Recruiting Forum Football Talk LVII

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#5,951
#5,951
LA Vol said:
The players that everybody's calling terrible now are the same players that had everybody excited when they committed. It has become trendy to hate on Tennessee. It'll be a real bummer to the media when we're actually good again. And we don't even have to be good to beat 7 teams on our schedule. Their players aren't any better than ours.
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To me it all comes down to a few positions.

1 OL
2 QB
3 DL

Also we need Helton to be good. That’s a big key and a big question mark.

We could be much improved everywhere else but if we don’t get good play from those 3 listed above we are in trouble. And those are our biggest question marks to me.
 
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#5,953
#5,953
BigZiti09 said:
We know more than them. It’s amazing we pay any attention to National guys any time they speak about us.

They don’t follow our team. Stewart Mandell doesn’t know jack about squat when it comes to Tennessee football.
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agreed. stopping by for 1 day, to see one open media session, an expert does not make. hot take.
LA Vol said:
Everyone may not appreciate the humor, but the Intern Butch account is absolutely funny.
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agreed.
 
#5,956
#5,956
Winners win. If we can’t get to 6 wins with this roster, Pruitt isn’t the answer. You can’t argue we don’t have better players than Vandy, Missouri, Kentucky, and the 3 cupcakes. We have comparable talent to Florida, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
 
#5,957
#5,957
LA Vol said:
Everyone may not appreciate the humor, but the Intern Butch account is absolutely funny.
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“Funny huh? Ever had a man die in your arms?”
4cca6df046a27517442f80e423dc8e62.jpg
 
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#5,958
#5,958
Volnukem said:
Winners win. If we can’t get to 6 wins with this roster, Pruitt isn’t the answer. You can’t argue we don’t have better players than Vandy, Missouri, Kentucky, and the 3 cupcakes. We have comparable talent to Florida, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
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tired narrative.

you can argue that we will have a brand new staff, 1st time they've ever worked together as a unit, coaching players that in some cases haven't played together, that are all learning new schemes on both sides of the ball, whilst also going thru a completely differen s&C program.....AGAIN.

bottom line, for as many reasons people say this kind of crap, there's equal, if not more, reason to say it goes bad.

there's a lot of questions that need to be answered.

and if we got them all right, then yes, this team is probably capable of 8 wins (maybe more).

but we won't get them all right, and we have no idea how the injury bug affects this team, especially on the offensive line.

statements like this require zero thought, apply zero context, and are just plain lazy.
 
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#5,959
#5,959
Chief Vol 13 said:
I don't think it's that bad but I also don't think this roster is near as good as some on here think it is. This is most likely a six or seven win team. The growing pains with new schemes and a first time head coach, and first time coordinators, will make things challenging. A lot of people are overlooking that last part.
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I think most people on here think this is likely a 6-7 win team.
 
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#5,962
#5,962
vol2002 said:
yeah, i didn’t completely agree with the analysis. He was very dismissive and went on to say they hope to getter grad transfers to help. Feldman sounded surprised he was so negative and piped in to name warrior and callaway as good players. But mandell was adamant he thought this was a bad team, and that pruitt wasn’t being done any favors because he will inevitably be compared to smart, who won 8 then took his team to the national title game his second year.

For my part i think a bowl game is doable, but i don’t dismiss negative media reports anymore. It’s possible we will really suck.
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WIN.jpg
 
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#5,963
#5,963
BigZiti09 said:
To me it all comes down to a few positions.

1 OL
2 QB
3 DL

Also we need Helton to be good. That’s a big key and a big question mark.

We could be much improved everywhere else but if we don’t get good play from those 3 listed above we are in trouble. And those are our biggest question marks to me.
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There are definitely question marks. I'm not saying we'll be good. I'm saying an average team can beat 7 other average teams. If the team is prepared, plays tough and has good gameday coaching, we can crawl back to midpack. That's what 7 wins gets you in the SEC.

I agree on QB and OL. We have another option coming in at QB, so whoever starts, we'll have a decent backup. I think they'll have packages for both. OL is going to be cobbled together again, no way around it. We'll be playing FR and walk-ons. We're not gonna be competing for championships this year-- we'll be looking to beat cupcakes and cellar dwellers to get to midpack.
 
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#5,967
#5,967
LA Vol said:
There are definitely question marks. I'm not saying we'll be good. I'm saying an average team can beat 7 other average teams. If the team is prepared, plays tough and has good gameday coaching, we can crawl back to midpack. That's what 7 wins gets you in the SEC.

I agree on QB and OL. We have another option coming in at QB, so whoever starts, we'll have a decent backup. I think they'll have packages for both. OL is going to be cobbled together again, no way around it. We'll be playing FR and walk-ons. We're not gonna be competing for championships this year-- we'll be looking to beat cupcakes and cellar dwellers to get to midpack.
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Agreed. I don’t expect big things this year, and probably not next year. Just get us back to semi-respectable, look like a tough, well coached football team and recruit good, tough football players that fit the system. Should be competitive by year 3. Anything more than that is gravy to me.
 
#5,970
#5,970
LaagerVol said:
Agreed. I don’t expect big things this year, and probably not next year. Just get us back to semi-respectable, look like a tough, well coached football team and recruit good, tough football players that fit the system. Should be competitive by year 3. Anything more than that is gravy to me.
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agreed. the O line is still the biggest bugaboo, in that it's gonna probably require some youth to contribute the next two years for sure.

but you could maybe make a case where the 2019 team could be pretty good, depending on how a few things shake out. i'm not gonna put the cart before the horse though.

really hoping/wanting to enjoy the ride back up.
 
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#5,974
#5,974
The biggest news of the week may be the return of Darrin Kirkland Jr. to the practice field, as well as clearance for contact for linebacker Daniel Bituli. There's no doubt that both are built better for this defense as inside linebackers than say a Quart’e Sapp and certainly Kirkland's experience as a linebacker in the SEC, regardless of scheme, is a help. The fact is that the inside linebacker positions are the most difficult to play in the defense because of adjustments and instincts required. So the more reps Kirkland and Bituli get, the better they are and the more it helps the defense.

Kirkland is in a contract year with a defensive coach that has produced at his position. DK is motivated, and throw in also that this defense struggled to tackle and communicate correctly a week ago, and clearly Jeremy Pruitt is looking for more physicality and productivity.

Back to the position moves, Pruitt's hope is to create a security blanket at positions that are thin on the roster. Alontae Taylor is going to go back to offense, but if needed, Taylor has shown with quick development in a pair of practices that he could play on the defensive side of the ball in a pinch. But Tennessee also needs him on offense, where they are looking for more playmakers on the perimeter. As a receiver, Taylor is a player who they got the ball to early in last Saturday's scrimmage. Pruitt made it clear on Thursday that Taylor is a guy that athletically can help multiple places. He's also a really competitive player as well.

With other position moves, the move of Eric Crosby to offensive guard could possibly stick. Crosby has not shown great explosiveness as a defensive tackle, but he is extremely strong. Yes, there would be concerns about his lack of height and reach. That is something that Dylan Weisman had to battle in his career, but Crosby, we are told, is not opposed to the move at all. In fact, it's something that Crosby actually discussed last year with the previous staff as he was redshirting.

One would assume that Greg Emerson and Matthew Butler would both head back to the defensive side of the ball either next week or after spring is over for their summer work. Meanwhile, Tyler Byrd is going to remain on offense at receiver as he tries to find his way.

It's going to be very interesting to see what Pruitt and his staff decide with Latrell Bumphus. The defensive line needs help and the tight end position needs a physical player, as Pruitt noted Thursday after practice. Pruitt did note that only three defensive lineman play at a time so Bumphus could end up getting moved back to offense based on the need.
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-VQ
 
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#5,975
#5,975
Of the 5 top 20 2019 TN prospects that have committed, only one has chosen UT!
I know it takes time, but come on!
 
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