Abernathy, Kelly, Warrior: Who's the odd man out?

#1

Freak

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#1
I figure two of these guys will start and one won't. Who do you think is the odd man out, and why?
 
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#3
#3
Seems to me it may be Warrior. I think it comes down to trust and I don't hear that when Shoop mentions him. JMO
 
#6
#6
Hopefully Abernathy improved...didn't impress me last season.

Kelly would be better OLB. But that transition is to late.

Warrior has potential to be another Eric Berry type.

I would think CBJ will lean more starting the seasoned guys.

They will all get plenty of PT. Tough call
 
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#7
#7
Warrior needs to play as much as possible.. To much athleticism to sit on the bench..
 
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#8
#8
What a great question. In reality, I don't think it matters much who 'starts'. All will play in this position. Which two start and why? Very difficult to answer.
 
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#10
#10
Hopefully Abernathy improved...didn't impress me last season.

Kelly would be better OLB. But that transition is to late.

Warrior has potential to be another Eric Berry type.

I would think CBJ will lean more starting the seasoned guys.

They will all get plenty of PT. Tough call

We lose to App State without Abernathy.
 
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#13
#13
I figure two of these guys will start and one won't. Who do you think is the odd man out, and why?

1) TK Jr (Jim Thorpe Award 🥇)
2) Nigel Warrior ( Freak Athlete)
3) Micah Abernathy (Anchor Man)
 

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#14
#14
I need to withhold judgement until D4H enlightens us again on which of these guys is a surefire All American and future HOFer...

Seriously, I would bet TK Jr. and Abernathy start Game 1. Although we're all excited about Warrior's potential and recall the coaches gushing about him in the early Spring, coaches tend to revert to experience over pure talent when the chips are down.

I would not bet against Warrior starting by the end of this year, though.
 
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#16
#16
Warrior is far and away the best athlete of the three and needs to play as much as possible. Let the other two rotate while working in Theo Jackson where possible.
 
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#18
#18
In the first game...against GT (majority run), Abernathy should be the odd man out. Kelly and Warrior will be better suited to stop the run. If we started against most anyone else, I'd say Warrior would be the odd man out. JMO
 
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#19
#19
I figure two of these guys will start and one won't. Who do you think is the odd man out, and why?

This makes for good discussion but... They will all 3 play and be depended on. That's one of the few groups I don't consider to be a starter/backup situation.
 
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#20
#20
TK Jr.

Maybe not the first game but by Florida game I think Abernathy and Warrior will have the starting jobs. It just seems like a lot of damage is done on TK's side of the field when he is in the game. It's not just speed, it seems to me that he is out of place an awful lot of the time. I believe Abernathy and Warrior will be too fast and instinctive to keep off the field in big game situations.
 
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#21
#21
Gaulden is the starting nickel per Doug Mathews.

Can I just go total nega on you for a second. I'm going to be honest as I can be. Gaulden may be immensely talented, but he has never once made it beyond the start of the season. I think they will all play by the end of the season.
 
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#22
#22
Gaulden is the starting nickel per Doug Mathews.

FTR, Sunday Matthews was speculating that Shoop might move a safety into down to NB against GT for added run support. Didn't really make sense to me, because I'm not sure Kelly or Abernathy are better tacklers than Gaulden or that Warrior is a guy you want playing at NB more than at S.

Matthews has been wrong about speculation like this before, though. I could be wrong, but IIRC last year he was predicting we'd see the offense go under center and get Hurd running downhill from time to time. We ended up under center about 5 times vs App State and not much else all season long.
 
#23
#23
Can I just go total nega on you for a second. I'm going to be honest as I can be. Gaulden may be immensely talented, but he has never once made it beyond the start of the season. I think they will all play by the end of the season.

He was healthy all season last year
 
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#25
#25
Cannot be true but I would have to look it up. I don't remember him On the field much last year. I think foreman took his place didn't he? Where is Foreman?

Anyway.. I've hit a wall. Need to sleep.


2016 - REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE
•2016 GAME-BY-GAME STATISTICS
•Games/Starts: 13/9
•Started nine games at nickel and ranked third on the team with 68 tackles (52 solo) while also posting 6.0 tackles for loss, four passes defended, one forced fumble, and one QB hurry
•Posted five tackles, one forced fumble and two pass breakups in win over Nebraska in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (12/30)
•Had five tackles and one TFL at Vanderbilt (11/26)
•Made eighth start at nickel against Missouri (11/19) and made a career-high nine tackles
•Tallied six tackles (five solo) and 1.0 TFL in win vs. Kentucky (11/12)
•Made sixth start at nickel and made six tackles (three solo) and 0.5 TFL vs. Tennessee Tech (11/5)
•Recorded four tackles at South Carolina (10/29)
•Made six tackles, including career-best 2 TFL for 1 1 yards against Alabama (10/15) in fourth start at nickel
•Started at nickel against Texas A&M (10/8) and made three tackles
•Recorded career-high eight tackles (seven solo) and had one pass breakup in win at Georgia (10/1)
•Started at nickelback in win vs. Florida (9/24) and recorded one solo tackle and one quarterback hurry
•Made first start of career at nickelback against Ohio (9/17), tying career high with seven tackles (six solo)
•Made a career-high seven tackles (four solo) and half of a TFL against Virginia Tech (9/10)
•Had one tackle and one pass break-up against Appalachian State (9/1), first game action since 2014

http://utsports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=861

EDIT: Foreman played outside, not at NB in 2016. Gaulden was the favorite to start at NB in 2015 as well, but once he went down in the preseason, some guys had to move around.

Also, FTR, Gaulden played 11 games as a freshman. He battled nagging injuries at times, but was mostly a solid special teams contributor throughout 2014.
 
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