Could Smith and Solomon be worth two wins?

#26
#26
cHiZzLeVOL said:
I don’t think we necessarily need Solomon to get a win, but would love to have him playing gives more rotational opportunities.

Now that being said having Smith back is definitely going to produce extra wins. They are moving him back to Guard which is his natural position. Go back to his freshman year and when Smith played guard they knew they could run it up his backside to get whatever yards they needed because they knew there would always be a hole.

With Smith back at guard the run attack will be lethal especially with Chandler.
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this whole thing about Smith is nonsense. Can you name another guard that had this much of an impact? We were the worst running team in FBS last year. Adding Smith back is not going to make our running game lethal. It will be amazing if he even plays more than one or two games before the bleeding starts again.
 
#27
#27
More than two players, what I think wins extra games will be if the offense in general can control the game more and keep a suspect DLine off the field as much as possible. Don't think you can pin extra game wins on just two players.
 
#28
#28
Ashevillevol said:
this whole thing about Smith is nonsense. Can you name another guard that had this much of an impact? We were the worst running team in FBS last year. Adding Smith back is not going to make our running game lethal. It will be amazing if he even plays more than one or two games before the bleeding starts again.
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It is not nonsense how about you go back and watch some games where he played guard and see that there was always a hole. Lol 😂 I am not even going to argue with you. It is proven and he is a monster at the Guard position.
 
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#29
#29
Having an OL that’s even middle of the pack, statistically speaking, will be the difference in making a bowl game or not. 7-8 wins is not out of the question if we do. We will need 8-10 solid OL in order for that to happen. Trey Smith could help if healthy.
 
#32
#32
cHiZzLeVOL said:
It is not nonsense how about you go back and watch some games where he played guard and see that there was always a hole. Lol 😂 I am not even going to argue with you. It is proven and he is a monster at the Guard position.
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Can you name a guard on any team in any year that took over a game and made their running game 'lethal'
 
#33
#33
Vfl2407 said:
I understand.
But these two guys are considered special talents at our two biggest areas of need.
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If Trey was healthy and moved back to LG, then maybe. If Solomon were eligible and played up to the hype he came into college with, then its possible that those 2 could be impactful enough to get 2 more wins.
 
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#35
#35
The SEC is a line of scrimmage league. Everyone is picking Auburn as a dark horse due to them having 3 D-linemen that are projected as 1st or 2nd round picks in the next NFL draft. Give me the best O-line and D-line in the SEC and I’ll win 8 games with 2 and 3 * players at every other position.
 
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#36
#36
Anytime you can upgrade your biggest weakness, you can make a huge impact.

I don't know how many times JG was sacked last season but several were rapid-fire straight up the middle sacks.

Having Trey Smith anchor LG along with Kennedy/the Johnsons and Calbert at C/RG and the best two of Morris/Tatum/Wright at OT will go a long way towards giving JG valuable extra seconds to make plays. Plus an effective group of blockers for our RBs. Last season 1/3 of the rushes were for a loss or no gain. Need to get that down to 1/10th.

As far as DT is concern, we have plenty of big strong dudes, better than last season. But Solomon would provide that much needed experience that most of our DL lack.
 
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#37
#37
Thou said:
In Football along both lines your are only as good as your weakest player.
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Exactly, think of the OL as a wall of sandbags keeping the water back. When you make the lowest point of sandbags higher, you can withstand more water. Trey Smith is the equivalent of one or two more sandbags for the middle of our OL!
 
#38
#38
Ashevillevol said:
Can you name a guard on any team in any year that took over a game and made their running game 'lethal'
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Remember what happened last season when Trey Smith went out and then Ryan Johnson went out/played hurt to finish the season. Didn't end well did it?
 
#39
#39
Vfl2407 said:
Heard on radio a Vol discussion stating that a healthy and effective Smith and an eligible and game ready Solomon are both worth an extra win should they play this year.
Is that too much of an exaggeration?
The conversation basically said that we are a 6-6 team without them and 8-4 with them.
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I'll buy that for a dollar. But, forget Solomon, this season. By the time the NCAA gets to his appeal, the season will be nearly over. Same with Gibbs. I'm just tickled that Trey may get to play. But, I worry about his condition (Blood clots). Love his desire to play. I just hope he doesn't regret it.
 
#40
#40
This is one of the those super-speculative things that sports journalists like to say to get attention.

Could they make a 2 game difference? Sure but it's highly situational. We'd have to lose 2 close games where we had major issues on the O or D line that could've conceivably been resolved by having Trey or Solomon. It's one of those things you can't really "predict"; you may only see it in hindsight.

Fwiw, I do think having 1-2 more good DL last season would have given us the win over South Carolina. Our front 7 got exhausted in that game. Muschamp very smartly decided at some point that he couldn't beat our skill, so he would simply try to wear out our thin Front 7 and it worked to perfection. If we had a bit more depth, that strategy wouldn't have been as effective.
 
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#41
#41
I see a few people saying Solomon’s impact won’t be that much greater than the other d-linemen; however, the presumed best d-linemen are Williams, Gooden, and Solomon. Looking at the roster, Gooden and Solomon have the most CFB experience. I’m trying to figure out which one of the other d-linemen people think will be as impactful as Solomon.
 
#42
#42
Ashevillevol said:
this whole thing about Smith is nonsense. Can you name another guard that had this much of an impact? We were the worst running team in FBS last year. Adding Smith back is not going to make our running game lethal. It will be amazing if he even plays more than one or two games before the bleeding starts again.
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Great players have an effect on those around them. Add a Quentin Nelson to a mediocre Indy Colts line and they suddenly became a pretty damn good line. No one’s disregarding the medical component...I’m on record with my familiarity...but there’s no coach and more importantly NO MEDICAL AUTHORITY that is going to sign off on him playing without a clear bill.
 
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#44
#44
Vols All Day said:
I see a few people saying Solomon’s impact won’t be that much greater than the other d-linemen; however, the presumed best d-linemen are Williams, Gooden, and Solomon. Looking at the roster, Gooden and Solomon have the most CFB experience. I’m trying to figure out which one of the other d-linemen people think will be as impactful as Solomon.
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I’m allowed one crazy, unsound, bold prediction per calendar year...using it on Middleton. Great story waiting to happen.
 
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#45
#45
Vfl2407 said:
Heard on radio a Vol discussion stating that a healthy and effective Smith and an eligible and game ready Solomon are both worth an extra win should they play this year.
Is that too much of an exaggeration?
The conversation basically said that we are a 6-6 team without them and 8-4 with them.
Click to expand...
Hard to equate a W to one individuals, but it sounds logical!
 
#46
#46
If Trey Smith plays will he be off of his blood thinner on still on the medication?How would a blood thinner affect strength or stamina?
 
#47
#47
HuntlandVolinColo said:
I don't know how many times JG was sacked last season but several were rapid-fire straight up the middle sacks.
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23 sacks allowed, tied with Boston college for 47th, and plenty were 6 man blitzes that weren't picked up by JG, so no change of protection was called, and no RB or TE was pulled called to block, and the edge rusher came in unblocked, just like this one at the 1:01 mark:

 
#48
#48
EricberryFAN said:
Trey smith worries me man. I'd love for him to come back and help us get Ws and be apart of the team because he's NASTY!

I'd be lying even if he does get approved that I wouldn't be worried about the dudes heath. Putting the selfish football part aside, I hope whatever is best for him is what plays out.
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Yeah I don’t think he should play. That being said if he gets all the clearance from doctors and then UT says no, he could well transfer. That wouldn’t happen but he could play that angle. Hope nothing but best for him and his long term health.
 
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