Trey Smith is Playing Out of Position

#26
#26
I specifically watched Hall for 10 plays or so during the coach's show. During those plays he performed pretty well. Maybe(????) one side of the OL can become reliable against the 'middle of the pack' teams coming up.
 
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#27
#27
MurphyVol said:
The line us astonishingly bad. One time yesterday a DE ran between a tackle and guard and neither one blocked him. Another time a linebacker knocked a guard flat on his back.

I honestly don't know get why we bother to run against teams like Bama/UGA and Auburn. Unless it's 2nd and 2 or less or 3rd and inches just throw. We've made plays against some of the best Ds in the country by throwing the ball.

Against those three teams we've collectively rushed for 165 yards. So many wasted downs...
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Even if we don't gain a yd we still have to run, bringing a safety up is why we complete a lot of passes.
 
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#28
#28
DiderotsGhost said:
I'm curious why they don't try Nathan Niehaus at LT and move Trey Smith to Guard. Obviously I can't see what the coaches do in practice every day, but just seems like Niehaus is a better fit at Tackle and Smith at Guard. Albeit, Niehaus is still a bit undersized, but he's getting there; he's almost up to 300.

But like I said, I can't see what the coaches do, and I'm sure they have their reasons. Regardless, our depth at O-line is pretty bad.
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I have no idea why they won’t try NN at LT and slide Trey to LG. What have they got to lose? Niehaus has only played at OG twice in his football career, and that was last week against Auburn, which I thought he did really well, and yesterday. But I’m no coach.
 
#30
#30
MurphyVol said:
The line us astonishingly bad. One time yesterday a DE ran between a tackle and guard and neither one blocked him. Another time a linebacker knocked a guard flat on his back.

I honestly don't know get why we bother to run against teams like Bama/UGA and Auburn. Unless it's 2nd and 2 or less or 3rd and inches just throw. We've made plays against some of the best Ds in the country by throwing the ball.

Against those three teams we've collectively rushed for 165 yards. So many wasted downs...
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If they had passed almost every play the last 4 games there would not be a qb left on the team healthy.
 
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#31
#31
butchna said:
There’s no one to replace him at LT. Sometimes it is just what it looks like.
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Bingo. And it’s one of several reasons we need Wright AND Morris. I understand that having a true freshman at both tackle positions is far from ideal, but moving Smith to guard would be a huge boost to the inside run game, which is a foundational component of what Pruitt wants to do on offense.
 
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#32
#32
Recruiting and player development is everything right now. The second year is always better. Saban was 7 and 6 at Bama his first season. He has only lost 14 games in the next 11 seasons. Learning a new system identifying players that are working and trying to get better. Bringing in players of quality at positions of need. This is all that has to happen for year two. 6 and 6 this season will be a fantastic coaching job. Next season the goal has to be nine wins. The reason we don't have a lot of seniors so everyone playing now should get a lot stronger and a lot more efficient at their positions. If we can keep those five star OL and have three or four more guys ready to play along with everyone presently on the team getting better we'll be back. Winning the lines OL and DL is winning football more than scheming, tricking or play calling. We'll be ready to make a statement that Tennessee is back next season. Then it comes a task on continuity get to the point where you reload, redshirt a lot of guys, and are always deep at every position with quality talent.
 
#33
#33
In his defense, he is playing with 4 other guys who aren't that good. Can't wait to see Smith with actual line talent around him. The problem for him is I think he can't just play ball because 4 other guys can't do their job. Not saying Smith has played perfect, but he is supposed to be the anchor of our offensive line.
 
#34
#34
We all know that, as a general rule, there's not many O or D linemen that can come in as a true freshman and make a instant impact, especially in the SEC.

Normally it takes a year or 2 for them to learn everything and build their strength to compete and WIN against the best linemen in the country.

In our current situation with linemen we all need to pray really hard that Pruitt and staff can convince the best linemen in the country to come to Tennessee for instant playing time.

Trey Smith is elite but he really needs help so we need 2, 3 or 4 instant impact O linemen that can line up with him ad open oles for our great RB's to run through and to pass protect so we can get a consistent passing game like we saw at allbarn.

We need big, strong, fast D linemen for our 3-4 D to do their jobs well so our LB's can make a much bigger impact.

Recruiting is the main answer but we also need to keep our coaching staff together even if that means that AD Fulmer has to get up off more $$$$ to keep them.

If we want the best then we MUST pay to get and keep the best!!!

Our train seems to be on the right track finally so we need to do whatever it takes to avoid it getting derailed.

VFL...GBO!!
 
#35
#35
sure gotta agree with OP and others but Trey should look better versus the Gamecocks...

GO VOLS!
 
#36
#36
Really Nathan Neihaus arms look like a kickers ... no way he has the stength top be in there ... our OL look woefully outmanned .... and Im staarting to question the OL coach abolities ..how many bad steps have these guys taken where the DL just runs free and hammers our back or QB in backfield .. fundamentals lacking bad ..IM afraid Coach JP has hired a buddy from Colorado St ( wow) and the guy cant coach OL ... Coach JP does what alot of 1st time HC do .. they hire their buddies ... it may get him fired .. Ive not seen any improvement in OL .. Trey Smith is a GUARD period ... the other guys are not developing at all .... Carvin looked lost ... Hall cant move anymore ... Niehaus is week ...
 
#37
#37
Not speaking of just Ala but other games ..our backs are getting hit 3 yards in backfield and the other teams backs are not getting hit until they are 3 yards downfield .. bad combination ... its a line of scrimmage game ... and we are awful on both sides period ..something better get fixed fast .... I dont see but 2 or 3 recruits that look like they can address that issue that are committed ... so the recruiting of good .. strong .. quick ... OL and DL better get done and done fast
 
#38
#38
DiderotsGhost said:
Pretty much.

I've thought for most of the season that we should passing more like 60% of the time. I get that it's not what Pruitt wants to do long-term (he wants to run 60% of the time!), but the disparity between our passing game and run game is insane. We're averaging like 9 - 10 yards per pass attempt right now and 1-2 yards per run against the good SEC defenses. Our passing game is very good and our run game is very bad. (And our RBs are pretty good, too; it's just the O-line!)

Pruitt and his staff deserve credit for getting the O-line to improve on pass blocking (even though we still have issues), but I don't know if there's anything they can do about the run blocking. We're just getting overpowered. Only way to fix it is through recruiting and S&C.
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Is this because JG is not yet able to get us lined up correctly and check to the right play? I don't know that this is the case, but I think he needs to get better as a field general.
 
#39
#39
volroadwarrior said:
Is this because JG is not yet able to get us lined up correctly and check to the right play? I don't know that this is the case, but I think he needs to get better as a field general.
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He does, but we're averaging like 1-2 yards per carry on the ground and JG is averaging about 9 yards per pass attempt.

Sure, JG is flawed, but so is every other single QB in America. He's better than most of the QBs in the SEC right now. He gives us our best chance to win and our "chance to win" is more constrained by O-line and D-line issues than JG.
 
#40
#40
Missing on Mays really hurt us this year. We need some help up the middle REALLY bad. That is where most of the pressure has came from and also most of the TFL's on the running game. If you don't fix that you can't really do anything else. If you have no pressure up the middle at least the QB can step up in the pocket when pressure comes from the outside.
 
#41
#41
awaitingawin said:
Going to agree with you 200 % on this...kid needs to go back to guard...I understand Pruitt needs players at multiple positions but so far this year Trey just doesn't have the footwork for left tackle...no knock on Trey who is a great kid...and I think this kind of tells us about the rest of the OL and that this year Trey has to sacrifice because you can only imagine what the DL of other teams would do to anyone else on the vols O Line who was not names Trey Smith...and thats a compliment to Trey
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Yep. Most all the replies on this thread pretty much echo this perception. Trey's playing at LT for the simple fact that, with this inadequate roster, he's CJP's best option for keeping the QB alive. He'll be lining up at guard just as soon as Coach Pruitt's got a REAL, NATURAL LT in the lineup. Morris's and Wright's joining in on the fun could fix this. Yes?
 
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#42
#42
tennrich1 said:
I don't usually say definitively unproveable things like this BUT...signing both Wright and Morris would go a long way toward soothing what ails us next year I think...few things are 100% certain but I think these two would be close...JMO of course.
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To me, it looks like we need at least 12 mean, nasty, road-grading linemen...at least 3,600 lbs. of pure, athletic hurt in this recruiting cycle.

That's my two cents as today's oracle of the obvious on VN.
 
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#45
#45
DenmarkVol said:
To me, it looks like we need at least 12 mean, nasty, road-grading linemen...at least 3,600 lbs. of pure, athletic hurt in this recruiting cycle.

That's my two cents as today's oracle of the obvious on VN.
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I agree, I wanna see some Big Orange manhandling fools
 
#46
#46
Mike Farrell looking at the top 50 players in college football.

No. 47 Trey Smith

The skinny: Smith took official visits to Ohio State and then Tennessee during his senior season, and it was the in-state visit that was more than enough as he committed to the Vols soon after returning home. While the Tennessee offense has had its ups and downs this fall, Smith has become an anchor on the offensive line, both in the running game and while protecting quarterback Jarrett Guarantano.


Farrell’s take: Smith was an interesting prospect out of high school, No. 1 on one site and a five-star everywhere but Rivals.com, where we had him highly-ranked but not as highly as the rest. He’s played close to that five-star ranking since he was a freshman and will be a high NFL Draft pick, but it will be interesting to see if his draft status lives up to the ranking of many. He’s a bit overshadowed because his team isn’t very good, but he’s an elite offensive tackle prospect.
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#47
#47
Trey Smith is playing LT because we have no one else on the team that can. If CJP lands the two 5 star tackles in december, look for both of them to start next season and Trey to move back in at guard. Right now he is our best option at LT.
 
#48
#48
I think Trey will play guard next year and probably Morris at one tackle and Richmond at the other. Throw in Hall at the other guard and the Alabama transfer at center and we have a respectable starting OL.
 
#49
#49
Trey’s athletic ability does not bode well at LT, guard is a much better match for Trey, but we have no other options presently, it is what it is and so goes the Oline.
The Vols are 2-3 years away, providing Pruitt can recruit well enough to get us there.
Waiting is the hard part, because it seems like that’s all we do is wait
 
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