The Tennessee Running Attack is Criminally Underrated

#26
#26
Boca Vol said:
Two words...Josh Dobbs

His running ability with the occasional accurate pass freaked DC's out. Dobb's running ability was a huge asset.
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so kamara and Kelly avg'd 5 ypc due to Josh Dobbs, who forced safeties in the box to help stop the run. 2 posts ago the running game ALWAYS depended on the OL.
 
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#27
#27
Boca Vol said:
Two words...Josh Dobbs

His running ability with the occasional accurate pass freaked DC's out. Dobb's running ability was a huge asset.
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Agree. But also his propensity to to tuck it and run instead of looking downfield most likely cost us a lot of big plays.
 
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#29
#29
Smiff said:
teams will not be able to bring safeties up this year. They will be burned repeatedly by QD if they do.
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Absolutley. What once was a liability will be an advantage. Its going to look a lot different imo. When Bama and UF lined up in cover 2 press struggled for the most part. That was the game plan to beat Tennessee for everyone.
 
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#30
#30
Freak said:
I don't think they have to be world-beaters in the running game. Tennessee's had a lot of success running the football under Butch Jones with suspect offensive lines. I worry about our line more from a pass protection standpoint. JMO.
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I agree with this 100%.

Too many people are saying "the O-line sucks, therefore the run game will be bad." Honestly, the run game has been pretty good the entire Butch Jones era, even with some pretty bad O-lines. Robert Gillespie is a great position coach; arguably the best on our staff.

The O-line has underperformed at times, but it's been much more likely to underperform with pass blocking than with run blocking. At a bare minimum, it seems unlikely that our run protection would decline from last season.
 
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#31
#31
Smiff said:
so kamara and Kelly avg'd 5 ypc due to Josh Dobbs, who forced safeties in the box to help stop the run. 2 posts ago the running game ALWAYS depended on the OL.
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A true running game does depend on the OL. An outlaw like Dobbs can make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t.....

And you forgot about Malone, and JJ on the outside.

Also, I wouldn't call Dobb's scrambling a part of the running game.
 
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#32
#32
Freak said:
I think you're missing the point. He's simply making his case for why he thinks some media and fans are underrating our running game.

Stating no one knows the future, I think we're all aware. I assumed that went without saying.

However, if you're making the case that our running game will come down to our line play, I could buy into that angle playing a huge rule in our success on the ground. Especially since it was expected to be a strength coming into camp, but there seems to be lots of moving parts at that position up to this point, due to injuries, etc.

I like Kelly a lot, but I do think he's maybe a tad overhyped by many fans (myself included), considering he's someone who's yet to be "the guy." But that doesn't detract from how excited I am so see him tote the rock this year.
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Speaking of overhyping, Drew Richmond said at the media day the OL was committed to helping JK get over 2,000 yards rushing this year. The SEC has had only one RB get over 2,000 yards in a single season in the last 9 years, Derrick Henry in 2015 in 15 games. I sort of liked the talk coming from Drew but, rationally, I just chalked it up to him being high.

JK is a very accomplished skateboarder so if we could get him one of those "Back to the Future" hovering skateboards, 2,000 yards this year should be a breeze and very fun to watch. :)
 
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#33
#33
Booker512 said:
I think S.Carolinas running game could surprise people as well. Dowdle is a solid back. Good size and power. The Ty'son Williams kid may be a breakout, I know springs games aren't a great reference to go off of, but he looks like a great athlete. Very explosive kid and it seems like him and Jake Bentley definitely have chemistry and that Williams kid has hands. They will use him in the passing game and dowdle will probably just be a north/South back.

Of course this is all speculation. But isn't that what makes football fun? Ya know, fun? That thing you do while watching football?....oh wait....lolol
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South Carolina is one of the tougher teams to project IMO. Ty'Son Williams was highly recruited, but he's sort of a complete unknown at this point. SC's passing game should be very strong, however, with Bentley at QB, and a lot of strong WRs. Right now, I'm looking at SC as one of those teams with a polarizing offense; potentially a top 3 passing attack and a bottom 3 rushing attack.
 
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#36
#36
Boca Vol said:
A true running game does depend on the OL. An outlaw like Dobbs can make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t.....

And you forgot about Malone, and JJ on the outside.

Also, I wouldn't call Dobb's scrambling a part of the running game.
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Running Back yardage last 4 years

2013 = 1,936 (5 RBs)
2014 = 1,398 (6 RBs)
2015 = 2,218 (5 RBs)
2016 = 1,770 (6 RBs)

Dobbs running the read option likely helped our RBs out quite a bit since the defense had to account for him on most running plays. Given our QBs this year I'm not thinking the QB is all that much of a threat in the running game and that could present more of a challenge to our RBs. I could be wrong.
 
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#38
#38
OP said,

ThereÂ’s no position group on this 2017 Vols team more underrated than Running Back. ". "The media views John Kelly as a below-average SEC back. Even here on the VN boards, I've heard many say that JK is not that special. While I don't think John Kelly quite rises to the level of "elite" SEC Running Back (right now, only Derrius Guice, Damien Harris, and a healthy Nick Chubb fit that description), I do think there's a strong statistical case that he's underrated and our rushing attack overall is being severely underrated by the media. "



I say, Good!! I'd rather be pleasantly surprised. Keep under rating us- it'll make them more determined.
 
#39
#39
Boca Vol said:
Hey Behr, :hi:
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Wasabi? Getting any good afternoon storms up there? Had one down in Naples last night that had 70 mph gusts. I could see the lightening and hear the thunder from here. It was awesome.
 
#40
#40
DiderotsGhost said:
South Carolina is one of the tougher teams to project IMO. Ty'Son Williams was highly recruited, but he's sort of a complete unknown at this point. SC's passing game should be very strong, however, with Bentley at QB, and a lot of strong WRs. Right now, I'm looking at SC as one of those teams with a polarizing offense; potentially a top 3 passing attack and a bottom 3 rushing attack.
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Scar is def a big question mark to me. In one way, I'm actually seeing Muschamp have some success and I never thought the chickens being paired up with champ as a HC would net anything but a massive black hole of sadness for their fans, even more so than usual....but it seems like he's doing ok there. Actually...I feel like he's doing better at SC than he was at Florida. I'm not saying SC is going to return to the Spurrier years...but I do think Muschamp is doing ok for himself. Maybe that's a sign Muschamp wasn't actually what was wrong with Floridas offense. Because their offense is still in a pit 2 years later. Who knows.
 
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#41
#41
Write ups like the OP's are helping me get to Sept 4.

I'm excited to see what a healthy O-Line combined with Kelly and whoever steps into the #2 spot are able to do for us this year. I'm assuming Dormady will be a bigger go deep PA Pass threat than Dobbs (who I loved), but all of this remains hypothetical until we take our first snap.
 
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#42
#42
Behr said:
Wasabi? Getting any good afternoon storms up there? Had one down in Naples last night that had 70 mph gusts. I could see the lightening and hear the thunder from here. It was awesome.
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Nothing that bad in the last few days. The sky on Thurs. night was incredible.

Are you E or W of I-75?
 
#45
#45
With limited touches I would say that Kelly is pretty impressive, considering his stats.
 
#46
#46
Good write up, but we have to see it on the field before we declare being overrated or underrated. It's all speculation at this point.
 
#47
#47
DG--l love your posts; always well thought out and sell written. You gotta be a nerd but you bring much needed thoughts to VN. Keep up the good work
 
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#48
#48
Freak said:
Of course not.

Honestly, if you couldn't tell, I am a bit worried about our line. I hope we hear some positives about that group in the coming week.

I don't think they have to be world-beaters in the running game. Tennessee's had a lot of success running the football under Butch Jones with suspect offensive lines. I worry about our line more from a pass protection standpoint. JMO.
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The QB position will also play a key part. Can either QB be the extra RB you have to account for like Dobbs? If not is the OL good enough to allow either to be good enough through the air to keep teams honest? The running during Jones tenure has centered around Dobbs being a threat. If that's not there the OL better step up like it never has or that won't continue.
 
#49
#49
Nice job OP.
Yes I believe we are under rated for now. Also Butch's system is under rated. It's been proven that his system produces. Butch hasn't had a back that has had the speed to take it to the house yet we have impressive running stats. I know Dobbs help that a lot, but our new QBs can keep the ends honest. Kamari and Kelly showed what a quick back can do in the system. What about a guy with speed like Chandler, and with improved blocking.
 
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#50
#50
It has always amazed me how important preseason projections is to some of you. And while I can truly appreciate the amount of thought and work the OP put into his analysis, I fail to see the point. It's almost like if the media doesn't gush over either the team or the individual players, it causes impotency or heart palpitations. And even when they do gush, they don't gush enough.

Most of these sports writers are complete idiots. Now some here might be idiots, but not complete ones if you are Vols fans. Are these jackasses worth you all getting your tails tied in knots over? Set yourselves free! You'll live longer.
 
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