering about JRM's ranking coming outta high school and saw his 40 time. Dude looks a lot quicker than 4.82 to me wow! And that was 40 pounds lighter.
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40 times are slightly over-rated and they do not equal football speed. JRM has great football speed. He accelerates well, takes good angles, and has lateral quickness.
 
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#11
#11
Vols2DaWall said:
40 times are slightly over-rated and they do not equal football speed. JRM has great football speed. He accelerates well, takes good angles, and has lateral quickness.
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Yeah his 4.2 in the shuttle speaks to his good acceleration but for a guy listed less than 200 lbs. that 4.82 40 time is pretty slow but who knows he may have never had anyone to show him proper technique for running a 40.
 
#12
#12
ainge10heisman said:
McDowell's time will come. If he's worthy, he will play. He may not start, but he will get playing time. One thing that is for sure is that he will be a really fast LB. I wonder if Butch will continue to convert Safeties into LBs in the future? He must of put on some good weight too, I believe he was only like 200 lbs. when he got to campus. The kid was legit coming out of HS too. He said some big time offers, including all the big boys in the SEC, FSU, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and several ACC schools. He will be a excellent player for us in time.
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He weighs 227 now
 
#13
#13
VOLinNC said:
Yeah his 4.2 in the shuttle speaks to his good acceleration but for a guy listed less than 200 lbs. that 4.82 40 time is pretty slow but who knows he may have never had anyone to show him proper technique for running a 40.
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Spot on. Also, in regards to shuttle times, all the anti-Dormady guys who think he doesn't fit the offense because he's too slow/not athletic enough, he posted a quicker shuttle time than JRM.
 
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#14
#14
KBVol said:
Spot on. Also, in regards to shuttle times, all the anti-Dormady guys who think he doesn't fit the offense because he's too slow/not athletic enough, he posted a quicker shuttle time than JRM.
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Yup I was just talking about Dormady's speed in the QB thread. He's only like .1 slower than Dobbs in the 40 and I think he may have ran a faster shuttle than Dobbs
 
#15
#15
VOLinNC said:
Yup I was just talking about Dormady's speed in the QB thread. He's only like .1 slower than Dobbs in the 40 and I think he may have ran a faster shuttle than Dobbs
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He recorded a better shuttle time than Torrance Gibson who everybody regarded as a great dual threat QB because of his athleticism/speed/quickness.
 
#16
#16
norrislakevol said:
Undoing? Alot of those guys you mention seemed to do pretty well. A team built like that is for shutting down fast side line to side team. A defense like is more built Bama's is built more for combating a straight ahead running attack. Looks like Butch is trying to strike a happy median, but leaning more towards speed. Sounds like a great plan!
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Just as you mention, and to further explain what I was saying, anytime we lined up against a strong North-South team, we were embarassed.

We consistently got manhandled by Florida and really any other legit power run team (Auburn, anyone from the ACC in the Peach Bowl or anyone in general from the Big-10/12).
 
#17
#17
KBVol said:
He recorded a better shuttle time than Torrance Gibson who everybody regarded as a great dual threat QB because of his athleticism/speed/quickness.
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Nobody wants actual numbers when there are pictures that prove other peoples biases. It happens the other way around, too.

I even posted about this. Dormady's shuttle time would have been among the top times for all QBs in the NFL Combine (so 3-4 years older than him) over the last 5 years.

Manziels was almost CB speed.
 
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#20
#20
agent|orange said:
Just as you mention, and to further explain what I was saying, anytime we lined up against a strong North-South team, we were embarassed.

We consistently got manhandled by Florida and really any other legit power run team (Auburn, anyone from the ACC in the Peach Bowl or anyone in general from the Big-10/12).
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Sometimes, yes. But, Jones wants those backers at 230 - 245 from what I understand. You don't want them too big or a spread team will wear you out because a 250 - 260 pound linebacker will get easily outran. too light....in the 220 range for example and bigger teams will run you over. I think their is a happy median to be had.
 
#21
#21
norrislakevol said:
Sometimes, yes. But, Jones wants those backers at 230 - 245 from what I understand. You don't want them too big or a spread team will wear you out because a 250 - 260 pound linebacker will get easily outran. too light....in the 220 range for example and bigger teams will run you over. I think their is a happy median to be had.
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I think where it looks like Jones wants our backers:

WLB: 230
ILB: 240
SLB: 235

is ideal. Kirkland could easily play at 6'2 240 and with speed. 6'3 Bates is apparently pushing up to 230 and plays with speed. I know he's been played at ILB and OLB but I think with his height and frame... he projects well at SLB. 6'2 McDowell can easily play fast at 230 or 235.

I really do think those core group of 3 guys will be the future of a very physical and fast group of LBs. And we have depth! Depth and talent at LB! It's too much for me to handle.

Regardless, point is... 6'3 235 will move much smoother than 5'11" 235. That's my point. Raynoch Thompson was a killer and he was roughly McDowell's size.

When is the last time we had depth of talented, well-sized and fast LBs? 2000?
 
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