Recruiting Forum Football Talk LVII

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#6,401
#6,401
Here’s a collection of notes and nuggets from the VolQuest staff on Tennessee’s second scrimmage Saturday night under the lights…

According to multiple sources, Jarrett Guarantano had his strongest day of the spring Saturday. As a whole, Tennessee’s offense was better and had more bright spots compared to the first scrimmage, largely thanks to JG. The redshirt sophomore was strong throwing the deep ball, especially to the right side. He showed better accuracy too, especially on crossing routes and short drags. The one caveat to JG’s performance Saturday was that he “would've been sacked a bunch if he was allowed to get hit." Still, as has been the theme recently, when given time, JG delivered. On the flip side, Will McBride wasn't as good against the 2s on Saturday.

Once again, Ty Chandler was a standout. Hardly a surprise, but yet another confirmation for the staff that the Nashville native is clearly the best option at RB.

Notably, while the Vols are transiting to a more pro-style attack, they’re still doing a whole lot horizontally on the perimeter. They still can’t run the ball between the tackles (the OL once again really struggled inside), so a common theme has been plays that run wide — jet sweeps, stretch runs, rockets, etc. Tempo was stressed a lot, too.

Overall, the offense was much more productive Saturday, but it still made way too many mistakes — mostly mental. The OL had lots of missed assignments and false starts (the shorthanded unit had no answers for DL stunts), while the WRs were very inconsistent with dropped passes. Marquez Callaway remains the steadiest of the group, with Josh Palmer making a few plays as well. Tyler Byrd also had a big catch-and-run.

Defensively, the DL played well, with Shy Tuttle, Darrell Taylor (who was active in the run game and as a pass rusher) and Kyle Phillips receiving the most praise from folks we talked to. Deandre Johnson also looked good and moved well at OLB, per an observer.

Tackling was better, as Kevin Sherrer’s MLB group played with improved physicality.

The secondary remains a very mix bag, per sources. The safety spot is solid but not without errors. Nigel Warrior is clearly the group’s best player and was solid in run support. Meanwhile the corners continue to struggle. One source said, “Really rough night for the CBs.”
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-Simonton
 
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#6,403
#6,403
NeverWe'llSever said:
Elite duck duck goose players all over their roster
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It's odd. Prior to their Spring game a lot of them were puffing up their chests but now the fans are letting Mullen have it. I don't know why they thought their depth situation was any better than ours or why their 4-7 record left them in any better position than our 4-8 record. I suppose not being down as long gave them more confidence but UF and UT have eerily similar situations going into this season.
 
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#6,404
#6,404
Ron Swanson said:
-Simonton
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Best part about this is reading the staff realizes what the offense is good and bad at and is adjusting what they want to do based on our strengths/weaknesses.

Will be refreshing compared to trying to fit square pegs into round holes like we’ve seen recently
 
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#6,405
#6,405
volfanngatorland said:
Best part about this is reading the staff realizes what the offense is good and bad at and is adjusting what they want to do based on our strengths/weaknesses.

Will be refreshing compared to trying to fit square pegs into round holes like we’ve seen recently
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You mean we wont be running inside zone up the middle for a gain of 1 30 times a game anymore..... Breaks my heart, just kidding
 
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#6,406
#6,406
Sounds like we're going to be able to stop the run with our front 7. If they can find a way to play well at CB we might have a really good defense this fall.

Get Trey Smith, Calbert and Hall back on the OL, add in Anderson at TE, Johnson the JUCO OL, the QB and RB grad transfers with the other HS newcomers this summer and the optimism continues to grow...
 
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#6,408
#6,408
mr.checkerboards said:
You mean we wont be running inside zone up the middle for a gain of 1 30 times a game anymore..... Breaks my heart, just kidding
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In fairness, we despised Bajakian for using sweeps and stretchs to compensate for our poor line. Those plays did well with Pig but horribly when it was Hurd alone.

I'm for doing whatever will get us positive yardage. It's just a shame that OL is STILL a train wreck after all this time.
 
#6,409
#6,409
Ron Swanson said:
Sounds like we're going to be able to stop the run with our front 7. If they can find a way to play well at CB we might have a really good defense this fall.

Get Trey Smith, Calbert and Hall back on the OL, add in Anderson at TE, Johnson the JUCO OL, the QB and RB grad transfers with the other HS newcomers this summer and the optimism continues to grow...
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Adding the four ol along with a great summer workout program and hopefully they can become a decent group this fall
 
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#6,410
#6,410
UTProf said:
In fairness, we despised Bajakian for using sweeps and stretchs to compensate for our poor line. Those plays did well with Pig but horribly when it was Hurd alone.

I'm for doing whatever will get us positive yardage. It's just a shame that OL is STILL a train wreck after all this time.
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I think we more despised them because Hurd was too slow for them. That's what Howard was good at Hurd was made for going up the middle
 
#6,414
#6,414
SouthKnoxVOL said:
R. Lee Ermey passed away.
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giphy.gif
 
#6,415
#6,415
Can someone explain to me why the press is so high on MSU and Moorehead? I know the cupboard isn't bare at State but I've seen predictions that State could have a 10+ win season and that's something they've only done like 4 or 5 times in their history.

EDIT: State's only had 10 wins 3 times.
 
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#6,416
#6,416
UTProf said:
Can someone explain to me why the press is so high on MSU and Moorehead? I know the cupboard isn't bare at State but I've seen predictions that State could have a 10+ win season and that's something they've only done like 4 or 5 times in their history.
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Moore head is one of the most highly respected offensive minds in all of CFB. He saved James Franklins job at PSU.

He is one of the innovators or RPO heavy offense. Fieldman did a fantastic segment on him on his podcast aka while back when he was at Fordham.
 
#6,418
#6,418
HankHill said:
Moore head is one of the most highly respected offensive minds in all of CFB. He saved James Franklins job at PSU.

He is one of the innovators or RPO heavy offense. Fieldman did a fantastic segment on him on his podcast aka while back when he was at Fordham.
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I know he was a hot name during the hiring cycle. I was honestly surprised when TAMU didn't grab him (I still don't think Jimbo at that price + a ton of questions about whether he can replicate things is a good deal for them).

However it's just odd that after losing their best coach ever State is predicted to be able to do something they've only down three times ever. Although their schedule is pretty favorable (I can see them getting to 8-9 fairly easy) getting past 9 wins is a pretty big feat for any coach at State.
 
#6,421
#6,421
It'll be interesting to see how many turn out. A lot of rival fans, especially Bammers, are convinced we've already abandoned Pruitt because they haven't heard much press. (Their words). I don't think they realize that although we love info. as a fanbase that after everything we've been through, especially in the now post-Butch Era, low-key and to the point is exactly what we want from a coach right now. We don't want buzz and wouldn't believe it if we had it. We just want results.
 
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#6,423
#6,423
UTProf said:
It'll be interesting to see how many turn out. A lot of rival fans, especially Bammers, are convinced we've already abandoned Pruitt because they haven't heard much press. (Their words). I don't think they realize that although we love info. as a fanbase that after everything we've been through, especially in the now post-Butch Era, low-key and to the point is exactly what we want from a coach right now.
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I’m a full believer in Pruitt. I think he’ll be a star. He just has to recruit and he will after he shows improvement this season imo
 
#6,424
#6,424
Bassmaster_Vol said:
I’m a full believer in Pruitt. I think he’ll be a star. He just has to recruit and he will after he shows improvement this season imo
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I hope you're right. I think Pruitt has the best chance of making it out of all the hires we've made post-Fulmer but until that happens I'll be supportive but not really hyped up about it. It's just hard to get too excited until we see something that gives us real reason to.

And yeah, something has to happen in recruiting. I think there'd be more excitement if we had at least that to hold onto. It's just a tough situation but I think most folks are supportive of Pruitt and fairly happy with the hire.
 
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