Hats off to Darrin Kirkland Jr.........

#28
#28
Kirkland may be all SEC as soon as next year if he continues to progress, he has such a bright future at UT and he seem to love to the hit ball carriers
Go Vols
 
#30
#30
madbamahater said:
Appreciation thread: Kirkland was huge last night. He was all over the field and is really becoming a ball hawk and leader of this defense as a freshman.

Can't wait to see how well he developes in his roll as the leader of the defense.

Super excited about his future here.

JRM has truly been a great mentor to him and exampled great leadership for Kirkland.
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He has the system down and now you can see the talent he has we got us a linebacker for the next few years, well H@LL we got a top DEFENSE FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS, the more i think about it we got our self a top 10 team the next several years.:rock:
 
#31
#31
DK Jr has been a great addition. Really appreciate his work to get on the field and his development once he did.

Is it too much to hope for him and JRM to be together next season?
 
#33
#33
Glad he's not playing for Michigan! lol

He's a very talented and smart kid.

I also like what I have seen from Austin Smith and when he was healthy Quarte Sapp.
 
#34
#34
I'll slow down before comparing him to Kiner, Hacksaw,Wilson,JRM and Raynoch...
But his future is very bright and can't be more impressed by his gradual improvement over the season... As he has gotten better, so has the defense. I don't think that's a coincidence, it allows JRM to free lance a little more,make more plays by not having to help him out and knowing that DK will pick up his slack if he gets too aggressive...
 
#36
#36
As he matures you'll rarely see him out of position.. NOT being out of position makes a defensive player look fast..

It makes a fast defensive player (Kirkland) look ELITE!
 
#38
#38
Cam getting the pick, KMac with the sack, Kirkland grabbing up that fumble and JRM spearing the RB on that screen play...defense played a great game and its possible that we have all of these beasts back next season.
 
#39
#39
When you get good play upfront it makes the secondary look much better. Defense will be very good next year. Offense will need to be better balanced with more accuracy passing.
 
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#40
#40
fade route said:
He's worked hard to take away that starting role from Jumper
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#41
#41
triad280 said:
I'll slow down before comparing him to Kiner, Hacksaw,Wilson,JRM and Raynoch...
But his future is very bright and can't be more impressed by his gradual improvement over the season... As he has gotten better, so has the defense. I don't think that's a coincidence, it allows JRM to free lance a little more,make more plays by not having to help him out and knowing that DK will pick up his slack if he gets too aggressive...
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JRM wasn't starting as a true freshman. What DK is doing is pretty special for a true freshman.
 
#42
#42
madbamahater said:
Appreciation thread: Kirkland was huge last night. He was all over the field and is really becoming a ball hawk and leader of this defense as a freshman.

Can't wait to see how well he developes in his roll as the leader of the defense.

Super excited about his future here.

JRM has truly been a great mentor to him and exampled great leadership for Kirkland.
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Really wish he would have been in against Oklahoma
 
#43
#43
McDad said:
DK Jr has been a great addition. Really appreciate his work to get on the field and his development once he did.

Is it too much to hope for him and JRM to be together next season?
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JRM doesn't have much of a chance of being a high draft pick. Likely a 5th rounder type of guy. His size is really lacking for the NFL level and putting on weight to help meet that size requirement could kill some of his speed, which is his best asset in terms of physical attributes.

On the other hand, I don't think there's much JRM can do to make his draft stock rise any more, either. So you can argue he stays because being a 5th round pick isn't enough to entice him to miss out on his senior year, or you can argue since there's no chance to improve his draft stock, he should just go now and avoid any chance of an injury next year.

So yeah, there's definitely a chance we have them both back next year. JRM seems to really love the team and the experience, so I'd lean towards him staying, but if he were to leave I wouldn't blame him in the slightest given his situation.
 
#44
#44
RiseToTheTop said:
kirk and jrm are incredible together. Only going to get better. Austin Smith even got in there on that goaline series where we took it to 4th down and Lock barely got in the endzone. Smith was in there on that series.
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I'm glad you mentioned Austin. He also played alot in the 4th quarter in Weathered's position as the spy/rush linebacker when we went to a 3 down lineman look.

I think Austin Smith and Darrin Kirkland will be all-sec players before they're done.
 
#45
#45
QuickSmurf said:
JRM wasn't starting as a true freshman. What DK is doing is pretty special for a true freshman.
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Neither did Al Wilson...and I wouldn't place AJ Johnson in that category and he did start as a freshman. I thought he was a very solid player who made a lot of tackles because of poor team support upfront. He never made a lot of game changing plays and wasn't great in pass coverage. So IMO,not an all time great. I Didn't say DK's play or his improvement wasn't special as a freshman,but I'm not ready to place him in the category of some of the best LB's in UT's history because of his play the last few games...and I do place JRM in that category. Do I love DK's trajectory, absolutely. IMO, It's just a little early for that conversation
 
#48
#48
Titans4Vols said:
JRM doesn't have much of a chance of being a high draft pick. Likely a 5th rounder type of guy. His size is really lacking for the NFL level and putting on weight to help meet that size requirement could kill some of his speed, which is his best asset in terms of physical attributes.

On the other hand, I don't think there's much JRM can do to make his draft stock rise any more, either. So you can argue he stays because being a 5th round pick isn't enough to entice him to miss out on his senior year, or you can argue since there's no chance to improve his draft stock, he should just go now and avoid any chance of an injury next year.

So yeah, there's definitely a chance we have them both back next year. JRM seems to really love the team and the experience, so I'd lean towards him staying, but if he were to leave I wouldn't blame him in the slightest given his situation.
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I recall some game commentators calling JRM a tweener. Too small for NFL LB and too slow for safety.

I hope he stays but I would like to see him get a shot at strong safety in the NFL.
 
#49
#49
McDad said:
I recall some game commentators calling JRM a tweener. Too small for NFL LB and too slow for safety.

I hope he stays but I would like to see him get a shot at strong safety in the NFL.
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He's going to be a LB in the NFL...Derrick Brooks and Jessie Armstead were practically replicas of JRM...and they DOMINATED in the pros. Reverse Hurd argument. :glare:
 
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#50
#50
Makes you wonder had he never been injured earlier this year and Jumper had not been thrown in just because of his booster family would we have done better earlier in the season?
 
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