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Bleedin' Orange...
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There's plenty of discussion on these boards of what the future might look like for Tennessee, from the coaching angle. I thought it might be interesting to take a glance at the coming year through the lens of the player roster, as well.
Offense
QB - looks okay, though it is understandable if few are excited yet. Now that Dormady, Guarantano, and McBride all know exactly how it feels to play in marquee games in the SEC, the off-season improvement should, with good coaching, really sky-rocket. They will all three be better quarterbacks in 2018 than they were this season. Will all three stay? No telling. But we look okay at this position for now. I'd say we're sitting at an 7 or 8 on the comfort scale here (10 being best).
RB - embarrassment of riches: Kelly, Chandler, Fils-Aime, Jordan, Coleman. As solid as it gets, a year out. Solid 10.
OL - here's the crux of the matter on offense. Losing Coleman Thomas, Brett Kendrick and Jashon Robertson to graduation, and Jack Jones to injury, means our likely 2018 starting line-up would be Trey Smith, Chance Hall, Marcus Tatum, Drew Richmond, and Devante Brooks. Replace one of them, possibly, with Cade Mays if we can get him back into the fold. Even more dicey is the 2nd string behind those front five: Riley Locklear, Ryan Johnson, K'Rojhn Calbert, Nathan Niehaus, and Joe Keeler. Not a huge amount of experience in the #6 to #10 spots. OL is must-emphasize for the next couple of recruiting classes. We are dangerously thin here at the tail end of 2017, and will still be throughout 2018. This position group is at a dangerous 4.
TE - losing our two-deep, both Ethan Wolf and Jakob Johnson. Little brother Eli and Austin Pope take their spots; should roll on. Call it a 6 or 7.
WR - another position of strength. Losing Josh Smith and Jeff George, but look who should be back: Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway, Brandon Johnson, Tyler Byrd, Josh Palmer, Latrell Williams,...the list seems endless. And all their first-year jitters gone by 2018. Put this position up there with RB as one of our strengths next year. A 9 here.
Defense
DL - We lose Vickers. That's it. So Tuttle, KMac, Kongbo, Phillips, Taylor, Picou, Johnson, and don't forget Paul Bain, all back in 2018. Could be really good, with great coaching. Do need more depth through the next couple of recruiting classes, but the position doesn't look bad. Call it a 7 or 8.
LB - Some might say addition by subtraction with Colton Jumper graduating; I'm not going to go there, but think we can be pretty robust at LB next season: Kirkland will be back, joined by Bituli, Sapp, Ignont, and Smith (and McDowell if he gets a medical redshirt out of 2017). Not a huge amount of depth, but enough to build off of...and what we do have is talented. Calling this a 7 as well.
DB - We're going to bleed some talent at this position. Kelly could be back with a medical redshirt, but Evan Berry, Moseley, Martin and Wiggins are gone. Can build a decent backfield off Kelly, Gaulden, Shamburger, Warrior, and Abernathy, but there's very little depth behind that starting nickel. This, along with the offensive line, needs to be a point of emphasis in the next couple of recruiting classes. I'd like to call this a 7, because of the talent of the guys we do have, but lack of depth and possibility of injuries makes me keep it at a 5.
Special Teams
Kicking - We are really, really going to miss Trevor Daniel. He could flip a field as well as a Colquitt, and should probably be adopted into that venerable Tennessee family. Don't know how we will replace him. Better news on the place kicking side of the equation, with Cimaglia already in place to backfill the graduating Medley. And Toser is there to back Cimaglia up. We also get our holder and long snapper back, so no drop in performance there. Just need another dynamite punter. Call this a 7.
Kick Return - Okay, no snide comments about last night...it was terribly windy. Yes, we're losing one of the best kickoff return specialists in decades in Evan Berry, but Callaway, Chandler and others have shown that the cupboard is far from bare. Same at punt return. Don't know if we can rekindle the explosiveness we had in 2015, but we will be solid enough in this department going forward. Thinking this is an 8.
Conclusion
Even with the dream coaching staff in place (fingers crossed that's just what we get), 2018 looks to be a bit of a rebuilding (or at least heavy reloading) year. The offensive line, defensive backfield, and punter positions all need happy surprises, and some solid recruiting effort.
Still, there's a lot more good news than bad, it seems. We have a lot of great lads, including many not even mentioned in this overview. And turning a page to a new coaching staff always brings with it an aura of mystery and excitement.
Can't wait for the better days that lie ahead for Tennessee football, Go Vols!
[with thanks to ButchAintOne and HuntlandVolinColo for pointing out an error, now corrected]
Offense
QB - looks okay, though it is understandable if few are excited yet. Now that Dormady, Guarantano, and McBride all know exactly how it feels to play in marquee games in the SEC, the off-season improvement should, with good coaching, really sky-rocket. They will all three be better quarterbacks in 2018 than they were this season. Will all three stay? No telling. But we look okay at this position for now. I'd say we're sitting at an 7 or 8 on the comfort scale here (10 being best).
RB - embarrassment of riches: Kelly, Chandler, Fils-Aime, Jordan, Coleman. As solid as it gets, a year out. Solid 10.
OL - here's the crux of the matter on offense. Losing Coleman Thomas, Brett Kendrick and Jashon Robertson to graduation, and Jack Jones to injury, means our likely 2018 starting line-up would be Trey Smith, Chance Hall, Marcus Tatum, Drew Richmond, and Devante Brooks. Replace one of them, possibly, with Cade Mays if we can get him back into the fold. Even more dicey is the 2nd string behind those front five: Riley Locklear, Ryan Johnson, K'Rojhn Calbert, Nathan Niehaus, and Joe Keeler. Not a huge amount of experience in the #6 to #10 spots. OL is must-emphasize for the next couple of recruiting classes. We are dangerously thin here at the tail end of 2017, and will still be throughout 2018. This position group is at a dangerous 4.
TE - losing our two-deep, both Ethan Wolf and Jakob Johnson. Little brother Eli and Austin Pope take their spots; should roll on. Call it a 6 or 7.
WR - another position of strength. Losing Josh Smith and Jeff George, but look who should be back: Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway, Brandon Johnson, Tyler Byrd, Josh Palmer, Latrell Williams,...the list seems endless. And all their first-year jitters gone by 2018. Put this position up there with RB as one of our strengths next year. A 9 here.
Defense
DL - We lose Vickers. That's it. So Tuttle, KMac, Kongbo, Phillips, Taylor, Picou, Johnson, and don't forget Paul Bain, all back in 2018. Could be really good, with great coaching. Do need more depth through the next couple of recruiting classes, but the position doesn't look bad. Call it a 7 or 8.
LB - Some might say addition by subtraction with Colton Jumper graduating; I'm not going to go there, but think we can be pretty robust at LB next season: Kirkland will be back, joined by Bituli, Sapp, Ignont, and Smith (and McDowell if he gets a medical redshirt out of 2017). Not a huge amount of depth, but enough to build off of...and what we do have is talented. Calling this a 7 as well.
DB - We're going to bleed some talent at this position. Kelly could be back with a medical redshirt, but Evan Berry, Moseley, Martin and Wiggins are gone. Can build a decent backfield off Kelly, Gaulden, Shamburger, Warrior, and Abernathy, but there's very little depth behind that starting nickel. This, along with the offensive line, needs to be a point of emphasis in the next couple of recruiting classes. I'd like to call this a 7, because of the talent of the guys we do have, but lack of depth and possibility of injuries makes me keep it at a 5.
Special Teams
Kicking - We are really, really going to miss Trevor Daniel. He could flip a field as well as a Colquitt, and should probably be adopted into that venerable Tennessee family. Don't know how we will replace him. Better news on the place kicking side of the equation, with Cimaglia already in place to backfill the graduating Medley. And Toser is there to back Cimaglia up. We also get our holder and long snapper back, so no drop in performance there. Just need another dynamite punter. Call this a 7.
Kick Return - Okay, no snide comments about last night...it was terribly windy. Yes, we're losing one of the best kickoff return specialists in decades in Evan Berry, but Callaway, Chandler and others have shown that the cupboard is far from bare. Same at punt return. Don't know if we can rekindle the explosiveness we had in 2015, but we will be solid enough in this department going forward. Thinking this is an 8.
Conclusion
Even with the dream coaching staff in place (fingers crossed that's just what we get), 2018 looks to be a bit of a rebuilding (or at least heavy reloading) year. The offensive line, defensive backfield, and punter positions all need happy surprises, and some solid recruiting effort.
Still, there's a lot more good news than bad, it seems. We have a lot of great lads, including many not even mentioned in this overview. And turning a page to a new coaching staff always brings with it an aura of mystery and excitement.
Can't wait for the better days that lie ahead for Tennessee football, Go Vols!
[with thanks to ButchAintOne and HuntlandVolinColo for pointing out an error, now corrected]
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