London Vol
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,018
- Likes
- 9,004
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result ~ Albert Einstein.
I have now experienced National Signing Day 11 times and because I have very little exposure to High School football I have usually based my judgement on how many stars our new incumbents have (this policy has been supported by the often-mentioned fact that all National Champions had a majority of blue chip players i.e. 5 & 4 stars on their roster). Here is a sample of the players who would have been our No 1 pick this year, you judge how successful they were.:
Preston Williams No 47
LaDarrell McNeil No 90
De’Anthony Arnett No 40
Drew Richmond No 56
Todd Kelly Jnr No 64
Dillon Bates No 96
Khalil McKenzie No 6
Wanya Morris No 28
JJ Petersen No 48
Maleik Gray No 80
Tyler Byrd No 93
I think Mr. Einstein would not approve of many on that list.
In the 12 months of Josh Heupel’s tenure at Tennessee I have grown to trust the man. He has already proven that he has a clear idea of the system he wishes to implement and what type of player he needs for that. Albert, you will be relieved to hear that at last I will listen to you and instead of looking at the stars, this year I will look at the skill set each player has to allow them to fit in Coach Heupel’s scheme. So just look how suitable these 7 players we signed on Wednesday are.
QUARTERBACK
For this key position Josh Heupel clearly prefers a mobile Quarterback that also has a strong arm. In other words a dual threat Quarterback. Personally, I prefer a Pro-Style Quarterback but fortunately I’m not in charge and anyway that type of Quarterback is not the best fit for this system, this was proven by the Harrison Bailey experiment. I was always a fan of Bailey but I realise we would not have had such a good season with him under center. Tayven Jackson is almost a clone of a classic Heupel Quarterback and even luckier he will have a season to watch and learn from Hendon Hooker before given the “keys to the offense”.
RUNNING BACK
We already have two very useful running backs in Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright but they are both quite small and tricky, in other words a little bit “samey”. Last year we were very poor in short yardage situations, so a larger downhill runner is exactly what we need. Justin Williams 6-0 and 205 pounds apparently has these skills.
WIDE RECEIVER
A big part of the Heupel strategy is to throw deep and to the side line and therefore needs, not only speed in his WR but also jumping ability. This is something we have had now for a number of years with North, Callaway, Jennings, Palmer and Tillman to name just five. Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce you to Kaleb Webb who is 6-3 and 185 pounds, he is a state 4x100 metre State Champion and can leap like a salmon.
WIDE RECEIVER
Hopefully Cedric Tillman will, as predicted, return and with Jalin Hyatt, Jimmy Calloway and Walter Merrill developing, but you can always do with an electric Receiver, with the ability to stop on a "dime" and with speed to burn. Remember you can always coach route running and build body mass but speed is there or its not and apparently Marquarius “Squirrel” White has an abundance of it. He also has the best nickname since Alton “Pig” Howard so how can you not wish him well.
OFFENSIVE LINE
With Wright, Carvin, Cooper Mays, Spraggins and possibly Cade Mays returning we are probably looking for projects to develop but Addison Nichols is that good that he may become a starter as a Freshman, so another plus from Wednesday.
DEFENSIVE LINE
We are so lucky to have Rodney Garner and he has already coached the line to keep the opponents to under 4 yards a run. However, we did not get much penetration from the Defensive Tackles. Now Tyre West is 6-3 and 280 pounds (not that Im say he is just as good as him but he is the exact weight of Aaron Donald and Donald is the ultimate disruptor against larger Offensive Linemen). West is widely regarded as a bull rush beast, so whilst we already have Thomas, Simmons and Terry Tyre will be a different weapon for Coach Garner to scheme with.
EDGE RUSHER
Next season I expect Byron Young will gain nationwide exposure and we also have Tyler Baron and Roman Harrison, but James Pearce could be a breakout Freshman candidate. He is 6-5 and 220 pounds he has long arms and a very flexible bend, he may only be a situational rusher but think how many 3rd and longs we gave up last year and “getting off the edge” will help in this regard.
SEE YOU LATER WALTER NOLEN
It was a shame that we lost out on Nolen and we will never really know why he chose College Station. For him to say that he wanted to come to Tennessee and we also offered the best NIL package yet he chose aTm (that’s is also the name for a cash point in England) is just not credible. Anyway, remember Cade Mays four years ago going to Jawgia only for him to find the “grass wasn’t greener on the other side” and return home, so I would not be surprised to see him in Orange before he is finished with College Football.
Albert Einstein, I have finally listened to you and have judged the new signees on their skill set in relation to our particular needs rather than the number of stars 247 Sports award them and using this method I think we had a great day on Wednesday.
Finally, we wish you all a Merry Christmas next weekend and then we can look forward to Purdue.
I always enjoy your comments and observations
GO VOLS
I have now experienced National Signing Day 11 times and because I have very little exposure to High School football I have usually based my judgement on how many stars our new incumbents have (this policy has been supported by the often-mentioned fact that all National Champions had a majority of blue chip players i.e. 5 & 4 stars on their roster). Here is a sample of the players who would have been our No 1 pick this year, you judge how successful they were.:
Preston Williams No 47
LaDarrell McNeil No 90
De’Anthony Arnett No 40
Drew Richmond No 56
Todd Kelly Jnr No 64
Dillon Bates No 96
Khalil McKenzie No 6
Wanya Morris No 28
JJ Petersen No 48
Maleik Gray No 80
Tyler Byrd No 93
I think Mr. Einstein would not approve of many on that list.
In the 12 months of Josh Heupel’s tenure at Tennessee I have grown to trust the man. He has already proven that he has a clear idea of the system he wishes to implement and what type of player he needs for that. Albert, you will be relieved to hear that at last I will listen to you and instead of looking at the stars, this year I will look at the skill set each player has to allow them to fit in Coach Heupel’s scheme. So just look how suitable these 7 players we signed on Wednesday are.
QUARTERBACK
For this key position Josh Heupel clearly prefers a mobile Quarterback that also has a strong arm. In other words a dual threat Quarterback. Personally, I prefer a Pro-Style Quarterback but fortunately I’m not in charge and anyway that type of Quarterback is not the best fit for this system, this was proven by the Harrison Bailey experiment. I was always a fan of Bailey but I realise we would not have had such a good season with him under center. Tayven Jackson is almost a clone of a classic Heupel Quarterback and even luckier he will have a season to watch and learn from Hendon Hooker before given the “keys to the offense”.
RUNNING BACK
We already have two very useful running backs in Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright but they are both quite small and tricky, in other words a little bit “samey”. Last year we were very poor in short yardage situations, so a larger downhill runner is exactly what we need. Justin Williams 6-0 and 205 pounds apparently has these skills.
WIDE RECEIVER
A big part of the Heupel strategy is to throw deep and to the side line and therefore needs, not only speed in his WR but also jumping ability. This is something we have had now for a number of years with North, Callaway, Jennings, Palmer and Tillman to name just five. Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce you to Kaleb Webb who is 6-3 and 185 pounds, he is a state 4x100 metre State Champion and can leap like a salmon.
WIDE RECEIVER
Hopefully Cedric Tillman will, as predicted, return and with Jalin Hyatt, Jimmy Calloway and Walter Merrill developing, but you can always do with an electric Receiver, with the ability to stop on a "dime" and with speed to burn. Remember you can always coach route running and build body mass but speed is there or its not and apparently Marquarius “Squirrel” White has an abundance of it. He also has the best nickname since Alton “Pig” Howard so how can you not wish him well.
OFFENSIVE LINE
With Wright, Carvin, Cooper Mays, Spraggins and possibly Cade Mays returning we are probably looking for projects to develop but Addison Nichols is that good that he may become a starter as a Freshman, so another plus from Wednesday.
DEFENSIVE LINE
We are so lucky to have Rodney Garner and he has already coached the line to keep the opponents to under 4 yards a run. However, we did not get much penetration from the Defensive Tackles. Now Tyre West is 6-3 and 280 pounds (not that Im say he is just as good as him but he is the exact weight of Aaron Donald and Donald is the ultimate disruptor against larger Offensive Linemen). West is widely regarded as a bull rush beast, so whilst we already have Thomas, Simmons and Terry Tyre will be a different weapon for Coach Garner to scheme with.
EDGE RUSHER
Next season I expect Byron Young will gain nationwide exposure and we also have Tyler Baron and Roman Harrison, but James Pearce could be a breakout Freshman candidate. He is 6-5 and 220 pounds he has long arms and a very flexible bend, he may only be a situational rusher but think how many 3rd and longs we gave up last year and “getting off the edge” will help in this regard.
SEE YOU LATER WALTER NOLEN
It was a shame that we lost out on Nolen and we will never really know why he chose College Station. For him to say that he wanted to come to Tennessee and we also offered the best NIL package yet he chose aTm (that’s is also the name for a cash point in England) is just not credible. Anyway, remember Cade Mays four years ago going to Jawgia only for him to find the “grass wasn’t greener on the other side” and return home, so I would not be surprised to see him in Orange before he is finished with College Football.
Albert Einstein, I have finally listened to you and have judged the new signees on their skill set in relation to our particular needs rather than the number of stars 247 Sports award them and using this method I think we had a great day on Wednesday.
Finally, we wish you all a Merry Christmas next weekend and then we can look forward to Purdue.
I always enjoy your comments and observations
GO VOLS
Last edited:
