Which non-early enrollee will have the best fall camp?

#1
The Artful Dodger

The Artful Dodger

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#1
Warrior, Kongbo, Byrd, Guarantano, Callaway?

...or will one of the less heralded recruits be the surprise of pre-season camp.

IMHO, two sleepers to keep an eye on would be Daniel Butuli and Latrell Williams.

-With Butuli, considering we could still use more depth at linebacker, he could project as Kirkland Jr's backup at MLB. Colton Jumper has a lot of heart, but a more talented backup at MLB would be more ideal. Not counting out JaQuan Blakely either. His 6'2" 220lb frame could suggest a move from OLB to MLB.

-Since Williams was somewhat un-heralded and committed late in the recruiting process, I don't know as much about him as some of the other recruits. But, it seems that he could carve out a niche as a backup slot or special teams player based solely off of his speed.

What are VN's thoughts on these two, as well as other non-early enrollees who have the potential to show out in Fall Camp?
 
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#3
#3
Most of the EE will be redshirted. Kongbo is poised to contribute and help to solidify a championship caliber DL rotation. Outside of him, I would prefer redshirts across the board, unless the kids are really talented.
 
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#4
#4
No idea, and that's the beauty of it. I certainly didn't see Barnett being arguably our best player from the historic 2014 class. And, I probably would've included Bates as one of the ones who would've impressed early.
 
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#5
#5
titansvolsfaninga said:
Most of the EE will be redshirted. Kongbo is poised to contribute and help to solidify a championship caliber DL rotation. Outside of him, I would prefer redshirts across the board, unless the kids are really talented.
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Agree. If any freshman is gonna play this year, he better be damn special. Got a whole lotta talented, experienced upperclassmen to get past....don't see it happening very often, if at all, unless we experience a lot of injuries....which, unfortunately, ain't far-fetched.
 
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#6
#6
KBVol said:
Agree. If any freshman is gonna play this year, he better be damn special. Got a whole lotta talented, experienced upperclassmen to get past....don't see it happening very often, if at all, unless we experience a lot of injuries....which, unfortunately, ain't far-fetched.
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A lot of different ways I could have angled this question. Maybe, what I should have said is which non-early enrollee will have the greatest impact once his days on the hill are done? My hope and guess would be Guarantano, because him becoming elite probably means Tennessee stays in the hunt for an SEC championship year in and year out.

In my original question I was really just asking who do you think would have the best fall camp out of the non-early enrollees. Not, who would have the best year as a freshman.
 
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#7
#7
The Artful Dodger said:
A lot of different ways I could have angled this question. Maybe, what I should have said is which non-early enrollee will have the greatest impact once his days on the hill are done? My hope and guess would be Guarantano, because him becoming elite probably means Tennessee stays in the hunt for an SEC championship year in and year out.

In my original question I was really just asking who do you think would have the best fall camp out of the non-early enrollees. Not, who would have the best year as a freshman.
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Gotcha. My post that you just responded to was tailored to another poster's comment, sorry if I strayed too far from your original question. I honestly have no idea. Kongbo would seem to be the mostly likely answer IMO, but who knows. Like I said earlier, the answer to this question 2 years ago was Derek Barnett and I never would've guessed that.
 
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#8
#8
With the way we rotate receivers and the way they seem to always be a triage unit, any FROSH WR needs to be ready for playing time
 
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#9
#9
KBVol said:
Gotcha. My post that you just responded to was tailored to another poster's comment, sorry if I strayed too far from your original question. I honestly have no idea. Kongbo would seem to be the mostly likely answer IMO, but who knows. Like I said earlier, the answer to this question 2 years ago was Derek Barnett and I never would've guessed that.
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Will be interesting to watch it play out. Im hoping that Brooks or Pope turn out to be quality tight ends. If not, im confident that Scott will be able to bring some in some stud TE's to replace Wolf.
 
#11
#11
With Perry having his knee cleaned up (I'm cautiously optimistic) I would be thrilled if Williams came in and put to rest any doubt about his skill set specifically receiving and speed.

JUCO's are hit or miss. Kongbo has one year of HS, RS before departing Wyoming (listed second on the depth chart) to play one year at AZ Western. To this point he's relied solely on his athleticism and strength but we all know to well to be successful on this level in the SEC a player needs more. So again, here I would be thrilled to see JK live up to the hype of #1 JUCO Defensive Player and like Williams have a standout camp that continues into the fall then winter
 
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#16
#16
2ez2dv8 said:
With Perry having his knee cleaned up (I'm cautiously optimistic) I would be thrilled if Williams came in and put to rest any doubt about his skill set specifically receiving and speed.

JUCO's are hit or miss. Kongbo has one year of HS, RS before departing Wyoming (listed second on the depth chart) to play one year at AZ Western. To this point he's relied solely on his athleticism and strength but we all know to well to be successful on this level in the SEC a player needs more. So again, here I would be thrilled to see JK live up to the hype of #1 JUCO Defensive Player and like Williams have a standout camp that continues into the fall then winter
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I think what gets people excited about JK's potential impact is the fact that he is a 6'6" freak athlete with an abundance of pass rush moves. I realize the competition he has been seeing isn't anything in the same stratosphere as what he will be seeing, but someone with those measurables and that amount of athleticism SHOULD translate into a big time player. Now, we have seen plenty of busts, but on paper this kid is the definition of a Freak Athlete.
 
#19
#19
KBVol said:
No idea, and that's the beauty of it. I certainly didn't see Barnett being arguably our best player from the historic 2014 class. And, I probably would've included Bates as one of the ones who would've impressed early.
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I'm like you with Bates, I've expected to see him more in the LB rotation however, he has been injured most of his career and has contributed on ST to some degree.

As for eye popping studs coming in this summer . . . King Kongbo . . . :pepper:
 
#21
#21
Let's hope it's Kongbo, at least that's what the Vols are banking on......no doubt about it....
Go Vols
 
#22
#22
The hype bar is very, very high with Kongbo, and Nigel Warrior, so I'll say Tyler Byrd will be the one to exceed expectations.
 
#23
#23
The Artful Dodger said:
Warrior, Kongbo, Byrd, Guarantano, Callaway?

...or will one of the less heralded recruits be the surprise of pre-season camp.

IMHO, two sleepers to keep an eye on would be Daniel Butuli and Latrell Williams.

-With Butuli, considering we could still use more depth at linebacker, he could project as Kirkland Jr's backup at MLB. Colton Jumper has a lot of heart, but a more talented backup at MLB would be more ideal. Not counting out JaQuan Blakely either. His 6'2" 220lb frame could suggest a move from OLB to MLB.

-Since Williams was somewhat un-heralded and committed late in the recruiting process, I don't know as much about him as some of the other recruits. But, it seems that he could carve out a niche as a backup slot or special teams player based solely off of his speed.

What are VN's thoughts on these two, as well as other non-early enrollees who have the potential to show out in Fall Camp?
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It needs to be Kongbo. Anyone who is not on campus at this moment and coming straight out of HS is someone I see as a red shirt candidate unless truly needed. Depth is getting close to where doing this can be afforded. And many of these guys will need some time to develop.

Of the entire class, I like Osbourne and George to be getting a high amount of playing time this year, and have greatest impact. But the OP said non-early enrollee, and they went through spring.

Having attended HS in Canada, I can see how Kongbo had to do some self promotion to get noticed. But a whole lot of the guys I saw him dominate in his JUCO films looked like many class A HS players.

He has a whole lot of confidence right now, but when he gets on campus, that will get tested. I want to see how his first circle of life drill goes. A lot of folks have built him up to be the next big thing, Butch Jones included. But i will still pass on drinking the Kool-Aid until he gets here.

We will see if Kongbo is the best camper this fall. If he is going to meet expectations he indicates he will exceed, he needs to be. He will either be the next Reggie White, or the next Brian Bosworth.
 
#25
#25
omghulkhands said:
With the way we rotate receivers and the way they seem to always be a triage unit, any FROSH WR needs to be ready for playing time
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I know it was just practice (OW Game) but Jeff George looks to have some decent hands and size - if he can handle the hits of SEC DBs he could be a good one
 
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