fifties fan
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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...
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.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.
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...
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.There’s no one to replace him at LT. Sometimes it is just what it looks like.
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.
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.
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?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
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.
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.