'14 TN WR Josh Malone (UT commit 12/4/13)

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#3,501
#3,501
KnoxVegas said:
Pearson will start over Croom.... We will bring this thread back up this time next year....
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IF...Pearson were to even sign with UT...and IF he were to get JCs spot..it will be because JC is injured, or moved to TE, or Pearson is just a straight up beast. If Pearson beats any of our starters out...It will be a surprise to me. That is not a slight in any way...it is just a fact, that these boys are monster physical specimens who also happen to be able to PLAY. IMO if Pearson were to beat anybody we have out, it is because he turns out to be a CP type talent. In which case I would say YEE FREAKIN HAW. We would be winners either way. :hi:
 
#3,503
#3,503
Ulysees E. McGill said:
IF...Pearson were to even sign with UT...and IF he were to get JCs spot..it will be because JC is injured, or moved to TE, or Pearson is just a straight up beast. If Pearson beats any of our starters out...It will be a surprise to me. That is not a slight in any way...it is just a fact, that these boys are monster physical specimens who also happen to be able to PLAY. IMO if Pearson were to beat anybody we have out, it is because he turns out to be a CP type talent. In which case I would say YEE FREAKIN HAW. We would be winners either way. :hi:
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If Pearson is an EE he will be starting by the O & W game. If the staff didn't think we needed serious help they would not have recruited JUCO WR's so aggressively. Smith and Croom are really going to have to elevate their game to get good minutes in 2014 if Pearson and Malone are Vols.
 
#3,504
#3,504
Madkins8 said:
If Pearson is an EE he will be starting by the O & W game. If the staff didn't think we needed serious help they would not have recruited JUCO WR's so aggressively. Smith and Croom are really going to have to elevate their game to get good minutes in 2014 if Pearson and Malone are Vols.
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Smith will be a good slot reciever and has some of the best hands on the team. He will get alot of playing time next year regardless.
 
#3,505
#3,505
knoxvol24 said:
Yeah, gonna bump this... what he said... anybody heard anything lately?
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Well, according to Rivals his next official is 11/1 to FSU and then 11/15 to Clemson. I suppose he could unofficial this weekend. Seeing the Vols play USCjr wouldn't be that big of a task for him but it being an early game may prevent that from happening.
 
#3,506
#3,506
Ulysees E. McGill said:
IF...Pearson were to even sign with UT...and IF he were to get JCs spot..it will be because JC is injured, or moved to TE, or Pearson is just a straight up beast. If Pearson beats any of our starters out...It will be a surprise to me. That is not a slight in any way...it is just a fact, that these boys are monster physical specimens who also happen to be able to PLAY. IMO if Pearson were to beat anybody we have out, it is because he turns out to be a CP type talent. In which case I would say YEE FREAKIN HAW. We would be winners either way. :hi:
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Hold up now. You don't believe Pearson could beat out Josh Smith? We'll agree to disagree there.
 
#3,507
#3,507
VFL10 said:
Smith will be a good slot reciever and has some of the best hands on the team. He will get alot of playing time next year regardless.
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I'm a little down on Smith. Seems he's dropped as many balls as he's caught. I hope he gets passed up quickly with our incoming WRs, which I pray includes Malone and perhaps Pearson.... if we're gonna get to where we want to be offensively, Smith cannot be a starter next year.
 
#3,508
#3,508
KBVol said:
I'm a little down on Smith. Seems he's dropped as many balls as he's caught. I hope he gets passed up quickly with our incoming WRs, which I pray includes Malone and perhaps Pearson.... if we're gonna get to where we want to be offensively, Smith cannot be a starter next year.
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But Wes Rucker thinks he's awesome!
 
#3,510
#3,510
Yeah I can speak from experience when you have a qb where you consistently have to dive to get your hands on the ball, it can really throw you off when one is perfectly thrown into your gut 1 out of a 100 times. Hope Worley has turned the corner on his confidence.. You should see big improvement by our wr's if they start expecting a decent pass
 
#3,511
#3,511
Silent commit? He seems to be very interested in the Vols, and by how he talks, he wants to be a part of something special at his home school. Chances we get him?
 
#3,513
#3,513
RiseToTheTop said:
Of course. Two diff style players. One is not even committed yet but he is plugged into starting lineup. Makes sense. You never really know how a stud juco will turn out. I think he would be fine but you never know.
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Well, you don't know how a JUCO will turn out, but Pearson is obviously a sound receiver. He may be playing against lesser competition, but if you watch his highlights, a few big things that stand out, are his route running and the fact, even though that QB throws some bad balls, he adjusts and goes up to catch the ball at its highest point(if he didn't, a few of those would have been INTs). Will he be a super star? No one knows. But he is definitely solid D1 talent, unlike some JUCOs who you can tell just out 'athlete' their competition, he clearly plays with sound fundamentals that would translate anywhere.
 
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#3,514
#3,514
Ron Swanson said:
He is awesome. He's also a true freshman with a not so great QB.
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I don't mean to bang on the kid. Just trying to take an objective look at it. He supposedly has the best hands, best ball skills of any WR on the team. Yet he has, by far, the most drops. Many more than North, also a true freshman.

Smith also has only average speed. I think we need burners at the wideout spots, at slot receiver spots. Malone, Pearson, even Vic next year will be speed improvements, and hopefully "hands" improvements, over Smith.

Not saying he can't fit into the rotation and make contributions.... just saying we need better, faster WRs to play ahead of him for us to have an elite WR corps.
 
#3,515
#3,515
I think its safe to say Josh Smith has contributed a lot more than everyone expected when he signed. He will improve over time as well, solid depth to have.
 
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#3,517
#3,517
mrorange211 said:
Agreed. People knock him for no reason, imo.
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I'm not knocking him for no reason. I'm knocking him for dropping footballs. He has achieved more than most thought he would being a 3 star out of CAK. I stated I think he'll make contributions in the future and I think he provides depth going forward. But we need more dynamic players such as Malone and Pearson to get where we want to be at the WR position. Jmo.
 
#3,519
#3,519
KBVol said:
I don't mean to bang on the kid. Just trying to take an objective look at it. He supposedly has the best hands, best ball skills of any WR on the team. Yet he has, by far, the most drops. Many more than North, also a true freshman.

Smith also has only average speed. I think we need burners at the wideout spots, at slot receiver spots. Malone, Pearson, even Vic next year will be speed improvements, and hopefully "hands" improvements, over Smith.

Not saying he can't fit into the rotation and make contributions.... just saying we need better, faster WRs to play ahead of him for us to have an elite WR corps.
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I get what you're saying and I agree Smith has had too many drops. But you have to take into account he's a true freshman with Worley as his QB.

Smith was also a 3star local kid with only offers from UT, ARK and Cincy, and only offers from those other schools due to former UT coaches now working there, they knew his potential.

Smith is 4th on the team in catches, 1st in avg yards per catch and has just as many TD catches as Croom and North. Both were highly touted WR's, one being a RS Freshman and the other a True Freshman #2 WR in the country. So if anything, Smith is outperforming his WR teammates, IMO. And I disagree with "average speed", he's above average in the speed department. JMO
 
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#3,520
#3,520
Ron Swanson said:
I get what you're saying and I agree Smith has had too many drops. But you have to take into account he's a true freshman with Worley as his QB.

Smith was also a 3star local kid with only offers from UT, ARK and Cincy, and only offers from those other schools due to former UT coaches now working there, they knew his potential.

Smith is 4th on the team in catches, 1st in avg yards per catch and has just as many TD catches as Croom and North. Both were highly touted WR's, one being a RS Freshman and the other a True Freshman #2 WR in the country. So if anything, Smith is outperforming his WR teammates, IMO. And I disagree with "average speed", he's above average in the speed department. JMO
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I agree Smith is very athletic, just another unfortunate victim of stereotypes. I would say he's pretty polished as a route runner for a freshman, and the drops will become less of an issue over time.
 
#3,522
#3,522
Ron Swanson said:
I get what you're saying and I agree Smith has had too many drops. But you have to take into account he's a true freshman with Worley as his QB.

Smith was also a 3star local kid with only offers from UT, ARK and Cincy, and only offers from those other schools due to former UT coaches now working there, they knew his potential.

Smith is 4th on the team in catches, 1st in avg yards per catch and has just as many TD catches as Croom and North. Both were highly touted WR's, one being a RS Freshman and the other a True Freshman #2 WR in the country. So if anything, Smith is outperforming his WR teammates, IMO. And I disagree with "average speed", he's above average in the speed department. JMO
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Don't disagree with what you're saying, really don't mean to come off as bashing Smith, was not at all my goal. Just seeing Malone and/or Pearson as significant talent upgrades.... upgrades that I believe we need to get where we want to be at the WR position.

It has been impressive to see this kid become a starter at UT given his lack notoriety coming out of HS. I have been a little frustrated with his 5-6 drops ... his hands and "ball skills" were what got him on the field and we have very little margin of error to be able to absorb unforced errors/drops. He's not the only one, but he's dropped the most balls thrown right to him.

4.5 speed is fast, but it's not elite, and I would guess it only makes him average among SEC WRs, so I'll retract my earlier statement that he has below avg speed.... probably not accurate.
 
#3,523
#3,523
KBVol said:
I'm not knocking him for no reason. I'm knocking him for dropping footballs. He has achieved more than most thought he would being a 3 star out of CAK. I stated I think he'll make contributions in the future and I think he provides depth going forward. But we need more dynamic players such as Malone and Pearson to get where we want to be at the WR position. Jmo.
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Calm down chief; the comment was't directed at you or anyone for that matter.
 
#3,524
#3,524
Word came out this week that Rivals100 wide receiver Josh Malone has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State for the Penn State game next week, coming as a shock to many. Early in the process the Buckeyes were among Malone's favorites, but the two sides lost touch and recently he has zeroed his focus in on Tennessee and Georgia. Clemson and Florida State will also get official visits, and now the Buckeyes will get his fifth one rather than Florida, who had previously emerged as the final school on his list. There's no doubt that the Buckeyes have a lot of ground to make up, but getting Malone and his family on campus is a good place to start. Pay close attention to what Malone says after to trip to see if OSU truly has a chance to land one of the hottest prospects still on the market.
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-Rivals
 
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