What are our CB Options heading into the fall?

[Remy]

Don't we have a highly regarded freshman CB coming in? Bama and Florida routinely put freshman out there on the corners if they are talented. It would surprise me not to see Pruitt put one on the field if none of the rest our of CBs wow him.

 

[LittleVol]

Don't we have a highly regarded freshman CB coming in? Bama and Florida routinely put freshman out there on the corners if they are talented. It would surprise me not to see Pruitt put one on the field if none of the rest our of CBs wow him.

Imo...
Thompson and Taylor are both talented enough to start as true freshman.
Sham is NB
Warrior FS
SS..? Please NOT Abernathy.
Watch out for Flowers here..

My guess

CB Osborne
CB Taylor
NB Sham
SS Jackson
FS Warrior

 

[KBVol]

Imo...
Thompson and Taylor are both talented enough to start as true freshman.
Sham is NB
Warrior FS
SS..? Please NOT Abernathy.
Watch out for Flowers here..

My guess

CB Osborne
CB Taylor
NB Sham
SS Jackson
FS Warrior

Excellent guess imo.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Based on what we heard coming out of Spring camp, I think people are overselling Osborne a bit here. Buchanon was reportedly closer to locking down a starting spot than Osborne.

 

[LittleVol]

Based on what we heard coming out of Spring camp, I think people are overselling Osborne a bit here. Buchanon was reportedly closer to locking down a starting spot than Osborne.

Buchanan has always been consistent in practice.
Osborne hasn't set the world fire, but he has shown the ability to tackle in open space and run with the WR and get pass breakups...during games or game settings.
Buchanan has struggled greatly anytime he is out there.

A lot of time left to get ready.
But Alontae and Osborne looked to be the best choices during the OW game imo. Alontae has great range for a CB.

Honestly...i think you put him on David Sills 1st game of the season

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Buchanan has always been consistent in practice.
Osborne hasn't set the world fire, but he has shown the ability to tackle in open space and run with the WR and get pass breakups...during games or game settings.
Buchanan has struggled greatly anytime he is out there.

A lot of time left to get ready.
But Alontae and Osborne looked to be the best choices during the OW game imo. Alontae has great range for a CB.

Honestly...i think you put him on David Sills 1st game of the season

I like Taylor as well and hope either he or Thompson are at CB week one. We need more athleticism out there.



As for Osborne vs Buchanan, I want to like Osborne more. He was a big get for us in the 2016 class. But he's barely ever made it to the field. I'm not really sure why you think he's shown so much in games. He has 11 total tackles in his career (fewer than Buchanon had as a freshman in 2016) and no passes defended. Buchanan struggled as a freshman in 2016, but neither he nor Osborne played too much in 2017.

Osborne did have the one pass break up during the O&W game, but if Palmer goes up and tries to get that ball who knows what happens. I'm not really sure that game says too much for Osborne, he was beat on the route and the ball was thrown late. Seems like the offense went after Osborne more than Buchanan all day. Palmer had a lot of success getting open against Osborne. Buchanan gave up the one TD to Callaway, but not much else on the day.



I'd love to see Osborne take a big step forward for us in 2018, but I'm not really counting on him locking down a spot. All reports during the spring were that the Buchanan was the only CB (at least pre-AT joining the unit) who was somewhat consistently showing the coaches things they liked. It really seems like the coaches are trying to recruit over both of them, FWIW. I don't really think either one of those guys is significantly better than the other or we'd have one CB the coaches believe in. I just don't see any reason to assume that Osborne is ahead of Buchanan other than recruiting rankings.

 

[cHiZzLeVOL]

I like Taylor as well and hope either he or Thompson are at CB week one. We need more athleticism out there.



As for Osborne vs Buchanan, I want to like Osborne more. He was a big get for us in the 2016 class. But he's barely ever made it to the field. I'm not really sure why you think he's shown so much in games. He has 11 total tackles in his career (fewer than Buchanon had as a freshman in 2016) and no passes defended. Buchanan struggled as a freshman in 2016, but neither he nor Osborne played too much in 2017.

Osborne did have the one pass break up during the O&W game, but if Palmer goes up and tries to get that ball who knows what happens. I'm not really sure that game says too much for Osborne, he was beat on the route and the ball was thrown late. Seems like the offense went after Osborne more than Buchanan all day. Palmer had a lot of success getting open against Osborne. Buchanan gave up the one TD to Callaway, but not much else on the day.



I'd love to see Osborne take a big step forward for us in 2018, but I'm not really counting on him locking down a spot. All reports during the spring were that the Buchanan was the only CB (at least pre-AT joining the unit) who was somewhat consistently showing the coaches things they liked. It really seems like the coaches are trying to recruit over both of them, FWIW. I don't really think either one of those guys is significantly better than the other or we'd have one CB the coaches believe in. I just don't see any reason to assume that Osborne is ahead of Buchanan other than recruiting rankings.

Darth what's your take on George, think they might move Shamburger to corner and try George (since he is a hitter) at Nickel?

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Darth what's your take on George, think they might move Shamburger to corner and try George (since he is a hitter) at Nickel?

All we’ve seen of George is some HUDL highlights. He still hasn’t played a lot of football.

I’m not really banking on him doing too much this year. He’s got 3 years to make his mark. Hopefully this year he can crack the two deep and get some experience on special teams and some work in our OOC games.


He does seem like he has good size to play NB. But it’s hard to tell what they’ll do with him until they can see how he does against D1 guys. Shamburger played CB last year, so that may be something the coaches look at doing with him. I’m not sure I see that move happening unless we see some guys go down and the coaches have to get creative.

 

[Remy]

Methinks if you're a Butch Jones recruit at CB, you better be head and shoulders better than a freshman Pruitt brings in at CB to see the field.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

I'm still pulling for my Louisiana bro, Labruzza, to get in the mix.

Meanwhile, this time a year ago, many folks were saying Tyler Byrd should be on D, at CB where he would shine and help us more than at WR, and maybe even start. Didn't he get some reps on D in the spring? Is he really not deserving to even be in the discussion at all?

 

[butchna]

I'm still pulling for my Louisiana bro, Labruzza, to get in the mix.

Meanwhile, this time a year ago, many folks were saying Tyler Byrd should be on D, at CB where he would shine and help us more than at WR, and maybe even start. Didn't he get some reps on D in the spring? Is he really not deserving to even be in the discussion at all?

Ship sailed. A lot of us were wrong. Remains to be seen if ALL of us were.

 

[bolvols]

If I had to guess sounds like we have some depth be it from past performance or new blood hungry to start.

 

[gunner]

Alontae Taylor definitely looked the part in the OW game. Watched him most plays. Can't see Pruitt sending him back if our CB play is still anemic. Pruitt can afford his learning curve in yr 1 in order to get an elite CB late this year and a couple down the road.

Here are the suspects:
#36 Terrell Bailey - So
#28 Buchanan, Baylen - Jr
#6 Alontae Taylor - Fr
#??Trevon FLowers - Fr
#31 D.J. Henderson - Sr
#3 Marquill Osbourne - Jr
#15 Shawn Shamburger - So
#?? Kenneth George - So

Edit: KG has 3 to play 3.



My depth chart guess is ...

LCB1 - Shamburger
RCB1 Taylor

LCB2 - Buchanen
RCB2 - Osbourne

NB1 - Osbourne
NB2 - George

Nice breakdown, but what about Bryce Thompson? I certainly hope that they give him a look at CB or NB. He has a lot of athletic ability and he’s a tremendous prospect on either side of the ball.

4-star athlete Bryce Thompson picks Vols, enrolls at Tennessee - FreakNotes

 

[SycloneJoe]

After the addition of Kennedy to the OL, this position group now makes me more nervous than any. It is comforting to know that DB's are CJP's expertise.

 

[dcm3w]

Imo...
Thompson and Taylor are both talented enough to start as true freshman.
Sham is NB
Warrior FS
SS..? Please NOT Abernathy.
Watch out for Flowers here..

My guess

CB Osborne
CB Taylor
NB Sham
SS Jackson
FS Warrior

A healthy TKjr?

Btw, I think Abernathy has shown flashes of being a good player but he seems to follow up with bad showcasing. I think with the right coaching and discipline, hopefully with Pruitt, he can become a more consistent player.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

A healthy TKjr?

Btw, I think Abernathy has shown flashes of being a good player but he seems to follow up with bad showcasing. I think with the right coaching and discipline, hopefully with Pruitt, he can become a more consistent player.

TK will play a role somewhere. Not sure he’ll get the lion’s share of snaps at safety, but there’re have been murmurs that Warrior may be playing Star for us in some situations.

If that comes to fruition, then either Jackson or TK Jr will likely play safety alongside Abernathy.