ESPN hates UT - Hendon Hooker edition

#26
#26
To be fair, Tennessee hasn't done much the last 15 years to make ESPN not doubt us. In fact, ESPN's staff was the group that kept talking about Tennessee being back when Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt had semi-good teams in 2016 and 2019. So I don't think they are that unfair. We just need to win.
 
#29
#29
All this is just air. HH has A LOT to prove. And so does our entire football program. The skepticism is 100% warranted since we've been TERRIBLE for the better part of 15 years. It sucks, but we can change the narrative REALLY fast.... by WINNING big.
 
#31
#31
Hendon had great stats, but still missed on a lot of throws .... similiar to Dobbs in that, great numbers but not elite.
 
#33
#33
This thread is a microcosm of how information sharing has become so wacky in the world today.

There was once a time when you could pick up the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or International Herald-Tribune, read nothing but the headlines, and have a pretty good idea of what was going on in the world.

Then clickbait happened. The internet emerged and grew its own structure, which notably included clicks, likes, and subscribes as the metrics of journalistic success. And journalistic integrity went into a nose dive.

It suddenly was not successful to have an accurate, objective, honest and balanced headline. No, a writer needed a headline that was salacious, intriguing, or controversial enough to get people to click. Truth was lost in the rush to win clicks.

And this thread reflects that new reality. The ESPN article is very fair to Hendon Hooker. It puts him in the top 5%-10% of all FBS QBs in spite of a hot-and-cold first couple of years at Virginia Tech. Under those conditions, the lad's placement in tier 3 of that 25-tier ranking system clearly recognizes his 2021 success, and his exciting potential going into his senior season.

But because the Calhoun (what a moron) article headline says "egregiously low tier," the OP of this thread was fooled. And because he was fooled, this thread's title reads "ESPN hates him." And because of that title, a quarter of the people in this thread think Hendon has been disrespected. Like a boulder gaining momentum as it rolls downhill.

In the first 18 posts of this thread, I counted 5 folks (28%) who seem not to have actually read the article, certainly not with a functioning brain. @unfrozencvmanvol has been trying to make people understand what the article really says; I doubt many of them are spending much time following up and learning the truth.

They're simply not thinking for themselves. They're swallowing whatever bait is tossed in front of them.

This is such a good example of how society is being (willfully) misinformed these days.
Someone once said "it's easier to sling manure than grow roses" I said that!
 
  • Like
Reactions: GetYouSomeofThat
#34
#34
Hooker was the guy that made the Heupel "system" work. But I don't think Hooker is a one trick pony (no pun intended) - he's just one of very few guys who can run that system effectively. When Gus was at Auburn, he had a couple of QBs who could run his system and his team was playing for championships. He had some other really good QBs but they just couldn't run his system and the teams were middle of the pack.

I think we're in for a treat this year having an experienced Hooker (OK, pun intended).
 
#36
#36
Heupel's "system" doesn't make the completions for Hooker, putting the ball where it needs to be for the receiver to make the catch is what makes that happen. Short, intermediate, or deep balls, Hooker was accurate at all levels. I think he was under rated in the article, but we will see for sure when the games are played. I'd love to see him explode to the point that he can't realistically be denied the Heisman.
🎯
 
  • Like
Reactions: OneVolNation
#37
#37
They are saying he is no worse than 15th out of 131. They are also only putting 7 quarterbacks of 131 definitively above him preseason. That's hardly "egregious" disrespect, that's pretty good. I think Hooker played well last year and I'm excited to see what he can do this year, but like most Fansided articles this is overdramatized click bait written with the flair of a middle school girl, I didn't think the actual ESPN article was unfair:

From Heisman or bust to intriguing non-Power 5 battles: The 25 tiers of college football QBs

When you look at some of the guys ahead of him it could easily be considered egregious. SEC is the toughest conference without a doubt. I mean NC ST QB ahead of Hooker? Miami’s QB? Please. That’s a freaking joke.
 
#39
#39
He’s the same dude that struggled against a bad Florida team and a middle tier big ten team in Purdue.
Bad Florida team? I'd say if we played Florida towards the end of the year last year we would have won big. That team gave up on their coach soon after they played us. However they were a really good team in the beginning.
 
#40
#40
When you look at some of the guys ahead of him it could easily be considered egregious. SEC is the toughest conference without a doubt. I mean NC ST QB ahead of Hooker? Miami’s QB? Please. That’s a freaking joke.
It's all subjective. There are arguments pro and con for all sorts of guys anywhere on that list no doubt, but still out of 131 dudes he's only behind 7 out of the 131. That's not disrespecting the man. For Pete's sake we were 4-6 against P5 teams last year, it's a testament to Hooker that he's been noticed as much as he has. And while I certainly agree that the SEC is the toughest conference, most NFL quarterbacks aren't from the SEC, it's well established that other conferences can produce good quarterbacks.
 
Last edited:
#41
#41
He’s the same dude that struggled against...a middle tier big ten team in Purdue.

He didn't struggle against Purdue.

26 of 42 for 378 yards passing and 5 touchdowns for a QBrating of 176.8.
He added 59 rushing yards for 437 total yards.

Our defense holds them to under 45 points and it's a completely different result.

45 points should be enough offense to win any game.
 
#42
#42
This thread is a microcosm of how information sharing has become so wacky in the world today.

There was once a time when you could pick up the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or International Herald-Tribune, read nothing but the headlines, and have a pretty good idea of what was going on in the world.

Then clickbait happened. The internet emerged and grew its own structure, which notably included clicks, likes, and subscribes as the metrics of journalistic success. And journalistic integrity went into a nose dive.

It suddenly was not successful to have an accurate, objective, honest and balanced headline. No, a writer needed a headline that was salacious, intriguing, or controversial enough to get people to click. Truth was lost in the rush to win clicks.

And this thread reflects that new reality. The ESPN article is very fair to Hendon Hooker. It puts him in the top 5%-10% of all FBS QBs in spite of a hot-and-cold first couple of years at Virginia Tech. Under those conditions, the lad's placement in tier 3 of that 25-tier ranking system clearly recognizes his 2021 success, and his exciting potential going into his senior season.

But because the Calhoun (what a moron) article headline says "egregiously low tier," the OP of this thread was fooled. And because he was fooled, this thread's title reads "ESPN hates him." And because of that title, a quarter of the people in this thread think Hendon has been disrespected. Like a boulder gaining momentum as it rolls downhill.

In the first 18 posts of this thread, I counted 5 folks (28%) who seem not to have actually read the article, certainly not with a functioning brain. @unfrozencvmanvol has been trying to make people understand what the article really says; I doubt many of them are spending much time following up and learning the truth.

They're simply not thinking for themselves. They're swallowing whatever bait is tossed in front of them.

This is such a good example of how society is being (willfully) misinformed these days.
I imagine many of the newspapermen of the 19th and early 20th centuries were pretty adept at crafting a salacious, attention-grabbing headline, but you make a good point. If we could collectively break the habit of sharing things based on headline alone society would be better off for it.
 
#43
#43
I imagine many of the newspapermen of the 19th and early 20th centuries were pretty adept at crafting a salacious, attention-grabbing headline, but you make a good point. If we could collectively break the habit of sharing things based on headline alone society would be better off for it.
Agreed.

In the 1800s, it was called "yellow journalism." We overcame that, with significant effort by the journalists as a professional body. As a result, the major news sources through much of the 20th century were much better at objective, factual headlines and content.

Today, it is called "clickbait." Hopefully we can have a 21st century resurgence of quality journalism to match the one of the past.
 
Last edited:
#46
#46
I have to laugh every time a see a post with "'ESPN hates UT or us" just because the article didn't say what the fan(s) thought they should. Not taking up for ESPN but I highly doubt the writer of that article did not decide, well I was going to put Hooker in tier 1 but since ESPN hates UT I have to rank him lower.

Most national writers of these type articles this time of year don't really know that much about some of the players. They only look at stats. Don't be so thin skinned, its just clickbait, as already pointed by the ones who actually read and understood the article.
 
#48
#48
It's always the same type of clickbait with Calhoun. He's a terrible 'writer' with so many ignorant takes. He rarely fact-checks and just stirs the pot for 'clicks'. Do yourself a favor and just don't read his trash style of 'journalism'.
 
#49
#49
To be fair, Tennessee hasn't done much the last 15 years to make ESPN not doubt us. In fact, ESPN's staff was the group that kept talking about Tennessee being back when Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt had semi-good teams in 2016 and 2019. So I don't think they are that unfair. We just need to win.
Yup. If you've been watching baseball they've been GUSHING over us.

It's as simple as that. Be great or risk being dogged. That's how it should be. Otherwise they'd be BSing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: unfrozencvmanvol
#50
#50
Why?
With guys listed ahead of Hooker who had less production? Who also werent in their first year witha team; who was jn the first year with a new coach?

At the end of November barring injury, i will be very surprised if Hooker's numbers arent better than all thr 2nd tier guys.

Let’s hope for our sake and his sake that they are better. But this is what whips me about college football more than any other sport…everyone cares way too much about subjective opinions and not enough about the results on the field.

That likely is born out of the fact that subjective opinions have always weighed too heavily in the game…even now, when a subjective group decides who gets to participate in the playoff.

And the ESPN machine starts the Heisman “campaigns” before the season even starts.
 

VN Store



Back
Top