All-Decade Team

[k-town_king]

I'd replace JG with Chryst

 

[XknoxvolsX]

Makes me sad because it makes me think about an all 90's and 00's team!

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Great post! The most revealing thing about that collection of talent for me is the flip side -- is that ALL we can show for that period of time? Holy smoke..

See, I come away thinking that our All-Decade offense is surprisingly strong. Might be better than for the 00's. Josh Dobbs + Alvin Kamara + all those WRs + the top 5 O-linemen is nothing to scoff at. Some obvious depth issues on OL, but the starting 5 would be strong.

Defense is another story.

The All-Decade 90s and 00s team defense would obliterate the 10s. I was struggling to come up with all-star type guys on defense and about half the ones I came up with where "what could've been" stories if not injuries.

Outside of Barnett, Sutton, Gaulden, JRM, and AJ Johnson, we didn't have a lot of superstar defensive players. Maybe add Curt Maggitt to the list, but his career was also hampered by injuries. Darrell Taylor may join those ranks when all is said and done, but we'll have to wait and see. He looked like an NFL 1st rounder at times last year, but was also very inconsistent. And I think Kirkland and Tuttle would've been up there if not for injuries, as well.

But still ... that's a very thin All-Decade defensive squad. To me this showcases that we've had bundles of talent on the offensive side (more than we realized), but slim pickings at defense. Perhaps this is why Fulmer was so obsessed with hiring a defense guy as Head Coach. Defense wins in this league.

 

[vols 30]

Based on?

There really isn't a 3rd option. Took the best of the worst.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

RB Raijon Neal
should be in Ty Chandler's spot.

Statistically, Ty Chandler's stats are more impressive to me, particularly when you consider the fact that Chandler has been running behind 2 of the worst O-lines in UT history and Neal actually had a good O-line.

I'm convinced people are underestimating Chandler in the same way they did Kamara; albeit for different reasons. Kamara was underestimated because the coaches underutilized him. Chandler is underestimated because people don't realize how good he has been playing behind that awful OL.

 

[ClockworkOrange]

See, I come away thinking that our All-Decade offense is surprisingly strong. Might be better than for the 00's. Josh Dobbs + Alvin Kamara + all those WRs + the top 5 O-linemen is nothing to scoff at. Some obvious depth issues on OL, but the starting 5 would be strong.

Defense is another story.

The All-Decade 90s and 00s team defense would obliterate the 10s. I was struggling to come up with all-star type guys on defense and about half the ones I came up with where "what could've been" stories if not injuries.

Outside of Barnett, Sutton, Gaulden, JRM, and AJ Johnson, we didn't have a lot of superstar defensive players. Maybe add Curt Maggitt to the list, but his career was also hampered by injuries. Darrell Taylor may join those ranks when all is said and done, but we'll have to wait and see. He looked like an NFL 1st rounder at times last year, but was also very inconsistent. And I think Kirkland and Tuttle would've been up there if not for injuries, as well.

But still ... that's a very thin All-Decade defensive squad. To me this showcases that we've had bundles of talent on the offensive side (more than we realized), but slim pickings at defense. Perhaps this is why Fulmer was so obsessed with hiring a defense guy as Head Coach. Defense wins in this league.

I agree...much has been squandered on offense. I'm ready for an upswing. As usual with this sort of thing, turning the momentum is somewhat akin to turning the Titanic and getting it to go in the opposite direction.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

There really isn't a 3rd option. Took the best of the worst.

True.

 

[VolDaddy61]

Great post! The most revealing thing about that collection of talent for me is the flip side -- is that ALL we can show for that period of time? Holy smoke.

Imagine taking just about any other comparable slice of Vol history and doing the same research -- you'd likely have such an embarrassment of riches, the trick would be coming up with who you leave OFF such a list.

Agreed. Eye opening.

 

[99gator]

I think it’s pretty clear why there have been problems.

As a group, that defensive list is God awful. Malik Jackson was a transfer. So, he only had two years at Tennessee. Barnett is the obvious gem. But, that linebacker and secondary group. That’s just not going to get it done and it hasn’t.

The offensive line group has three members of the same team and the rest of the list had injury issues.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I think I’d have Malone higher on the list with the receivers. Otherwise pretty solid.

 

[mattlock3tt]

throw DaRick Rogers in there

 

[RDU VOL#14]

throw DaRick Rogers in there

Just think. DR, CP and Hunter all should’ve played played together. Da’Rick was probably the most physically gifted and that’s saying something .

 

[VFLEatinFresh]

Why is Paul Bain not mentioned?

 

[photovol]

Time for a thought experiment. I was thinking about who would make a Vols "All-Decade" team for the 10's.

In spite of our run of futility this decade, it's surprising how good the offense on an All-Decade Team would be. What it really showcases to me is that we've had elite talent here, but we've squandered it.

Defense, on the other hand, is another story. It's very tough to come up with "All-Decade" guys for D. And it starts to become clear putting this together that defense has been a major issue this decade.

Who would make all decade team?

Quarterbacks
QB1: Josh Dobbs, 2016
QB2: Tyler Bray, 2012
QB3: Jarrett Guarantano, 2018

Don't think anyone would disagree that Josh Dobbs was the best QB we had this decade, but he could've been even better with some actual development. He excels more as a passer now with the Steelers, while he always struggled with consistency while here, partly because we had no real dedicated QB coach most of the time he was here. QB2 and QB3 is between Bray and JG; obviously Bray put up more prolific numbers, but he struggled with leadership, whereas JG is one of the least mistake-prone QBs in UT history.

Running Backs
RB1: Alvin Kamara, 2016
RB2: Ty Chandler, 2018
RB3: Jalen Hurd, 2015
RB4: John Kelly, 2017

Kamara was grossly underutilized while at UT, in spite of putting up some of the most impressive stats in UT history on a per play basis. Now, he's an NFL superstar. RB2 and RB3 is debatable, but I like Chandler at RB2. I think he's severely underrated primarily because he's played behind the worst run-blocking O-line in college football last season. Hurd is our short yardage back and John Kelly was a prolific playmaker in spite of lacking much in the way of help from the O-line.

Wide Receivers
WR1: Justin Hunter, 2012
WR2: Cordarelle Patterson, 2012
WR3: Marquez North, 2013 (pre-injury)
WR4: Marquez Callaway, 2018
WR5: Josh Malone, 2016
WR6: Jauan Jennings, 2016 / 2018

We've had a surprising amount of talent at WR; albeit between passing game and O-line struggles in the Butch Jones years, it has been somewhat squandered. Also injuries hampered Marquez North's career (injuries will be a running theme throughout this list).

Offensive Line
OT: Juwaun James, 2012
OG: Zach Fulton, 2012
OG: Dallas Thomas, 2012
OT: Trey Smith, 2017 (pre health problems)
C: James Stone
OG/OT: Chance Hall (pre-injury)
OG/OT: Jack Jones (pre-injury)

Once again, many had careers cut short by injuries. If this were a real team, would probably lack depth at OL, but the starting 5 would be good.

Defensive Line
DE: Derek Barnett, 2016
DE: Malik Jackson, 2011
DT: Shy Tuttle, 2016 (pre-injury)
DE: Kyle Phillips, 2018
DE: Cory Vereen

OK, this is admittedly the one position group where it's still tough to find much talent. We had Derek Barnett and Malik Jackson. Shy Tuttle, before his injuries, was also a beast. Those are the only 3 superstars / potential superstars I can name. Albeit, Kyle Phillips had a great senior campaign.

Linebackers
LB: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, 2016
LB: A.J. Johnson, 2014
OLB: Darrell Taylor, 2018
LB: Daniel Bituli, 2018
OLB / DE: Curt Maggitt
LB: Darrin Kirkland, 2015 (pre-injuries)

Taylor could either go as a DE in a 4-3 or an OLB in a 3-4. DK Jr looked like a potential 1st round draft pick as a Freshman, before all the injuries hampered his career.

Secondary
CB: Cam Sutton, 2016
S: Rashaan Gaulden, 2017

Struggling a bit on this one, as well. Sutton and Gaulden are obvious picks, but who else would you all throw out there?

Special Teams
P: Trevor Daniel
K: Michael Palardy?
KR/PR: Berry + Patterson


Who else would be on the list? Who am I missing


Overall

Feel like if you take our best players from the decade, we have an incredible offense. Our depth on defense is still pretty bad. Nevertheless, it does showcase what could've been. So many injuries and so much bad player development (under Butch); also throw in a little bad luck (e.g. Trey Smith). All that stuff has undermined us and led to poor results on the field.

Go back 20 years and you'll find much better players

 

[DWright39]

This reminds me of the old NCAA football games that had “all time” teams. I would use all time Tennessee with Manning and the Minister of Defense and crush everyone. Fun times.