Deciding MLB spot

#26
#26
OH-Vol said:
If Bates does not emerge at MLB, does he move back outside? It would be a complete waste to have him on the bench!
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I don't recall this at all. Mcds was more impressive. Just saying, too much talent at the backer positions. You got to really earn your pt now.
 
#27
#27
ATLVols said:
I think it's a good sign that Butch moved Jacob Johnson to TE for the time being. He must feel good about MLB depth. Bynum outplayed him by a mile. Look for Bynum to start early at MLB and Kirkland or Bates to start a few games in.
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I also think this is how it will play out.
 
#28
#28
I believe Jakob Johnson started a game a MLB and recorded zero stops, thus the move to DE and then TE
 
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#29
#29
LittleVol said:
First off, there is going to have to be some circle of life drills between some of these MLB candidates.

Austin Smith vs Dillon Bates

Darrin Kirkland Jr. vs Ken Bynum

Colton Jumper vs Gavin Bryant

I think it will help with the filtering process.


Secondly, looking at Kirkland and Austin Smith reminds me of 4 years ago when A.J. Johnson and Curt Maggitt got to campus.

They were the big new recruits that we had needed for a while on defense! I remember everybody saying that's how you draw linebackers up. Looking back neither disappointed on the field. Both made a lot of plays. Curt's best is yet to come.

Anyway, I look at Kirkland and Smith, and I see a more talented duo then Curt and AJ were.

I think Austin Smith ends up as LEO and Kirkland will be the man at MLB.
Even though these guys are not in the 2 deep yet. Just watching them move, I don't see any of the other MLBs
that has their upside.


Thank God for football
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I think the Circle of Life drill is great for competition and toughness but totally useless in telling you who the better football player for a position.

I'm also excited about Austin Smith and Kirkland but I'm definitely not ready to dub them a better version of Curt and AJ. Curt and AJ put up a ton of production, they were both extremely talented as well. I hope you're right because that would mean we are set at LB for years to come but I'd like to see them take a few SEC snaps before coming to those type of conclusions.
 
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#30
#30
chatt-townVOL said:
I think you understand exactly what I mean, I assume most here are aware he was in a different role last year. He was impressive as an athlete within the LB corp last year.

Thanks for the show off attempt though.
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He got on the field last year...he would have eventually gotten more reps. Didn't see anything before the injury that screamed MOVE HIM TO THE MIDDLE NOW! Maybe he ends up the guy there...hoping he stays outside and uses those skills there.

It does seem like I'm showing off sometimes , but it's just me thinking it...typing it...and you being awed. :eek:hmy: #Gift
 
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#32
#32
All that said, I'm really hoping Kirkland can be a standout early and win the job. He looks like a star in the making.
 
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#33
#33
LittleVol said:
Secondly, looking at Kirkland and Austin Smith reminds me of 4 years ago when A.J. Johnson and Curt Maggitt got to campus.

They were the big new recruits that we had needed for a while on defense! I remember everybody saying that's how you draw linebackers up. Looking back neither disappointed on the field. Both made a lot of plays. Curt's best is yet to come.

Anyway, I look at Kirkland and Smith, and I see a more talented duo then Curt and AJ were.
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Ya know what's even better than that IMO. Butch hasn't already penciled them in as starters. Which means they are that good and still only in the two deep (maybe).

Times. They are a changin'. :pepper:
 
#34
#34
I like what Butch said yesterday iirc about the MLB competition. I essence he said that he was glad to have such a varying skill set competing for the slot, because it gives us a lot of different options against the various offense we'll face in 15'.

Remember how all we had was AJ? Remember along with that all the people on this board whining about how slow he was and how he was a liability out in the flat in coverage? Depth may be changing that.
 
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#35
#35
It's funny how so many of you assume that if a player is good at the Sam or Will position, then that player is automatically good enough to play the Mike
 
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#36
#36
Coach did say something like the LBs would cross-train to learn multiple positions.

And not just JRM doing that.
 
#37
#37
I see a lot of people talking about Bates, Smith, etc, but most of you are forgetting about arguably the best natural pass rusher on this team, Weatherd. Weatherd will be on the field a lot more than what he was last year. When it's all said and done, by 2017, Smith, Kirkland, and Bates will be our starters. Sapp/McDowell will also play a ton, and Bryant/Hart will be the backup MLBs. However, for now, JRM, Weatherd, McDowell, Maggit, Bates, and Kirkland will end up taking 80%+ of the snaps this year. Bryant could also get looks at MLB, and Smith should also play. The minute Bryant and Kirkland nail down the playbook Bynum, etc will be pushed out of the lineup. Ultimately, Bates could be our day 1 starter at MLB due to familiarity of the system, but will ultimately lose that MLB spot at some point to Kirkland, who's by far the most athletic MLB we've had here in quite some time. I also hope to see Bryant get in some as well, especially on running downs, and he should be a huge special teams contributor.

I also anticipate Jancek to run some bear fronts with 4 LBs in play. Jancek likes to play zone cover three and man to man, something easily done in either a 4-3 or 3-4 bear front, or under front, especially when you have a SS that can cover/jam a TE. I could see Weatherd and Maggit on the outside, KMac, Barnett, and Kyle on the inside, and JRM and Bates playing the center of the field. There's a lot of creativity that can be done by this staff now due to their outstanding recruiting the last 2 years. Should be fun to watch.
 
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#38
#38
LittleVol said:
First off, there is going to have to be some circle of life drills between some of these MLB candidates.

Austin Smith vs Dillon Bates

Darrin Kirkland Jr. vs Ken Bynum

Colton Jumper vs Gavin Bryant

I think it will help with the filtering process.


Secondly, looking at Kirkland and Austin Smith reminds me of 4 years ago when A.J. Johnson and Curt Maggitt got to campus.

They were the big new recruits that we had needed for a while on defense! I remember everybody saying that's how you draw linebackers up. Looking back neither disappointed on the field. Both made a lot of plays. Curt's best is yet to come.

Anyway, I look at Kirkland and Smith, and I see a more talented duo then Curt and AJ were.

I think Austin Smith ends up as LEO and Kirkland will be the man at MLB.
Even though these guys are not in the 2 deep yet. Just watching them move, I don't see any of the other MLBs
that has their upside.


Thank God for football
Click to expand...

Either way we will have one hell of a head hunting kick off team!! Go Vols!!!
 
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#39
#39
Just my opinion but I think the coaches want Bates to take the bull by the horns for the mlb spot. If he does that it allows you to use Austin Smith in his most gifted area and that's to be on the edge using his athleticism to blitz and cover tight ends. If bates holds it down this year than in the future you could move him to the outside where JRM is now and slid Kirkland to the middle. That way it gives Kirkland more time to get in the weight room study the position for a year or two.
 
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#40
#40
dyllisvol42 said:
Just my opinion but I think the coaches want Bates to take the bull by the horns for the mlb spot. If he does that it allows you to use Austin Smith in his most gifted area and that's to be on the edge using his athleticism to blitz and cover tight ends. If bates holds it down this year than in the future you could move him to the outside where JRM is now and slid Kirkland to the middle. That way it gives Kirkland more time to get in the weight room study the position for a year or two.
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Don't know how much weight room time Dillon got in last year with that type of injury.
 
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#42
#42
Have a hard time seeing Bynum as the guy. . .Bryant & Kirkland have better talent.
 
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#46
#46
Could see a youngish MLB, with JRM on one side of him, Maggitt on the other, senior safeties behind him, Sutton, Barnett ...
 
#47
#47
Notes: Tennessee Vols' Butch Jones 'pleased' with LB competition

Five days into preseason camp, it’s still too early to tell much about the pecking order at the position.

But coach Butch Jones said Saturday after Tennessee’s first practice in full pads that he’s “pleased with the linebacker group as a whole,” and he’s happy about the number of options the Vols now have at a position that has lacked depth in recent years.

Another option at LB?

Tennessee junior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and sophomore linebacker Cortez McDowell mostly have worked at the same position — Will linebacker — over the past year, but Jones said Reeves-Maybin and McDowell theoretically “could get on” the field at the same time if the Vols wanted to play both of them.

“Really, Mike and Will, they’re interchangeable for us, so we expect our linebackers to know those positions,” Jones said. “The challenge is when you face 21-personnel teams and with the Sam linebacker. And those are kind of becoming specialty players, as well.

“But you could see them on the field together.”
 
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