D Line situation shouldn't be that bad next year.

#1
VolDC

VolDC

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#1
We seem to go through this every year with the d-line recruiting. We lose out to some big names every year for the most important position in SEC football IMO. If the lower ranked players are being developed as they should be, then the depth won't be as much of an issue as most people think. Hood was a surprise last year and he was recruited as an OL. Dooley's future will revolve around the development of guys like Carson and Saulsberry. Walls, Smith, and Jordan Williams etc. If these guys don't get better then it would not matter if we signed 4 JUCO DL. It would help, but Couch wasn't able to really come on till late in the year. It happens every year. We have solid High School Seniors already committed and Sentimore. McCullers would be icing on the cake. We have all our passing weapons back next year, and any kind of pass rush will solve most problems next year defensively.

Guys will bash OCI and Skeeter for posting what they're told by the coaches through no fault of their own. I miss guys like Lord Vader. He seemed to be able to present a picture from all sides.

We will land one or two big names off the radar again this year ie Hunter and Maggitt. Rebuilding isn't an easy process, but next year will be the year we see improvement. It should be the first year we don't see so many freshman on the field.
 
#2
#2
VolDC said:
We seem to go through this every year with the d-line recruiting. We lose out to some big names every year for the most important position in SEC football IMO. If the lower ranked players are being developed as they should be, then the depth won't be as much of an issue as most people think. Hood was a surprise last year and he was recruited as an OL. Dooley's future will revolve around the development of guys like Carson and Saulsberry. Walls, Smith, and Jordan Williams etc. If these guys don't get better then it would not matter if we signed 4 JUCO DL. It would help, but Couch wasn't able to really come on till late in the year. It happens every year. We have solid High School Seniors already committed and Sentimore. McCullers would be icing on the cake. We have all our passing weapons back next year, and any kind of pass rush will solve most problems next year defensively.

Guys will bash OCI and Skeeter for posting what they're told by the coaches through no fault of their own. I miss guys like Lord Vader. He seemed to be able to present a picture from all sides.

We will land one or two big names off the radar again this year ie Hunter and Maggitt. Rebuilding isn't an easy process, but next year will be the year we see improvement. It should be the first year we don't see so many freshman on the field.
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Agree about LV. He brought some good stuff.
 
#3
#3
At the end of the day, our 2 biggest needs were to beef the dline and get an elite rb. The class is still incomplete.
 
#8
#8
There is a whole month left before NSD. Unfortunately we missed out on 2 JUCO EE's that could help next year, but that leaves slots available for HS kids who will have 4 years to play. They probably can't help much next year, but will be better for 2 to 4 years out. We always have last minute surprises so we have 3 slots available to fill. We have several OVs on 1/13 with some very good prospects.
 
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#10
#10
volroadwarrior said:
There is a whole month left before NSD. Unfortunately we missed out on 2 JUCO EE's that could help next year, but that leaves slots available for HS kids who will have 4 years to play. They probably can't help much next year, but will be better for 2 to 4 years out. We always have last minute surprises so we have 3 slots available to fill. We have several OVs on 1/13 with some very good prospects.
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I understand what you're saying. But we need to win now. Dooley doesn't have 2 to 4 more years if he doesn't win in 2012.
 
#11
#11
knoxville's finest said:
I understand what you're saying. But we need to win now. Dooley doesn't have 2 to 4 more years if he doesn't win in 2012.
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I wouldn't be so sure of this. I think Hart will let him run his contract out if he continues to recruit well.

I think this year is the low point. These Freshman and Sophmores will have had plenty of time to build strength with one of the best strength coaches in the country. That to me was the glaring problem running the ball with the OL last year. It should also help the younger DL guys that haven't played much yet. Regardless of these JUCO players coming in, no one really knows what kind of shape they're in. ie Couch last year.
 
#12
#12
I don't care about Hart or Dooley or anybody. I want to win right stinking now! I can't take this garbage anymore. The players we missed on would have helped us win now. That is what we need. 4 years of crappy football is too much. I can't take a 5th in a row!
 
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#13
#13
Our DL will be average again next year unless they pull a rabbit out of their hats.

Sentimore if he becomes official will hopefully take the sting out of losing Malik Jackson. Other than that we have to hope the guys we had last year take a step forward.

Hood is not a very good SEC DT, hes average at best. We have to have two studs in the middle and right now we may have one with Mo Couch but who else?

Losing Jacobs today hurt worse than most want to admit. McCullers would more than make up for that but we have to hope Bama gets more studs to make that work for us which is not all that ideal.
 
#15
#15
This is the stupidist thread I've seen recently. We missed on Gabe Wright last year and Jacobs this year. We were seriously undersized at tackle this year. Malik Jackson was a trooper, but he made his best plays lined up at end. He barely held is own in the middle.

Sentimore may be great, but is another tweener. If you haven't noticed, SEC offensive lines average about the same weight as NFL teams. By the way, McCullers has academic eligibility issues. Hope he overcomes them, but don't count on signing him.

In short, minus a late commitment with another big time tackle (to go with O'Brien). This year's recruiting class is a disappointment.
 
#17
#17
Volru said:
This is the stupidist thread I've seen recently. We missed on Gabe Wright last year and Jacobs this year. We were seriously undersized at tackle this year. Malik Jackson was a trooper, but he made his best plays lined up at end. He barely held is own in the middle.

Sentimore may be great, but is another tweener. If you haven't noticed, SEC offensive lines average about the same weight as NFL teams. By the way, McCullers has academic eligibility issues. Hope he overcomes them, but don't count on signing him.

In short, minus a late commitment with another big time tackle (to go with O'Brien). This year's recruiting class is a disappointment.
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I'm assuming your claiming this year's recruiting class as a disappointment based on not filling our "needs" like we proposed we needed, and not based on our class ranking? Because ranked #13 before signing Sentimore is impressive for a 5-7 team with a new coach, if you look at it objectively.

I understand and agree with the argument that we are undersigned in positions of need, and possibly even oversigned in area's that aren't as vital. But I guess that doesn't exactly apply here if the area's of need can't get filled with spots available...
 
#18
#18
Volru said:
This is the stupidist thread I've seen recently. We missed on Gabe Wright last year and Jacobs this year. We were seriously undersized at tackle this year. Malik Jackson was a trooper, but he made his best plays lined up at end. He barely held is own in the middle.

Sentimore may be great, but is another tweener. If you haven't noticed, SEC offensive lines average about the same weight as NFL teams. By the way, McCullers has academic eligibility issues. Hope he overcomes them, but don't count on signing him.

In short, minus a late commitment with another big time tackle (to go with O'Brien). This year's recruiting class is a disappointment.
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Saulsberry 280lb, Carson 325, Hood 293, Couch 305, Walls 281, Obrien 275 if he plays. These guys have another off season to improve in strength and conditioning, and are just now getting to the age when they should be stepping on the field in the SEC. That's six guys that should be ready to play and serviceable if they are developed properly. I only listed DT's. These guys just have to plug holes and stop the run. Our more dynamic guys are on the end and in the lb corp.

Obrien is elite and would love to have another. I am just not ready to hang myself. Serviceable enough to stop the offensive line push and fill the gaps on the run should be the goal. Jacobs is not and will not be a world beater. Autry was the main get out of the pair. I see no reason to hang myself like you do when names like McCullers, Shanks, and Hamilton are still hanging around. I also still expect our out of no where commit.
 
#19
#19
head1 said:
Our DL will be average again next year unless they pull a rabbit out of their hats.

Sentimore if he becomes official will hopefully take the sting out of losing Malik Jackson. Other than that we have to hope the guys we had last year take a step forward.

Hood is not a very good SEC DT, hes average at best. We have to have two studs in the middle and right now we may have one with Mo Couch but who else?

Losing Jacobs today hurt worse than most want to admit. McCullers would more than make up for that but we have to hope Bama gets more studs to make that work for us which is not all that ideal.
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First off Couch and Hood play the same position and would not be starting side by side anyway. Second it is not the job of his position to produce numbers directly. The fact the Johnsons lead the team in tackles and Malik Made All-SEC shows Hood and Couch are obviously a lot better than people think they are.

A 1 Techs (nt) job is to free up the 3 tech
(rush tackle) and linebackers to make tackles by eating up blocks. He keeps the guys behind him clean allowing us to play a smaller more athletic guy at the 3.

Schools like Bama, Auburn and LSU kind of mess things up as to how people see it. These are talent rich states that put out a silly amount of Dline talent. They are able to play a whole different type of defense and expecting other schools to consistently do that kind of thing year in year out is silly.

Even among our best of times there have been few times when we had anything like that. We had like a 6 year period where 3 or 4 guys spoiled us but you can go 10 years either side of that period without seeing anything of the sort.

Simoly put having envy of the Bama's of the world is silly those schools have their calling card we have ours (offense).
 
#21
#21
i'm missin your point... of course we have gone thru this more almost a decade now...

of course it won't be that bad

we gonna suk on the DL next year man

the last great DL we have had was Mahalona and he's dead...
 
#22
#22
Our calling card is offense? I see only one component MAYBE being our calling card on offense, the passing game. And that is still a question mark. The running game was abysmal. Spin it however you want to but missing out on Jacobs and Autry was huge. Immediate depth and competion for a starting position.
 
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