Recruiting Forum Football Talk LVII

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#6,551
#6,551
Got to thinking today, the first game against WV is absolutely huge. If you find a way to win that one, we're 3-0 with UF coming to town. Neyland would be absolutely rocking.
 
#6,554
#6,554
Siap

three things we learned in tennessee's fourth week of spring ball:
1. Pruitt's creation of depth is creative – last tuesday brought six position changes. Now, not all are going to stick, but pruitt is clearly trying to develop some depth in creative ways. Does that mean someone could end up playing on both sides of the ball? It's something we wouldn't rule out. Moving guys around in spring practice just to see who could be a possibility in an emergency role is not new, but when you have a lack of depth like tennessee does then it might not be just an emergency role. It's something that pruitt's former boss nick saban has done from time to time. Take for example marcus spears, who played for saban at lsu from 2001-2004. As a freshman, spears played fullback, tight end and defensive end recording two catches for 20 yards on offense and eight tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss on defense. Could latrell bumphus follow a similar path? Alontae taylor? It will be interesting to see what pruitt's depth plan looks like this fall.

2. Injured players return biggest news of the week – austin price said it best on the podcast friday: The biggest key for this vols closing out spring is health. Tennessee must not get anyone hurt the last week and the continued return of injured players is vital to this team. It's why darin kirkland jr. On the practice field and chance hall in a uniform working on the side was a big deal on thursday. It's the first time in over a year that hall has done anything of note football wise. He's still a long way from being back, but the hope that a return to the field is a realistic is big for a depleted offensive line. Kirkland return is big for the defense as well. He's instinctive. He's a leader and he's experienced in the middle of the field for the defense. A position that's challenging but is one of the playmaker spots in pruitt's scheme.

3. Pruitt's changed his approach – after going six press conferences without mentioning a a player by name, pruitt didn't sidestep questions about specific players when he met the media on tuesday and thursday. He openly discussed position moves, as well as how some specific players were doing. It was a complete 180 from what pruitt had offered the first three weeks. Why the change? Maybe someone told him to or maybe pruitt is starting to get comfortable with his roster. He had said a week earlier, he was starting to like the team. Maybe it's simply he's starting to get a feel for who his best players are. We don't really know, but it was clearly a change in direction as it wasn't just talking about players. He also mentioned the need for players leading after saying since he was hired that the coaches were the team leaders. Will he finish spring continuing to open up a bit about things?
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vq
 
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#6,555
#6,555
Two questions heading into the final week:
1. Does Guarantano's finish strong? – Everyone you speak with is in agreement that the quarterback had his best week of the spring, especially with how he played in Saturday night's scrimmage. No one is saying that Guarantano is a complete product or has locked anything up, but Guarantano threw the ball well Saturday night and everyone says he's making smarter decisions with the football. With grad transfer Keller Chryst coming to Knoxville in a month, the competition is going to be on. Can Guarantano close out spring practice with three practices building the way he has the last couple of weeks?

2. Who moves position wise this week? – Who stays where they were last and who moves? And did any of the moves last week offer any new real options. Can Tyler Byrd find a home at receiver? Where is Bumphus' best position for this team? Where does Alontae Taylor finish spring ball? When the Vols hit the practice field Tuesday, everyone will be looking to see who is lining up where.

One prediction: Alontae Taylor helps somewhere
Even in talking about multiple players last week, Pruitt didn't offer a ton of details about anyone. Of all the players that Pruitt spoke up, he offered the most about freshman receiver/defensive back Alontae Taylor.

“I think Alontae can play a lot of positions. He was a high school quarterback. He returned kicks. He’s not going to play quarterback here, so every position is new. He is going to be learning all of them. I think he has a little more experience playing wide receiver because he played more of that in high school, but he also played some defensive back. I think he has a lot of ability. It’s probably not fair to him because the kid met one day and we put him out there with the ones so we could see him guard the best guys. We did that to figure out if he can or can’t. He really don’t know what to do. That’s not his fault. He has really good ability. I think we are going to do it one more day and let him scrimmage with the defense and go from there.

"It’s one of these deals to build depth down the road. He told me today that he thinks if he does it for a few more days he will have it down and if we need him in the fall he can come help. You look back over the years, there has been sometimes when it’s late in the game and you have a jump ball situation, you want the guy with the best ball skills back there. If you want t throw the ball into the end zone, do you want a five-eight defensive back, back there jumping or do you want the guy that can go up and get the ball. It’s good for him to learn. I think he is probably the best wide receiver to learn how to play defensive back. We are going to decide after the scrimmage whether he needs to move back or wait.”
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VQ
 
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#6,556
#6,556
Brillovol said:
You mean, for example putting the coaches name then “na” behind it? Asking for a friend.
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I noticed that a post by him actually ended up right before this post. I wasn't calling anyone out specifically. For some reason, I actually thought his username predated the Butch Jones era. I've been a VN visitor way longer than I've been an active poster. I distinctly remember quite a few dooley-related usernames from the past that have disappeared.
 
#6,557
#6,557
big gucci sosa said:
eight questions heading into the final week:
1. Does guarantano's finish strong? – everyone you speak with is in agreement that the quarterback had his best week of the spring, especially with how he played in saturday night's scrimmage. No one is saying that guarantano is a complete product or has locked anything up, but guarantano threw the ball well saturday night and everyone says he's making smarter decisions with the football. With grad transfer keller chryst coming to knoxville in a month, the competition is going to be on. 2. Can guarantano close out spring practice with three practices building the way he has the last couple of weeks?

3. Who moves position wise this week? – 4. Who stays where they were last and who moves? 5. And did any of the moves last week offer any new real options. 6. Can tyler byrd find a home at receiver? 7. Where is bumphus' best position for this team? 8. Where does alontae taylor finish spring ball?

Vq
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fyp :)
 
#6,560
#6,560
Glitch said:
Friends are for the weak.

I wish I had a friend. :cray:
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images
 
#6,561
#6,561
Pruitt loves him some Alontae.

And when it’s all said and done, Alontae has a chance to go down as the most valuable recruit of the 2018 class.
 
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#6,564
#6,564
hotcypress said:
I noticed that a post by him actually ended up right before this post. I wasn't calling anyone out specifically. For some reason, I actually thought his username predated the Butch Jones era. I've been a VN visitor way longer than I've been an active poster. I distinctly remember quite a few dooley-related usernames from the past that have disappeared.
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I honestly can’t recall. He’s an easy target though.

😂
 
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