'14 TN DB Rashaan Gaulden (UT Signee 2/5/14)

Butch and staff will decide where to play him....pretty sure they know more about that then all the "hey play him here play him there folks".

Never fails to crack me up when we get these posts where everyone has a better ideal about where someone should be played or for that matter even recruited.

:loco:

You mean Butch isn't going to listen to us!?!??! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!
 
Let him play nickel. Eric Gordon was a sure tackler last year and seems like we have missed that with toney this year.
 
Butch and staff will decide where to play him....pretty sure they know more about that then all the "hey play him here play him there folks".

Never fails to crack me up when we get these posts where everyone has a better ideal about where someone should be played or for that matter even recruited.

:loco:
You want to hear something really funny then? This is a message board. I say he will play CB because VQ does. They seem to be right about everything these days. If he plays S am I going to cry? Hardly. We're all here because we love our Vols (well most of us). I'm just giving positives on why I think he can play a position that he's never played, that he's being recruited to play. If you think that's funny or use the standard idk wtf I'm talking about "I luv deez interwebz coachez" insult then your not worth the time. If nobody had opinions/good things to say, this place would be awful. That's why I stay away from the FF 99% of the time. Hilarious story right?

Good day sir, I wish I was more prompt in responding.
 
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I like Gaulden at safety too.
Breakerboy thinks corner.

Either way, he is very talented and should see significant PT early.
 
Gaulden at CB IMO. Payne at nickel, also subbing at CB. Toney has the quickness to match up with the slots, but isn't strong enough to tackle well. Gordon was slow and got beat regularly by quick receivers, but tackled well and had good ball hawking skills.
 
Butch and staff will decide where to play him....pretty sure they know more about that then all the "hey play him here play him there folks".

Never fails to crack me up when we get these posts where everyone has a better ideal about where someone should be played or for that matter even recruited.

:loco:

Post more. Your avi is awesome. :hi:
 
Gaulden at CB IMO. Payne at nickel, also subbing at CB. Toney has the quickness to match up with the slots, but isn't strong enough to tackle well. Gordon was slow and got beat regularly by quick receivers, but tackled well and had good ball hawking skills.
Yeah he's definitely got a chance at nickel/dime work, but I hope he develops into a great outside CB with elite CB tackling skills :)

You make the plays he does at S (tackling wise), impressive. You make those same plays at CB, insane.
 
Butch and staff will decide where to play him....pretty sure they know more about that then all the "hey play him here play him there folks".

Never fails to crack me up when we get these posts where everyone has a better ideal about where someone should be played or for that matter even recruited.

:loco:

Welcome to internet message boards. You may be in the wrong place. You can find information regarding decisions the coaching staff has made or will make at UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics or GoVolsXtra.com: University of Tennessee sports news from The Knoxville News Sentinel.
 
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Yea but the problem is can he acquire the coverage skills like D'Andre Payne already has. Why waste time on developing him to play corner when we have corners in the 2013 and 2014 class. And he does not have ball skills like a true corner you can see that the times he has been matched up with elite wr's. He is top Two Safety in the country, why move him.

He's needed at CB. Kelly Jr and McDowell make the move possible. His athleticism is very close to Dee Miliner coming out. Miliner couldn't cover well coming out but gained the skills with coaching. Coach Martinez can develop Gaulden(no doubt in my mind). He has the perfect skill set to play CB at a very high level. In turn it will allow us to matchup all over the field in the future with no weakness. Shaq Wiggins vs Mizzou showed why you don't want smaller CBs who aren't freak athletes out on the edge in the SEC. VHIII was also bullied at 5'9-5'10 this weekend. I prefer to keep guys with Payne's skill set inside.

Future secondary should look somewhat like this:

CB: Sutton
CB: Gaulden
FS: McDowell
SS: Kelly Jr.
NB: Payne

This all depends on a few variables of course but that's loaded. Because by that point they'll all be experienced players. Sutton may be gone pro though. :)

Gaulden can show his tackling skills off at CB. Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield at OSU did with no problem. We need a CB like Gaulden to set the edge all game and force action back to Bryant and the LBs. :)
 
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I like Gaulden at safety too.
Breakerboy thinks corner.

Either way, he is very talented and should see significant PT early.

Think about this, a 6'1 180lb Gaulden at safety or a 6'3 200lb McDowell. And he can tackle just as well as Gaulden. Kelly Jr. has shown to be elite whenever he's been matched up with other elite talent. He so physical at one camp they had to back him off. When you have a kid with Gaulden's skill set he allows you to do a lot of things. He'll be hell on CB blitzes. Reminds me of Miliner and Marcus Roberson if we're looking at current guys that he has potential like. IMO
 
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I suspect Gaulden will see immediate PT at the Nickel position. He has the physicality you want out of a guy that will have to be a factor in the run game and he has good enough cover skills.

Breaker, remember that your comparison to Millner, Dee played the STAR position for his first couple years and was a backup to the outside guys in case of injuries. I can forsee Gaulden following a similar path, depending on how his body fills out.

Personally speaking, I think Gaulden will have the option to move to safety or corner after Randolph goes to the NFL. I think a safety with great range and the ability to come up and smack players is a more important position these days than another boundary corner. We already have Sutton as our lockdown corner who will be be out an island a lot, i don't think Gauldens unique talent set is optimized putting him at the other boundary. Teams can't really get away from him if he's lined up in the middle at safety and he can negate and save a lot of big plays from happening.

I do agree with you in that i prefer bigger corners that can make an impact in the run game and set the edges and force plays back inside.

That soloman patton screen play for a TD is a prime example of the type of plays that i've seen our corners give up the past 10 years and its quite frustrating. I think some of that can be coached, coleman made a bad decision on that one, he is typically pretty physical and takes good angles in against the runs, he just had bad technique and read the play incorrectly.

Also as we have seen out of elite Db's, you can play early if you have the athleticism and confidence. VHIII, Roberson, the bama Db's year after year, Sutton etc.. can come in and play the boundary corner a lot easier than it is to play safety. Safety requires a lot more understanding of the scheme, responsibilities and checks. I think Gaulden will be a fantastic nickel and then move to safety in time. We should be able to recruit another sutton type soon enough.
 
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I suspect Gaulden will see immediate PT at the Nickel position. He has the physicality you want out of a guy that will have to be a factor in the run game and he has good enough cover skills.

Breaker, remember that your comparison to Millner, Dee played the STAR position for his first couple years and was a backup to the outside guys in case of injuries. I can forsee Gaulden following a similar path, depending on how his body fills out.

Personally speaking, I think Gaulden will have the option to move to safety or corner after Randolph goes to the NFL. I think a safety with great range and the ability to come up and smack players is a more important position these days than another boundary corner. We already have Sutton as our lockdown corner who will be be out an island a lot, i don't think Gauldens unique talent set is optimized putting him at the other boundary. Teams can't really get away from him if he's lined up in the middle at safety and he can negate and save a lot of big plays from happening.

I do agree with you in that i prefer bigger corners that can make an impact in the run game and set the edges and force plays back inside.

That soloman patton screen play for a TD is a prime example of the type of plays that i've seen our corners give up the past 10 years and its quite frustrating. I think some of that can be coached, coleman made a bad decision on that one, he is typically pretty physical and takes good angles in against the runs, he just had bad technique and read the play incorrectly.

Also as we have seen out of elite Db's, you can play early if you have the athleticism and confidence. VHIII, Roberson, the bama Db's year after year, Sutton etc.. can come in and play the boundary corner a lot easier than it is to play safety. Safety requires a lot more understanding of the scheme, responsibilities and checks. I think Gaulden will be a fantastic nickel and then move to safety in time. We should be able to recruit another sutton type soon enough.

Here's the unique talent situation. He won't have the option to move to safety. We have very good players coming there too. McDowell is one of the most underrated kids we have on this board. A 6'3 200lb hard hitting safety that can run should be talked about more often. TKjr. is another stud who's coached up similar to how VHIII was in HS. He's a very very technical athlete who's smarts match his athleticism. They are one of if not the best safety tandem in the country coming in. Gaulden can be developed at CB and he'll excel there with his aggression and explosive athletic ability. Sutton will take the best WRs on and an athlete like Gaulden will respond to great coaching from CWM. I'm extremely excited about having two 6'0+ CBs lining up outside playing fast and physical. Will make running the ball outside extremely hard with guys like this setting the edge.

Remember guys Gaulden has a whole lot of help in this class. :)

Also Sutton types don't just grow on trees. Kid would be starting at almost every school in the country not named Florida, LSU, or Oregon.
 
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Good stuff, TBB! :hi:

On McDowell being underrated, a poster on VQ who works at Bama said awhile back that Kirby Smart thinks McDowell is the best safety in this class. Not sure if true but that's what he posted.
 
It will be fun to see where he ends up. In think with the other talent we have coming in, BB makes a good point.

He patrols centerfield so well right now and is a tackling beast.
 
Good stuff, TBB! :hi:

On McDowell being underrated, a poster on VQ who works at Bama said awhile back that Kirby Smart thinks McDowell is the best safety in this class. Not sure if true but that's what he posted.

I think our fans are used to getting only one good kid at a time. This class is loaded and especially if Evan plays defense. That would be three big rangy CBs in Sutton, Gaulden, and Berry. Backed by a 6'3 safety in McDowell and another 6'0 safety in Kelly. They all can run, cover, and tackle. :) and Payne plus Foreman for more insurance and injury woes. :) have fun offenses. :lol:
 
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And with the LBs we have coming in I'd hope our safeties aren't making a lot of tackles. Bryant and crew should be eating a lot of plays up if we get more help up front.

Vereen_Corey.jpg


You rang, again?
 
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