5 concerns from spring practice..

#101
#101
Our lines still suck and some of you think we are winning 8-9 games....and then you want to act like the people predicting 6 or less are crazy and don't have a decade of crap to base it on. At this point, you optimists are the ones that make no sense.
 
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#104
#104
Rocky Top Raby said:
Our lines still suck and some of you think we are winning 8-9 games....and then you want to act like the people predicting 6 or less are crazy and don't have a decade of crap to base it on. At this point, you optimists are the ones that make no sense.
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I don't think it is reasonable to assume the lines will be great... or that they "still suck".

The OL should be at least a little better for having a year of fundamental S&C rather than the "I'm going to revolutionize the game" stuff Jones tried. The DL returns basically no one who contributed. That's probably not good... but we don't "know" yet.
 
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#105
#105
sjt18 said:
I don't think it is reasonable to assume the lines will be great... or that they "still suck".

The OL should be at least a little better for having a year of fundamental S&C rather than the "I'm going to revolutionize the game" stuff Jones tried. The DL returns basically no one who contributed. That's probably not good... but we don't "know" yet.
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Gooden
 
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#106
#106
jakez4ut said:
GA, FL and BAma are probably all L's.

every other game on the schedule is varying degrees of a toss up.....7 or 8 wins is doable.

MSU loses a lot. QB, safety, DT, DE....and i think a WR? anyway....i actually like Thompson as their QB, and he's probably an upgrade from the pocket over NF. but that's a winnable game as well. glad we play them this year vs last year. that defense was nasty good.
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They lost 3 1st round picks on defense including Safety not mentioned above. Plus other Senior starters.
 
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#107
#107
Anyone declaring the OL or DL trash based upon the vanilla O&W where all the players, especially true freshmen were given time to see what they can do are making a premature observation.

My guess is the OL is better than last season and the DL will not be as good as they looked in the O&W game (fingers crossed they are). Also, looking more and more like Trey Smith can play as well as Kennedy was also held out of O&W game.

I have this feeling that we will put Trey back at guard with Jamir Johnson and Kennedy to get the run game rolling and stop the interior penetration. Then the OTs would be manned by Tatum/Morris/Wright (two will start) with Niehaus/Akporoghene/Calbert providing backup. It is also possible that Niehaus or Calbert go to guard and Trey Smith to OT. JMO

Hard to say how good or bad the DL will be but I do believe we will have bigger boys in the trenches (stronger, smarter and faster? I sure hope so). LBs should be upgraded inside and out, especially if Crouch, Harrison and To'oto'o quickly learn the defensive schema. I'm not counting on anything from Kirkland, even if healthy again unless he returns to late freshman season form.
 
#108
#108
This will be a make or break year for Friend. I honestly can't say just yet how good he is.

I can tell you, I would have loved it if Jim Chaney's best friend Sam Pittman would have jumped ship with him.
 
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#112
#112
OldandStillaVol said:
If our OL isn’t improved over last year, then we’ll know we have huge coaching problem. Last year was about as bad as I’ve ever seen. I’m only asking for improvement - not gold star performance.
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Maybe the talent on the OL is lacking? What true talent there is will likely be young and in need of time to mature, learn and get stronger to complete at this level. The old saying is that you can't make a silk purse from a sows ear.

The lines of scrimmage are our biggest weaknesses and unfortunately, they're also the spots that take the most time to fix. Pretty easy for a young guy to step in in the secondary, backfield or at WR, but the lines? That's a tall order. I know folks don't want to hear it, but those positions will take time. There's no way to rush it.
 
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#116
#116
I think Chaney will scheme our offense around the OL, editing our playbook to maximize their production. But by November, DCs will have seen how to negate or take advantage of those schemes. So to win in November, we'll just have to be improved and no longer young. Continuity (injuries) along the OL will determine how well we finish.

But I believe Chaney will also be asked to scheme the offense around the DL's weaknesses. That means foregoing some opportunities for possible big plays in order to keep the sticks moving and secure more rest time on the sidelines for our thin DL.

I'm not looking for any exciting plays this season. This season's gonna be all about grinding out some Ws.
 
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#117
#117
Football is all about the folks in the trenches. Its been inferior for twenty years. You
Think for the money spent that would change. We shall see.8AA718BE-3456-4990-9C9C-3783C2C4C0DC.gif
 
#119
#119
vols 30 said:
Left out 1a. QB
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We will see this Fall. He wasn’t protected well at all but he didn’t do himself any favors either with poor or no pre-snap reads, no pocket presence, and little mobility inside and outside the pocket. He did protect the ball well and had flashes of being a good QB. I would say nearly everyone agrees we didn’t put enough points on the board but that isn’t all on JG. What we don’t know is how much of it was him. My guess is we see a decent step forward from the offense but not anything crazy with an inexperienced OL and new OC. I could see us moving up to around 80th in points and yards per game which would be solid improvement from around 120th but leave much to desire as well. Based on last year that would be about a TD per game more points.
 
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#122
#122
I am way more concerned about the DL than the OL. Even with a good OL, we aren't going to be a high flying, score at will, offense. Even if we were, what good is it, if we cannot stop anyone from scoring? Chaney's offense was a well-oiled machine, in Knoxville, with Bray at the helm. But, we couldn't stop anyone! Ever! It was like waving a wet tissue in front of a locomotive, on defense. We were losing games 54-51, and 51-48. I mean, it was exciting, up and down, racehorse football. But, we sucked, and got beat by YET ANOTHER POS ACC Team, in The Music City Bowl.
We need Solomon to be declared eligible. That would be a HUGE help in the middle. The UGA transfer being eligible would be f'ing great, as well. Any news on that front?
 
#124
#124
FlyFishnVol said:
I could, both the O and D Lines are concerns, CJP will have them at the highest potential come September, and 2-3 more wins than last year, the schedule this year is nothing close to last year.
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Actually, the schedule this year is virtually identical to last year’s.

That said, we only had 1 OOC team that looked like it could beat us last year, WVa...and they did. This year, we have 2 OOC teams that could beat us if we don’t play well (BYU and UAB), but neither really should.

Other than that, we face the same teams in the East, Alabama in the West, and another West team in MissSt that will very likely be favored, just like Auburn was.

We do get 8 of our 12 games in Neyland, but let’s be honest....it’s not the same home field advantage that it once was, not even close.
 
#125
#125
kbear01 said:
I am way more concerned about the DL than the OL. Even with a good OL, we aren't going to be a high flying, score at will, offense. Even if we were, what good is it, if we cannot stop anyone from scoring? Chaney's offense was a well-oiled machine, in Knoxville, with Bray at the helm. But, we couldn't stop anyone! Ever! It was like waving a wet tissue in front of a locomotive, on defense. We were losing games 54-51, and 51-48. I mean, it was exciting, up and down, racehorse football. But, we sucked, and got beat by YET ANOTHER POS ACC Team, in The Music City Bowl.
We need Solomon to be declared eligible. That would be a HUGE help in the middle. The UGA transfer being eligible would be f'ing great, as well. Any news on that front?
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While I agree with your general point about our DL, which has virtually no chance to be very good this year, if our OL were much better we could at least make a game of it vs most of our opponents rather than getting blown out by 25 points like we did all the last year. After last year, I think I’d take a few games where we put up 45-50 points and still lost rather than get embarrassed 38-10 or something. Let’s just change it up a bit....of we’re gonna lose, let’s at least be entertained with a few touchdowns. Just a thought.
 
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