ATHLON: Pump the Brakes on Joshua Dobbs and the 2015 Volunteers

#101
#101
Avid Vol fan in Texas. 8-4 at best. I'd love to see my boys do better than that, but I'll be happy with 8-4 and bowl win. Next year will be the big year for us.
 
#102
#102
99gator said:
Here's the thing. It's been discussed a lot on this board (and this is an issue that applies to both of us right now) and that is how good do you really have to be to win the SEC East? How good really?

I maintain that some of the non-championship Spurrier Gator teams would be able to sleep walk to Atlanta in the current SEC East. Teams that, at the time, I just thought were OK. They'd laugh at the current East.

So, how good do you have to be? Missouri went 10-2 in 2014. How good were they, really?

I don't think, in 2015, you have to be "good" to beat Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt....South Carolina at home. If you catch Georgia on the right day (like Florida did last year) not sure how good you have to be to beat them.

So, if Tennessee is actually "good" in the way we would classically define it (and I can't describe it, I just know it when I see it), Tennessee should win an awful lot of games.

There are still question marks, but Tennessee has no more question marks than anyone else in the East, except maybe Georgia.

Sooner or later, you have to win.
Click to expand...

well, in a word, duh? :)

i'm just coming off an 8 year span where our best year is 7-6. and there was more losing than winning, period, in total.

while i can't discount the merits of the current state of the SECE (i agree, some of those teams we fielded in the 90's as well would walk thru this version), i think this is just part of the cycle of college football. going back to the 90's the west was abysmal for a lot of those years past 94/95/96.

and i can't worry about everyone else anyway. we have our own questions to worry about.

to your answer your question "what is good?", well, all i know is we haven't been. so if i feel a little trepidation prior to this season, i think it's probably ok.

in the end. you hit the nail on the head. at some point you just have to win.
 
#104
#104
99gator said:
Here's the thing. It's been discussed a lot on this board (and this is an issue that applies to both of us right now) and that is how good do you really have to be to win the SEC East? How good really?

I maintain that some of the non-championship Spurrier Gator teams would be able to sleep walk to Atlanta in the current SEC East. Teams that, at the time, I just thought were OK. They'd laugh at the current East.

So, how good do you have to be? Missouri went 10-2 in 2014. How good were they, really?

I don't think, in 2015, you have to be "good" to beat Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt....South Carolina at home. If you catch Georgia on the right day (like Florida did last year) not sure how good you have to be to beat them.

So, if Tennessee is actually "good" in the way we would classically define it (and I can't describe it, I just know it when I see it), Tennessee should win an awful lot of games.

There are still question marks, but Tennessee has no more question marks than anyone else in the East, except maybe Georgia.

Sooner or later, you have to win.
Click to expand...
and i think more than anything, this is more an indictment on GA than anything else. by all rights, they've had the ability to take the East and dominate it the past 3-4 years and failed to do so for one reason or the other, but it's always something.
 
#105
#105
with your assessment 100%.
At the end of last season, we barley made a bowl.
I think the off season hype is a bit much.
If we win 8 in 2015, good, shows improvement. Nine, great. If we manage to win 10 in 2015, it would be fantastic.
I have a wait and see attitude.
We have been in the gutter for so long, it is hard to vision a winning team again.
How ever, I love the VOLS and wish them the best.
 
#106
#106
If I've learned anything about this coaching staff is that they are full of cliches and slow to give positive assessment of progress. Every comment is measured and all signs in the past hinted at a team that was not quite there yet. Not this year. CBJ and CMD are glowing with praise for Dobbs and the progress he has made in the offseason. That was backed up by all the stories coming out of the Nike Camp about Dobbs and Guarantano (so?) being two of the best passers at the camp. Nothing like 2 stud RB to take pressure off of the QB. Perhaps the big question is the OL, but after seeing the improvement from Worley to Dobbs with the OL last season, I am hard pressed not to be optimistic about contunued improvement. No pumping breaks from this Vol fan. I am fired up and excited to see team 119 put some records in the books. The games still have to be played, but I like our chances this year better than any year in the recent past to get back to the glory that the Vols enjoyed in the 80s and 90s/early 200s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#107
#107
Some of us are pathetic! Why do we jump on the side of any article that has some negative bs about our players. Let the season start before we start validating these backhanded articles about our team. Everyone is trying to infuse doubt to slow down this big orange train. Don't buy it! Go Vols!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7 people
#108
#108
8 wins sounds bout right, IF Dobbs has improved and can actually now throw an accurate deep ball, look out. Got my fingers crossed.
 
#109
#109
sjt18 said:
Without massive injuries, I do not see an argument for less than 10 wins UNLESS you do not believe Jones and staff can get it done on gameday.
Click to expand...

FYP.

Vol fans expect 10 wins this year. Everyone else turn in your fan card immediately. This is not blue font.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#111
#111
Mick said:
Anyone going to mention Tee Martin? Not high expectations the year we won the NC and we did get a lucky break Vs Arkansas.

Edit: Didn't he set some kind of passing record in a game but was known as a runner?
Click to expand...

He set the then-record for most consecutive completed passes in a game against South Carolina.
 
#113
#113
tlanderson341 said:
Some of us are pathetic! Why do we jump on the side of any article that has some negative bs about our players. Let the season start before we start validating these backhanded articles about our team. Everyone is trying to infuse doubt to slow down this big orange train. Don't buy it! Go Vols!!
Click to expand...
i didn't get a negative vibe at all from that article. and nothing in the article was false, as far as what our ?'s are headed in to 2015.

it's just like everything else about this topic. it's all based on what might happen, if everything works out the way we want to.

and then you still have to play all the games..

bottom line, for things to go our way this year, things will have to work out for us. we're not putting a proven commodity out on the field yet. that's not really debatable. and it's ok to at least put that question out there...to pump or not to pump.:)

there's reasons for both sides, and it's, to this point anyway, all speculative.
 
#115
#115
Need key guys to stay healthy. We can win between 8-10 games. Few games may be close that can go either way. We need a healthy and proved Dobbs to be healthy all yr
 
#117
#117
tlanderson341 said:
Some of us are pathetic! Why do we jump on the side of any article that has some negative bs about our players. Let the season start before we start validating these backhanded articles about our team. Everyone is trying to infuse doubt to slow down this big orange train. Don't buy it! Go Vols!!
Click to expand...

The article didn't say anything negative, just the areas we needed to see the most improvement. As did the posters. Decaf is your friend.
 
#119
#119
All I know is that we should have been 7-5 last year and finished 6-6 and couldn't get it done against a much less talented Fla team--a loss that I couldn't get over last year--until they brought in Debord.

I was extremely encouraged by how we beat down Iowa in the bowl game--but realistically--Iowa would have been 4-8 or 5-7 at best in the SEC. Nevertheless--our VOLS looked much improved and gave me due cause to be excited about this year.

However, Dobbs and the WR crew are gonna be tested when teams fill the box with 7-8 and MAKE Dobbs beat them by throwing the football. And Dobbs--in all honesty--hasn't shown that he can get that done.

The DIFFERENCE is DEBORD, pure and simple. Can he get Dobbs' intelligence to translate into improved accuracy and decision-making on the field? No doubt that Dobbs has ALL the tools to be elite....

We are still unproven on the OL and at LB....

I've been a VolFan since 1979....and TOO many years have I bought into the hype--none greater than the 1990 team--only to be disappointed time and time again.

I believe that this team is much improved and better than any team we've put on the field since 2007. But talk is CHEAP, and for LOSERS!

I'll buy in if we are 5-1 when we line it up against Alabama--WHICH, if we are as good as the talk--we should be!

GO VOLS!

:salute:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#120
#120
8-4 is this year's 6-6. Would there be some crazy vol fans on the fringe who think it's a terrible season? Yeah. Would they be idiots? Yep.

IMO the article is pretty spot on about Dobbs. He's never gonna be an elite passer. He doesn't have an NFL arm. He's shown both questionable accuracy and decision making at times as a passer.

But that doesn't mean he can't be an effective QB, especially in our system. IMO Dobbs's accuracy issues won't be too much of an issue for us as long as he can improve his decision making and cut down on turnovers.

If the OL takes a step forward and our running game is able to improve enough, I doubt we'll be worrying too much about Dobbs's accuracy anyway.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#124
#124
Bottom line.. if we run the ball well this year, the passing game will be a filler...just to keep the defenses honest. That way Dobbs doesn't have the huge pressure to stretch the field. We don't need him to get 400 yds a week. IF it happens so be it. That promising backfield is gonna be our bread an butter this year..
 
#125
#125
Darth_Shiveman said:
8-4 is this year's 6-6. Would there be some crazy vol fans on the fringe who think it's a terrible season? Yeah. Would they be idiots? Yep.

IMO the article is pretty spot on about Dobbs. He's never gonna be an elite passer. He doesn't have an NFL arm. He's shown both questionable accuracy and decision making at times as a passer.

But that doesn't mean he can't be an effective QB, especially in our system. IMO Dobbs's accuracy issues won't be too much of an issue for us as long as he can improve his decision making and cut down on turnovers.

If the OL takes a step forward and our running game is able to improve enough, I doubt we'll be worrying too much about Dobbs's accuracy anyway.
Click to expand...

If Dobbs improves and gets help from his recievers his pass game should be ok. I remember Tebow wasn't a great passer either
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top