Biggest Liability ... it’s not QB

[sjt18]

The scariest stat was we had 10 yards rushing in the first half. Our OL was supposed to be dominating and that didn't happen against a much smaller DL USCjr had. Think that was bad, we got stopped on 3rd and short in the 2nd half whern we really needed that first down. The OL played well in spurts but. nothing close to what they're supposed to be the whole game. That is a serious cause for concern IMO.

No doubt. UT should have mauled their DL.

That said... UT needed more plays and the failure to convert on 3rd down (primarily due to JG's 1 for 7 3rd down performance) left UT short on both total plays and time of possession. USCe held the ball 34:50.

 

[Proud Army Wife]

Gray has got an amazing natural 'juke' move that you just can't teach.

I'm not sure what to call it really. It's like a hybrid move between a stutter step/side step/pivot step that he uses in close space while accelerating through the hole into the 2nd level. I remember pre-2018 I commented on his recruiting footage on here and said, "He(Gray) is going to excel at the next level(UT)". His HS footage he looked like a demigod using it. Even early last season he was making defenders look foolish one-on-one occasionally.

That said you're absolutely right about him still being arm tackled too much. That flea flicker you just described is a perfect example. He actually slowed down. I think it's because he can't pull off his 'juke' move at full speed and tries to do too much some times. That's on Jay Graham to coach him up. "Son, this is the SEC. You don't slow down and dance you're way one-on-one into the endzone in this conference. You go full speed through the DB into the endzone".

I commented during the 2nd half of the Gameday thread that Gray was trying to do too much. I saw two plays where he let off the straight line burst, trying to make guys miss, and left yards on the play.

Gray & Chandler have both improved from last year. Chandler has improved more & Gray is still leaving himself too open to arm tackles. I think Gray has the higher ceiling but so far Chandler's out working him x&o fundamentals & strait line speed.

With Gray's natural athleticism he's good to turn a few runs between the tackles into 10-20yrds more than your average SEC back gets. If he gets his x&o fundamentals down, he could turn into the most explosives RB we've had since Kamara running off-tackle or catching swing/screen passes in the flat.

"That's on Jay Graham to coach him up. "Son, this is the SEC. You don't slow down and dance you're way one-on-one into the endzone in this conference. You go full speed through the DB into the endzone"."
That reminds me of a scene in the film Gridiron Gang when Dwayne Johnson's character puts on pads and tells his rb to run him over. Perhaps Graham could try this in practice with Gray

 

[volmoon]

Agree with 1. On 2, those guys are ILBs. But both should be athletic enough to cover. I know HT is great in coverage. You may be right though about their coverage being poor Saturday. I honestly didn’t notice.

Thanks for the correction. My bad. Our D failed to pick up RBs and TEs on passing plays too many times. It burned us multiple times.

 

[Blackburn]

IMO, our biggest liability is our lack of a true starting Tight End. Austin Pope wasn’t SEC quality and he was the best we had. Now we basically have no one but a warm body out there. I’m curious to see how it effects our run game over the course of the season.

 

[LAVol1]

Yep funny thing about getting 3rd down conversions . It helps your defense . Why ? because they are on the bench resting and you're driving for a TD and their O dont have the ball. If you get a few more 3rd down conversions the whole game story line changes. It's as simple as that TOP time of possession is a great tool for your D. This could have been a 2 to 3 TD victory if we had converted some that were there..

 

[sjt18]

IMO, our biggest liability is our lack of a true starting Tight End. Austin Pope wasn’t SEC quality and he was the best we had. Now we basically have no one but a warm body out there. I’m curious to see how it effects our run game over the course of the season.

Not even close. Fant played very well. He got open. He blocked well.

 

[Volador]

Chaney is my biggest concern. No lie.

 

[Bluetick7578]

I think the secondary will be fine after it gets enough reps. Our LBs in coverage are a concern

Thought I was the only one saw that a good Tightend will have a day. hope we get that right

 

[LAVol1]

I'll tell you what "universe".... had we had USCe QB last night, we would have won by 20+ points. Had we had Iowa State's QB in the bowl game, we would have won by at least 20 points. UT won last night because of...
1) LB pick-six
2) USCe special teams mistake

JG is not a QB that will help you "pull away" from a team and pile on 15-20 points. He's just bad enough to keep the opposing team around. This propensity will definitely cost UT a game it should win and definitely keep UT from winning a game they're "supposed to lose" (UGA, UF, Barn, Bama). 5-5 or 6-4 at best.

You may be 100% correct, but I will say that JG is very good at ball security, and that gets discounted by too many fans. We may have a QB that would put up more passing yards, but if he turns the ball over a couple of times a game, we may lose one or two that JG would have won. Having said that, I think it may be time to play a QB for the future, and that would not be JG. Maybe HB would be starting now if he had a spring practice under his belt--but, he didn't, so......that may be why JG is starting. It could be worse. We could have LSU's QB.

 

[whodeycin85]

This is why I wanted him!!!

 

[LAVol1]

So someone at UTK thought participating in contact tracing was a good idea. News flash, it’s useless and dumb.

The one positive to "contact tracing" is that it makes players think about where they go and helps keep them from going to high risk areas. e big negative is that it

 

[sechamp2012]

Leach & Pruitt are about as opposites as any coach in America. Pruitt wants a safe no TO QB & play solid D. Leach slings it around one D player out of position they score they just try to out score you. It has worked about 50% of time for Leach you don’t hear about his 3 win seasons but their fun to watch when he has a top notch QB.

 

[livefaith]

Except 1 fact...in high school scouting reports says he was inaccurate and inconsistent......what is he now 5 years later..inaccurate and inconsistent

He plays well enough to beat defense 75 and below in ranking...in 2 weeks we will see if he has improved.....if he doesn't get benched before

Not sure what his high school scouting report has to do with anything. PV just made a very good point that we could do worse than JG. Me thinks too many are still hanging on to the HS recruiting hype. It's taken 4 years for people to finally realize that he was never a real "DT" quarterback. But most haven't gotten over the "#1 Rated" part linked to "DT QB".
Therefore, until JG starts logging Joe Burrow or Peyton Manning level results, then he's a disaster.

These recruiting rankings, stars, and player position ratings hold waaaaay too much sway over fans minds, for far too many years.

 

[whodeycin85]

Not sure what his high school scouting report has to do with anything. PV just made a very good point that we could do worse than JG. Me thinks too many are still hanging on to the HS recruiting hype. It's taken 4 years for people to finally realize that he was never a real "DT" quarterback. But most haven't gotten over the "#1 Rated" part linked to "DT QB".
Therefore, until JG starts logging Joe Burrow or Peyton Manning level results, then he's a disaster.

These recruiting rankings, stars, and player position ratings hold waaaaay too much sway over fans minds, for far too many years.

No one is hanging on his HS hype....we are a frustrated because JG has worked at being a QB for 5 years....and has not changed or improved any great amount......

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

No one is hanging on his HS hype....we are a frustrated because JG has worked at being a QB for 5 years....and has not changed or improved any great amount......

38/57 for 340 yards 2 TDs 0 ints in the '17 and '18 seasons vs USCjrs in 2 losses.

30/50 for 488 yards, 3TDs, 1 rushing TD and 0 int in the '19 and '20 seasons vs USCjrs in 2 wins.

Only place he didn't improve was 0 ints, lol! 0 ints in 4 games vs one of the best defensive minded coaches in the league is pretty good, I wonder if our backups could pull that off?

Your little false narrative that he isn't getting better is pure garbage in my opinion.

Spin it spinner!

 

[whodeycin85]

38/57 for 340 yards 2 TDs 0 ints in the '17 and '18 seasons vs USCjrs in 2 losses.

30/50 for 488 yards, 3TDs, 1 rushing TD and 0 int in the '19 and '20 seasons vs USCjrs in 2 wins.

Only place he didn't improve was 0 ints, lol! 0 ints in 4 games vs one of the best defensive minded coaches in the league is pretty good, I wonder if our backups could pull that off?

Your little false narrative that he isn't getting better is pure garbage in my opinion.

Spin it spinner!

So your big "gotcha" to improving accuracy and consistency is showing me stats that show he threw a lower completion % as a more experianced RsJr and Rs Sr with the same OC....and logically this leads to you he has improved accuracy and consistency???? Ok...and with that. You and i are done

 

[livefaith]

No one is hanging on his HS hype....we are a frustrated because JG has worked at being a QB for 5 years....and has not changed or improved any great amount......

I completely understand. But, following this exchange, the discussion was brought back to some HS scouting report. I agree with you somewhat.

 

[whodeycin85]

I completely understand. But, following this exchange, the discussion was brought back to some HS shooting report. I agree with you.

You jumped in the middle of a shark tank!!! Alot n of these references and things go back to thread from weeks ago...it all good. No problem!!

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

So your big "gotcha" to improving accuracy and consistency is showing me stats that show he threw a lower completion % as a more experianced RsJr and Rs Sr.....and logically this leads to you he has improved accuracy and consistency???? Ok...and with that. You and i are done

You didn't say anything at all about accuracy and consistency, you said he hasn't improved as a QB . I love how you neverJGers are now arguing he just isn't accurate or consistent is all as I've said the whole time that his biggest issue is being consistent. You have narrowed it down now to exactly the same conclusion because that's all you've got left to moan about. You guys will continue to bring up what he's done vs the big3 and that is fine by me because I'm not happy being 0-fer vs. them either. You're running out of facts to try and prove your narrative that you think JG sucks at QB.

Spin it spinner!!

 

[whodeycin85]

You didn't say anything at all about accuracy and consistency, you said he hasn't improved as a QB . I love how you neverJGers are now arguing he just isn't accurate or consistent is all as I've said the whole time that his biggest issue is being consistent. You have narrowed it down now to exactly the same conclusion because that's all you've got left to moan about. You guys will continue to bring up what he's done vs the big3 and that is fine by me because I'm not happy being 0-fer vs. them either. You're running out of facts to try and prove your narrative that you think JG sucks at QB.

Spin it spinner!!

Ok so following along and logic are difficult for you....the person i was referring before you decided to run off at the mouth was discussing his high school report referencing both those...the person knew what i was refering about not improving...so maybe stop getting in the middlenof conversations without out reading the whole thing...

 

[sjt18]

You didn't say anything at all about accuracy and consistency, you said he hasn't improved as a QB .

He has improved. He's a much better manager of the O and run game. He now uses the middle of the field at least on long developing plays. His ability to actually read D's pre/post snap is better.

But those things that you argue do not exist... that I believe may be innate... keep biting him. Even on completions last Sat... he was either late or behind several times. His overthrows could indicate he's rushing his motion... to compensate for that problem you claim doesn't exist. He still doesn't hit slants. He still doesn't anticipate throws well and especially downfield. The exception, and a great one, was the TD to #5. That's what I think a 5th year Sr starter for a top SEC program should do... CONSISTENTLY. Oh, and in the open field and not just with the back of the end zone to protect him.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

He has improved. He's a much better manager of the O and run game. He now uses the middle of the field at least on long developing plays. His ability to actually read D's pre/post snap is better.

But those things that you argue do not exist... that I believe may be innate... keep biting him. Even on completions last Sat... he was either late or behind several times. His overthrows could indicate he's rushing his motion... to compensate for that problem you claim doesn't exist. He still doesn't hit slants. He still doesn't anticipate throws well and especially downfield. The exception, and a great one, was the TD to #5. That's what I think a 5th year Sr starter for a top SEC program should do... CONSISTENTLY. Oh, and in the open field and not just with the back of the end zone to protect him.

Thank God for those exception throws, he's had several of them exception throws these last 7 games.

 

[ftsandersvol]

he simply confirms my belief that when you recruit middle of the SEC level talent, you get a middle of the SEC level player.

So, you're saying 4* QBs are middle of the SEC talent. If that's the case, we are in a world of hurt for the next couple of years.

 

[GreyWolf1129]

No, I’m saying that whoever looked at JG in high school and saw four stars needs to go to LensCrafters.

 

[USMC-TNVOL]

38/57 for 340 yards 2 TDs 0 ints in the '17 and '18 seasons vs USCjrs in 2 losses.

30/50 for 488 yards, 3TDs, 1 rushing TD and 0 int in the '19 and '20 seasons vs USCjrs in 2 wins.

Only place he didn't improve was 0 ints, lol! 0 ints in 4 games vs one of the best defensive minded coaches in the league is pretty good, I wonder if our backups could pull that off?

Your little false narrative that he isn't getting better is pure garbage in my opinion.

Spin it spinner!

4TD in two games. Wow blow us away with more awesome stats.