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Obviously NSD was somewhat of a disappointment. However, we got three 4* prospects to sign within a 24 hour period leading up to NSD. I'll take that everyday of the week. Let's break it down.
1. In filling needs, the staff gets a B+. I can't give them an A because while we signed five defensive lineman, six would been the best number and we really could have used an impact DT for the future from a freshman. Still, you get a very impressive offensive line haul, had two solid backs, and absolutely stacked the defensive backfield talent. Very good job here. With Maggitt looking like a defensive end (Dooley said that's what he'll be), we also are weak at linebacker, so that hurts. We could have used four LB's in this class.
2. Did we get enough elite prospects? I don't know about elite, but talent won't be an issue. As milohimself said earlier, this is a great first full class. I see four freshman (Richardson, Johnson, Clear, and Lane) fighting for a starting spot, while two JUCO's will start (Couch and Moore). Can't really complain here. Right now, I see 5-6 potential AA's type players. Not a bad ring up.
3. When you sign five lineman, and about four of them had very good offer lists, that's about as solid as it goes. This was the most impressive job the staff pulled position-wise.
4. How did Dooley represent the program? Very well. After the Eric MaClain situation (which was overblown anyways), the staff was perfect in how they handled themselves. The VFL program might turn into the best recruiting tool we have. A lot of kids were sold on it and still left an impression on recruits we missed. The staff handled itself with class, and I thought signed some good players. You'll take that most of the time.
5. We got lucky though in a sense. The SEC East did not do well. USCe didn't have the same success as the last two years, the coaching change rocked Florida, and Georgia only finished 7th. And finishing with the 5th best class in the SEC in our situation, I believe, is not too shabby. Hopefully this improves.
6. Losing Lamar Dawson hurts, but don't overreact. Could we have used Dawson? Of course, don't be silly. Dawson would have helped us with our depth, and has a lot of talent. He might have competed for a starting spot, but still the linebacker class looks pretty decent. If we play more 5 defensive back sets as it seems, then this isn't as big of a loss as originally thought.
7. But losing Gabe Wright really, really hurts. He would have helped out with depth from day one, and has the pototential to be a special player. It was going to be a shocker if we got Jernigan, but losing Wright to another SEC team sucks. We were right there at the end, just couldn't pull him so close to home. This one stings.
8. Sleeper of the class: Jordan Williams. The staff is absolutely stocked to have him, and Florida tried late to sway him. Watch his highlight film. Impressive. He might be the next 10+ sacks guy at Tennessee and elite pass rusher, something we've missed dearly. Watch for him to play from the get go to help our DE depth and make some noise.
9. So, where does this leave the team? In a good place. Like I said before, this will really help the 2012-2013 depth. The staff did very well in getting a solid 2 deep for the future, and working towards a good 3 deep in a year or two. We will have more depth with solid players (while young) for the first time since 2007. We don't know how much "star power" will be on the team, but I feel confident saying around 20 players will make a good impact in some form while at UT. Out of 27 players, that's a good percentage (74%).
10. Final wrap-up: If the staff could have pulled Wright and/or Jernigan, I think an A would have been appropriate. But not filling the defensive line position is going to hurt the next two years. Passing on C.J. Johnson & Kent Turene while putting all our eggs in Lamar Dawson doesn't seem very smart at the moment, especially since we took a couple commits that we could have used somewhere else. A lesser gripe is that we might have taken some recruit commitments too early, and they would have come here anyways. I don't believe we would have passed on 3-4 guys if we didn't have a couple guys committed so close to NSD already, but it's always good to have a potential numbers problem. The staff did well in filling needs with quality players, and hopefully we can do even better for 2012. Late Edit: I also wanted to point out that Dooley did a very good job deciding to spend as much time with the players and wait for visits till the end of the year. We see why he did this with the VFL program. It worked perfectly in my eyes. I was highly of critical of this positioning, but totally changed my mind. I love this idea.
Final Grade: B+
1. In filling needs, the staff gets a B+. I can't give them an A because while we signed five defensive lineman, six would been the best number and we really could have used an impact DT for the future from a freshman. Still, you get a very impressive offensive line haul, had two solid backs, and absolutely stacked the defensive backfield talent. Very good job here. With Maggitt looking like a defensive end (Dooley said that's what he'll be), we also are weak at linebacker, so that hurts. We could have used four LB's in this class.
2. Did we get enough elite prospects? I don't know about elite, but talent won't be an issue. As milohimself said earlier, this is a great first full class. I see four freshman (Richardson, Johnson, Clear, and Lane) fighting for a starting spot, while two JUCO's will start (Couch and Moore). Can't really complain here. Right now, I see 5-6 potential AA's type players. Not a bad ring up.
3. When you sign five lineman, and about four of them had very good offer lists, that's about as solid as it goes. This was the most impressive job the staff pulled position-wise.
4. How did Dooley represent the program? Very well. After the Eric MaClain situation (which was overblown anyways), the staff was perfect in how they handled themselves. The VFL program might turn into the best recruiting tool we have. A lot of kids were sold on it and still left an impression on recruits we missed. The staff handled itself with class, and I thought signed some good players. You'll take that most of the time.
5. We got lucky though in a sense. The SEC East did not do well. USCe didn't have the same success as the last two years, the coaching change rocked Florida, and Georgia only finished 7th. And finishing with the 5th best class in the SEC in our situation, I believe, is not too shabby. Hopefully this improves.
6. Losing Lamar Dawson hurts, but don't overreact. Could we have used Dawson? Of course, don't be silly. Dawson would have helped us with our depth, and has a lot of talent. He might have competed for a starting spot, but still the linebacker class looks pretty decent. If we play more 5 defensive back sets as it seems, then this isn't as big of a loss as originally thought.
7. But losing Gabe Wright really, really hurts. He would have helped out with depth from day one, and has the pototential to be a special player. It was going to be a shocker if we got Jernigan, but losing Wright to another SEC team sucks. We were right there at the end, just couldn't pull him so close to home. This one stings.
8. Sleeper of the class: Jordan Williams. The staff is absolutely stocked to have him, and Florida tried late to sway him. Watch his highlight film. Impressive. He might be the next 10+ sacks guy at Tennessee and elite pass rusher, something we've missed dearly. Watch for him to play from the get go to help our DE depth and make some noise.
9. So, where does this leave the team? In a good place. Like I said before, this will really help the 2012-2013 depth. The staff did very well in getting a solid 2 deep for the future, and working towards a good 3 deep in a year or two. We will have more depth with solid players (while young) for the first time since 2007. We don't know how much "star power" will be on the team, but I feel confident saying around 20 players will make a good impact in some form while at UT. Out of 27 players, that's a good percentage (74%).
10. Final wrap-up: If the staff could have pulled Wright and/or Jernigan, I think an A would have been appropriate. But not filling the defensive line position is going to hurt the next two years. Passing on C.J. Johnson & Kent Turene while putting all our eggs in Lamar Dawson doesn't seem very smart at the moment, especially since we took a couple commits that we could have used somewhere else. A lesser gripe is that we might have taken some recruit commitments too early, and they would have come here anyways. I don't believe we would have passed on 3-4 guys if we didn't have a couple guys committed so close to NSD already, but it's always good to have a potential numbers problem. The staff did well in filling needs with quality players, and hopefully we can do even better for 2012. Late Edit: I also wanted to point out that Dooley did a very good job deciding to spend as much time with the players and wait for visits till the end of the year. We see why he did this with the VFL program. It worked perfectly in my eyes. I was highly of critical of this positioning, but totally changed my mind. I love this idea.
Final Grade: B+
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