2020 vs. 2016

#1

Smokey'sHandler

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#1
With zero sports on I have had to resort to the DVR which is nothing but UT football for the last 5 years. After watching all of our games from this past year I decided to go back and watch the 2016 season and what I am seeing is quite interesting. Here’s some thoughts:

1.) 2016 was an extremely talented team that came in with high expectations. 2020 may not have the high profile talent at the skill positions but I believe will be better talented all around and will outperform 2016.

2.) I didn’t realize how bad our defense was in 2016. We were bad all around but were truly horrid in the secondary and dear lord could we not tackle. The only player I would trade for on defense on that team is Derek Barnett.

3.) Even without an elite pass rusher like DB we will have a better overall D-Line, we have better linebackers and as for the secondary it’s no question.

4.) We will literally have an NFL player at every position on the O-Line in 2020. Jashon Robertson was the only O-Lineman that was even close to being NFL level in 2016. It would’ve been crazy to see what Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara would’ve been behind the 2020 O-Line.

5.) We are obviously lacking at the skill positions vs. 2016. I believe we have a similar talent level player to AK in Eric Gray. We do not have a bruiser like Hurd though it would be very nice to have a similar player to that this season.

6.) Josh Palmer is a better receiver than Josh Malone. Outside of that we will have an obvious question mark at the receiver position in 2020 vs. 2016. We were much better at the TE position in 2016 as well.

7.) Our offense may be lacking at the skill positions vs 2016 but we have a significantly better O-Line which will have us in position to be productive. The good thing the offense has going for them this year is that we will have a much better defense. The pressure should not be there for us to keep up with the other team as much.

2020 may not have the flash that 2016 had but the potential is there for them to be better. It has the potential to be a 9 win regular season.
 
#7
#7
In what world is Palmer better than Malone?

Better route runner, better pass catcher, they are about even with the ball in their hand and Palmer is by far the tougher player. Palmers stats are also better when being the #3 option as a Junior as Malone’s stars when being the #2 option as a Sophomore.

This is just my opinion on what I’m seeing. Palmer especially as the season went on was a player who really stood out and flashed. Malone doesn’t really flash but he was productive his Junior season.
 
#8
#8
Better route runner, better pass catcher, they are about even with the ball in their hand and Palmer is by far the tougher player. Palmers stats are also better when being the #3 option as a Junior as Malone’s stars when being the #2 option as a Sophomore.

This is just my opinion on what I’m seeing. Palmer especially as the season went on was a player who really stood out and flashed. Malone doesn’t really flash but he was productive his Junior season.

I think Palmer will be a bit better too. He's a Sr.
 
#10
#10
Far better skill position players in 2016 (Malone, JJ, Hurd, Kamara) plus an elite pass rusher (Barnett)....
 
#11
#11
The 2020 roster is overall a better roster, but the 2016 team had specific personnel who effected games and how you had to game plan around.

Particularly at.....wait for the obvious.....wait for it......

QB
IMHO, there are only 3 or 5 starters you would want from that team on this one. Both RB's and the QB obviously plus Barnett and Malone. The most critical though is the QB position.

If UT gets the QB position figured out then they can win some games they aren't expected to win. If not... they could lose some more games they are expected to win.
 
#12
#12
With zero sports on I have had to resort to the DVR which is nothing but UT football for the last 5 years. After watching all of our games from this past year I decided to go back and watch the 2016 season and what I am seeing is quite interesting. Here’s some thoughts:

1.) 2016 was an extremely talented team that came in with high expectations. 2020 may not have the high profile talent at the skill positions but I believe will be better talented all around and will outperform 2016.

2.) I didn’t realize how bad our defense was in 2016. We were bad all around but were truly horrid in the secondary and dear lord could we not tackle. The only player I would trade for on defense on that team is Derek Barnett.

3.) Even without an elite pass rusher like DB we will have a better overall D-Line, we have better linebackers and as for the secondary it’s no question.

4.) We will literally have an NFL player at every position on the O-Line in 2020. Jashon Robertson was the only O-Lineman that was even close to being NFL level in 2016. It would’ve been crazy to see what Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara would’ve been behind the 2020 O-Line.

5.) We are obviously lacking at the skill positions vs. 2016. I believe we have a similar talent level player to AK in Eric Gray. We do not have a bruiser like Hurd though it would be very nice to have a similar player to that this season.

6.) Josh Palmer is a better receiver than Josh Malone. Outside of that we will have an obvious question mark at the receiver position in 2020 vs. 2016. We were much better at the TE position in 2016 as well.

7.) Our offense may be lacking at the skill positions vs 2016 but we have a significantly better O-Line which will have us in position to be productive. The good thing the offense has going for them this year is that we will have a much better defense. The pressure should not be there for us to keep up with the other team as much.

2020 may not have the flash that 2016 had but the potential is there for them to be better. It has the potential to be a 9 win regular season.

I’m a big Josh Palmer guy. I’ve been high on him since he’s been on campus and I have high expectations for him this year.

There is no way I take him over over Malone. #3 is one of the more under appreciated in recent memory.
 
#13
#13
2016 was a National Championship roster. A somewhat decent coach wins no less than 11 games with that team

That’s what I thought at the time as well but I was probably too blinded by how good we were at the skill positions. Looking back on it we were very subpar in the trenches minus Barnett and maybe Jashon Robertson. This deficiency plus a team that basically refused to square up + tackle someone and a horrendous defensive backend you get the result that they had.
 
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#14
#14
I’m a big Josh Palmer guy. I’ve been high on him since he’s been on campus and I have high expectations for him this year.

There is no way I take him over over Malone. #3 is one of the more under appreciated in recent memory.

I haven’t really been a Palmer fan until going back and watching the games. Palmer shows up far more than he doesn’t and I couldn’t find him having many drops. Dude has the tools to have a killer year as the #1 this next season.
 
#15
#15
Far better skill position players in 2016 (Malone, JJ, Hurd, Kamara) plus an elite pass rusher (Barnett)....
Malone is better than anyone on the roster. Jennings was good at that point. Overall though, this WR group has better talent.

I'd love to see Hurd behind this OL.
 
#16
#16
Palmer is the guy I go to when I need the tough yards. Over the middle he’s fearless and shows the toughness needed to be a good slot guy.
 
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#17
#17
Malone is better than anyone on the roster. Jennings was good at that point. Overall though, this WR group has better talent.

I'd love to see Hurd behind this OL.

If they play this season Crouch could have a good year behind the line we have
 
#20
#20
Malone is better than anyone on the roster. Jennings was good at that point. Overall though, this WR group has better talent.

I'd love to see Hurd behind this OL.

Are you trying to set the stage to blame all our offensive woes on JG by overinflating our 2020 talent level?

2 known studs (2016) beat no studs (2020). There might be one on there now but we havent seen it yet.

Our OL was better in 2019; however, if you look at the stats, they've got a ways to go before they are very good (much less elite).

Gray and Chandler are good backs;however, they've got a long way to go before they carry the jock strap of a NFL All Pro and a Day 2 draft pick.

Who is the TE this year?
 
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#23
#23
Not trying to build in an excuse and I realize we are mostly comparing talent levels of 2016 and 2020 but I have no clue how any program or team will react after all the delays etc. Surely that gives us pause just a little bit to compare the potential success of this team. I certainly hope we come out and our big time OL dominates and we have a 1000 yard rusher or two. But I just have no clue how they'll respond. I cant wait to find out though GBO!
 
#24
#24
I’m a big Josh Palmer guy. I’ve been high on him since he’s been on campus and I have high expectations for him this year.

There is no way I take him over over Malone. #3 is one of the more under appreciated in recent memory.

I agree....From the body of work so far, Malone was much more of a threat.....The OP might have meant JP has the potential to be better. We'll need JP to be a substantial threat next season...(which is what I thought Malone was)......I dont think we'll have two game changers at the position like we did last season, but hopefully we can get 4-5 that play at a high level by committee to keep the opposing defense loose and on their heels...Palmer, Johnson, Keyton, Gibbs, Jones, one of the freshman?

Good post btw...
 
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