A View from Big Ben : The Misery Line

#1
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London Vol

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#1
THE MISERY LINE

Now that Cade Mays is cleared by the NCAA to play, the O Line is as strong as I’ve known it.

Trey Smith
Trey delivers more pancakes than Don Delfis Pancake House. The man is so dominant and if Guard was as highly rated a position as Tackle, he would be a top 5 draft pick next April.

Brandon Kennedy
The least high profile of the O Line (only 4*s after all) but definitely not underrated by his fellow lineman. He also makes the calls and is the glue for the line. If he doesn’t leave soon, he may become the first legacy player to play WITH his son for the Vols.

Cade Mays
Tough, Nasty, Bruiser, Scrappy and a downwrite nightmare for the opposition. I use these terms as positives. I expect the push from him will be as good as Trey.

Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright
I list these two as they are becoming inseparable in their careers, a similar ranking out of High School, starting tackles for the Vols at the same time, both expected to make sophomore leaps. They are becoming linked a bit like Manning P and Leaf, Mahomes and Trubisky, Montana and Young and soon to be Pruitt and Fulmer.


Back ups
Carvin would start almost anywhere in the country
Calbert same as above, many would argue that he is as least as good as Wright
Mays C multiple years at centre once/if Kennedy leaves
Johnson we may see more of him than we expected if Morris is not up to speed with Covid restriction. Now has the body size to survive the SEC.
Spraggins apparently making positive waves as a true freshman
Lampley, Locklear and the Nigerian again would all see playing time at Vandy, Mizz and Arky

Remember only two years ago against Bama Pruitt at half time (0-41 I think) promised the players the team would never again be so out muscled and above is proof that the man is true to his word.

This lot above could really become known as THE MISERY LINE


Go Vols
 
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#4
#4
I'm excited about Mays also, but doesn't he still need to be cleared by the SEC? Is that a foregone conclusion that he'll be lining up Sat?

Agree this OL should keep us in the top tier games and probably give us an upset or two.
 
#6
#6
feathersax said:
Always great to read Big Ben's take on the Vols. This group could be the best ever, & that's saying something. (Don Delfis Pancake House? You have poked my curiousity.):cool:
Click to expand...

Thanks again feathersax for your kind words.

Having never had the pleasure of Tennessee yet so I googled best pancake restaurants in Knoxville and up came "Don Delfis", so if its misleading then sorry.
 
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#7
#7
njvols said:
I'm excited about Mays also, but doesn't he still need to be cleared by the SEC? Is that a foregone conclusion that he'll be lining up Sat?

Agree this OL should keep us in the top tier games and probably give us an upset or two.
Click to expand...

"All transfers inside the SEC must be approved by the conference, but now, especially amid a pandemic and in a season when eligibility doesn’t count for any player, it seems outlandish to suggest the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey would stand in the way of a decision the NCAA approved."

"Kirby Smart, like Pruitt, understands that recruiting is everything. If he’s picking battles, it’s probably wise to pass this one up."
-David Ubben
 
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#8
#8
London Vol said:
THE MISERY LINE

Now that Cade Mays is cleared by the NCAA to play, the O Line is as strong as I’ve known it.

Trey Smith
Trey delivers more pancakes than Don Delfis Pancake House. The man is so dominant and if Guard was as highly rated a position as Tackle, he would be a top 5 draft pick next April.

Brandon Kennedy
The least high profile of the O Line (only 4*s after all) but definitely not underrated by his fellow lineman. He also makes the calls and is the glue for the line. If he doesn’t leave soon, he may become the first legacy player to play WITH his son for the Vols.

Cade Mays
Tough, Nasty, Bruiser, Scrappy and a downwrite nightmare for the opposition. I use these terms as positives. I expect the push from him will be as good as Trey.

Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright
I list these two as they are becoming inseparable in their careers, a similar ranking out of High School, starting tackles for the Vols at the same time, both expected to make sophomore leaps. They are becoming linked a bit like Manning P and Leaf, Mahomes and Trubisky, Montana and Young and soon to be Pruitt and Fulmer.


Back ups
Carvin would start almost anywhere in the country
Calbert same as above, many would argue that he is as least as good as Wright
Mays C multiple years at centre once/if Kennedy leaves
Johnson we may see more of him than we expected if Morris is not up to speed with Covid restriction. Now has the body size to survive the SEC.
Spraggins apparently making positive waves as a true freshman
Lampley, Locklear and the Nigerian again would all see playing time at Vandy, Mizz and Arky

Remember only two years ago against Bama Pruitt at half time (0-41 I think) promised the players the team would never again be so out muscled and above is proof that the man is true to his word.

This lot above could really become known as THE MISERY LINE


Go Vols
Click to expand...
The Nigerian name you speak of is Chris Akporoghene, and i actually forgot about him until you just mentioned him. He's listed at 6'3 305, but he is rock solid muscle.
 
#9
#9
Btw that commentary about Brandon was funny aa all get out, and if im not mistaken due to covid couldnt he play again next season and if so he would be the first football player in history to play around 8 yrs, thats a NFL career.
 
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#14
#14
njvols said:
I'm excited about Mays also, but doesn't he still need to be cleared by the SEC? Is that a foregone conclusion that he'll be lining up Sat?

Agree this OL should keep us in the top tier games and probably give us an upset or two.
Click to expand...

And thankfully we have quality backups going into the 3-deep in case covid strikes.
 
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#15
#15
London Vol said:
THE MISERY LINE

Now that Cade Mays is cleared by the NCAA to play, the O Line is as strong as I’ve known it.

Trey Smith
Trey delivers more pancakes than Don Delfis Pancake House. The man is so dominant and if Guard was as highly rated a position as Tackle, he would be a top 5 draft pick next April.

Brandon Kennedy
The least high profile of the O Line (only 4*s after all) but definitely not underrated by his fellow lineman. He also makes the calls and is the glue for the line. If he doesn’t leave soon, he may become the first legacy player to play WITH his son for the Vols.

Cade Mays
Tough, Nasty, Bruiser, Scrappy and a downwrite nightmare for the opposition. I use these terms as positives. I expect the push from him will be as good as Trey.

Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright
I list these two as they are becoming inseparable in their careers, a similar ranking out of High School, starting tackles for the Vols at the same time, both expected to make sophomore leaps. They are becoming linked a bit like Manning P and Leaf, Mahomes and Trubisky, Montana and Young and soon to be Pruitt and Fulmer.


Back ups
Carvin would start almost anywhere in the country
Calbert same as above, many would argue that he is as least as good as Wright
Mays C multiple years at centre once/if Kennedy leaves
Johnson we may see more of him than we expected if Morris is not up to speed with Covid restriction. Now has the body size to survive the SEC.
Spraggins apparently making positive waves as a true freshman
Lampley, Locklear and the Nigerian again would all see playing time at Vandy, Mizz and Arky

Remember only two years ago against Bama Pruitt at half time (0-41 I think) promised the players the team would never again be so out muscled and above is proof that the man is true to his word.

This lot above could really become known as THE MISERY LINE


Go Vols
Click to expand...

Always appreciate and respect the optimism, especially from ol’ Blighty but, as with many recent years, I’ll believe our OL is good when I see it. When I see them consistently making holes against AL, FL, GA, and keeping our QB from running for his life, I'll share your optimism. I’m still from Missouri when it comes to our OL...show me.
 
#16
#16
DenmarkVol said:
Always appreciate and respect the optimism, especially from ol’ Blighty but, as with many recent years, I’ll believe our OL is good when I see it. When I see them consistently making holes against AL, FL, GA, and keeping our QB from running for his life, I'll share your optimism. I’m still from Missouri when it comes to our OL...show me.
Click to expand...

I do agree with your cautious optimism, but this year it just might be THE year for the O Line
 
#17
#17
SNAFU said:
"All transfers inside the SEC must be approved by the conference, but now, especially amid a pandemic and in a season when eligibility doesn’t count for any player, it seems outlandish to suggest the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey would stand in the way of a decision the NCAA approved."

"Kirby Smart, like Pruitt, understands that recruiting is everything. If he’s picking battles, it’s probably wise to pass this one up."
-David Ubben
Click to expand...

There's 4 programs in the SEC that have enough pull (the same 4 that got the lighter schedules) to get Sankey to deny/delay:

UGA - I doubt UGA will be in the forefront protesting (for the reasons Ubben mentioned) this but I would expect them to use a media attack like they did with the schedule.

UF - They could; however, since they got Van Jefferson via interconference transfer, they might be hypocritical.

LSU - Don't think they'd use their pull on this. Since UT plays the other top 5 teams in the SEC, I would think they'd want a stronger UT this year for selfish reasons.

Bama - The team with the most pull. If Saban tells Sankey "off the record" that he should deny it, would Sankey obey his boss? You saw how vindictive Saban/Bama was after Ole Miss beat them twice, does Saban try to use his pull to slow down UT from a recruiting perspective?
 
#18
#18
tennesseepride84 said:
Btw that commentary about Brandon was funny aa all get out, and if im not mistaken due to covid couldnt he play again next season and if so he would be the first football player in history to play around 8 yrs, thats a NFL career.
Click to expand...

Weinke played at FSU as a 28 yo and was a 29 yo rookie NFL
don’t think Kennedy will be close to that
 
#19
#19
sechamp2012 said:
Weinke played at FSU as a 28 yo and was a 29 yo rookie NFL
don’t think Kennedy will be close to that
Click to expand...
True but Weinke played baseball before he played at FSU, thats why he was that old. Im referring to the amount of years Kennedy will have played at the college level. I cant think of anyone who will have played college ball that many years.
 
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