2018 Outlook (part 1 of 2)

#26
#26
Advol said:
:lolabove: :lolabove: :lolabove:
Dear God............PLEASE give me the patience to wait for Part 2. Oh Please hurry............I need to know more redundant feelings about WHAT should be done.

2Nhip22.jpg
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Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine...did you run out of monistat over the weekend?
 
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#28
#28
KBVol said:
...I’m certain this team will play with more effort, more discipline, more physicality and will execute a better scheme/system more efficiently than the ish show we just witnessed at the end of Sgt Carter’s tenure.
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Given all the unknowns at this point, I believe that is more hope than certainty.
 
#30
#30
1. Does anyone really believe that Gaulden could leave this year and "go make millions" in the NFL? Very average SEC DBs don't make millions playing football
2. BiopsyMan is right. The OL is terrible (only one OL would start for any other SEC team), the QB position is questionable at best, there are no great play makers on either side of the ball.
3. I'll add: LB talent is not good or deep, no speed rusher on the edge, all of the DTs are either overrated, injury prone or not talented enough to play in the SEC and there is a lack of speed in the defensive backfield with no shut down corner.
4. The early schedule will overmatch this team leaving them injured, beaten and having the need to win out over the last month and a half to make it to 6 or 7 wins.

If this team can win 6 or 7 next year, Pruitt and his staff have done a great job. Illinoisvolfan is very fair in his breakdown of the schedule.
 
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#31
#31
dougvolfan said:
6-6 low end 7-5 middle and 8-4 upper end
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This...

West Virginia - Toss up
ETSU - Win
UTEP - Win
Florida - Toss up
Georgia - Loss
Auburn - Loss
Alabama - Loss
South Carolina - Toss up
Charlotte - Win
Kentucky - Toss up
Missouri - Toss up
Vanderbilt - Win

We have 4 wins on our schedule(some will argue Vandy is toss up since we lost but we should never lose to them).
 
#32
#32
Backwards K said:
1. Does anyone really believe that Gaulden could leave this year and "go make millions" in the NFL? Very average SEC DBs don't make millions playing football
2. BiopsyMan is right. The OL is terrible (only one OL would start for any other SEC team), the QB position is questionable at best, there are no great play makers on either side of the ball.
3. I'll add: LB talent is not good or deep, no speed rusher on the edge, all of the DTs are either overrated, injury prone or not talented enough to play in the SEC and there is a lack of speed in the defensive backfield with no shut down corner.
4. The early schedule will overmatch this team leaving them injured, beaten and having the need to win out over the last month and a half to make it to 6 or 7 wins.

If this team can win 6 or 7 next year, Pruitt and his staff have done a great job. Illinoisvolfan is very fair in his breakdown of the schedule.
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You discredited yourself with your first sentence. Gaulden graded out this year as the 4th best corner in the SEC by Pro Football Focus. He was also the #1 draft eligible db in power 5 schools in 2 major measurements. He will the a top 60 draft picks. Even during the Alabama game the announcers said he was the only UT defender who could be starting for Bama.

Not worth the time to address your other points because they are from the same place of ignorance.
 
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#33
#33
HeyHeyUT said:
Now that the dust has settled a bit, here is my optimistic view (Pessimist in me will post an alternative Outlook tomorrow)...

Preface:

Butch Jones did a lot of good things for this program. And he is not the bad guy. But he ran off the coaches that made our team play better than their talent (Jancek and Mike Bajakian). And in 2016 he made a living off of Josh Dobbs being impossible to stop.

He turned the Vols into the classic athlete who has all the tools, but is in his head, thinks too much, and as a result gets injured too much and sh**s the bed.

Optimistic Assumptions:

1. JJ, DKJ, and Hall return.

2. Being the most injured team 2 years running was a result of the Butch Jones program and culture more than anything else.

3. Rashaan Gaulden does not return, but Byrd moves to D. Go make your millions as a VFL, RG- he has very little to gain by staying (but hey, neither did peyton so here's for hoping). I believe Byrd will be an instant as a DB

4. Oline Depth improves with JUCO recruits who can contribute immediately.

5. Will Friend as good as I think he is (look at UGA before and after Friend... as well as CSU). This guy can get 4 and 5 stars playing like it.

The Outlook

The best way I can put it is this. 2017 team is Alvin Kamara with Butch Jones at the helm. The 2018 team is Alvin Kamara in his NFL rookie season.

The Kamara problem wasn't a 'player under-utilization problem'... It was a 'team under-performing problem' that only 2 players were too good to be victim of: Barnett and Dobbs.

If the new staff can get the team playing to its potential then there are only 1 team we should be, in the preseason chalking up as a L: Alabama and 2 teams as likely losses: UGA (who will lose 10 starters on D) and Auburn.

8 - 9 wins... We beat someone we shouldn't (UGA or Auburn). But we lose 1 or 2 games that we should win.
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Actually a DB Guru like Pruitt could be very beneficial to Gaulden's long term career prospects and could move him to a high 2nd or even 1st round pick. But he does risk injury and it is one less year of pay.
 
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#34
#34
HuntlandVolinColo said:
Actually a DB Guru like Pruitt could be very beneficial to Gaulden's long term career prospects and could move him to a high 2nd or even 1st round pick. But he does risk injury and it is one less year of pay.
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Don’t disagree. But he is already a 2nd rounder so not too much to gain
 
#35
#35
crparker21 said:
This...

West Virginia - Toss up
ETSU - Win
UTEP - Win
Florida - Toss up
Georgia - Loss
Auburn - Loss
Alabama - Loss
South Carolina - Toss up
Charlotte - Win
Kentucky - Toss up
Missouri - Toss up
Vanderbilt - Win

We have 4 wins on our schedule(some will argue Vandy is toss up since we lost but we should never lose to them).
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I see us going between 6-6 and 11-2 with 8-5 being most likely.
 
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#37
#37
Not saying by any means that we will do the same thing, BUT, in 2012 Auburn went 0-8 in the SEC, and beat 4 cream puffs. THEN, the next year they lost one SEC game (to LSU) and went to the NC game against Florida State, which they lost as well.

Just saying . . . . . .

Thoughts?????
 
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#38
#38
HeyHeyUT said:
You discredited yourself with your first sentence. Gaulden graded out this year as the 4th best corner in the SEC by Pro Football Focus. He was also the #1 draft eligible db in power 5 schools in 2 major measurements. He will the a top 60 draft picks. Even during the Alabama game the announcers said he was the only UT defender who could be starting for Bama.

Not worth the time to address your other points because they are from the same place of ignorance.
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Tell me again how many All-SEC and All American teams he was listed on? Do you really think he will be drafted in the first two rounds? I did see a article that said Gaulden was Tennessee's most consistent defender but that's kind of like saying, "you don't sweat much for a fat girl." It's not really that flattering.

However, even if he's the first player picked in the draft (I hope he is), it doesn't change the fact that this is not a very talented roster by SEC standards or by any standards of the great Tennessee teams of old.
 
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