Ideal Depth Chart when fully healthy

[FBtime]

Shy is still not 100%, Alexis is not reinstated, and we know Butch never lets freshmen start at the beginning of the year. By December when we play for the SEC title, I hope this is the depth chart:

QB - Dobbs/Dormady/Guarantano
RB - Hurd/Kamara/Kelly

WR1 - P. Williams/Jennings/B. Johnson
WR2 - Malone/George/Callaway
Slot - J. Smith/Byrd/L. Williams
TE - Wolf/Croom

LT - Richmond/Kendricks
LG - Robertson/Boulware
C - Thomas/Jones
RG - Wiesman/Jones
RT - Hall/Kendricks

DE - Barnett/Phillips/Mixon
DT - Tuttle/Kongbo/A. Johnson
DT - McKenzie/Vickers/O'Brien
DE - Vereen/D. Taylor/A. Smith

WLB - Reeves-Maybin/Sapp/McDowell
MLB - Kirkland Jr./Jumper/Bryant
SLB - Bituli/Bynum/Bates

CB - Sutton/Buchanan/Henderson
CB - Martin/Moseley/Osborne
Nickel - Gaulden/Foreman
Dime - Foreman/Abernathy
FS - Warrior/Abernathy/Griffin
SS - Kelly Jr./Berry

Amazing how LOADED our roster is. :thumbsup:

Amazing how LOADED and YOUNG our roster is. :thumbsup:

 

[BigOrangeVols]

I think O'Brien stays in the 2 deep instead of Vickers. He may even start bc I doubt Shy is going to make an impact this year.

 

[SupremeVol]

Kinda surprised that Dillon Bates is third string. Always thought he would be a much better player.

 

[butchna]

Kinda surprised that Dillon Bates is third string. Always thought he would be a much better player.

On this team? Third team isn't a bad thing...see Darrell Taylor. It becomes a matter of WHO DO YOU SIT?

 

[G-Vol]

You couple our defensive players with a DC like Shoop at the helm, I PREDICT PAIN!

Shoop is exactly what was needed to take our talented defense and make them nasty. I like what he said about punching the other team in the face first.

No more Mr. Nice Guy. The Orange are gonna make the other teams see RED!

 

[tonybologna]

Not a chance. He's a tweener without a position right now. He's already been recruited over. Literally have not heard or read one word about Butcher being anywhere near the depth chart or having any impact on Team 120. I'm not even sure he's healthy. No disrespect to the kid, but I think he's in no man's land right now and I don't see how he's gonna get on the field.

I said in bold (once fully recovered). Yes he's been injured. I figured that you already knew that too. He's getting back close to healthy though. He's probably about 70%-80% now but still not full strength.

This is why you haven't heard anything about him from practice updates. H was a 4* recruit. We have to remember that too. He has the skillset to help us. He just has to stay healthy just like Dillion Bates.

Plus, Butcher had the off the field incident before his freshman season too that placed him in Butch's doghouse as well.

 

[avolation]

So I'm guessing the Hall injury solidifies Richmond as the LT and Kendrick as the RT for the time being. Does Jack Jones get more reps at Tackle now to provide a backup who has game experience? IMO I don't love Kendrick at RT but he is by far the most experienced lineman to fill that spot.

Side note, anybody heard anything about how Ryan Johnson is progressing? I've read good things about Niehaus and Tatum but I thought the consensus was that they were probably redshirts.

 

[Biopsyman]

So I'm guessing the Hall injury solidifies Richmond as the LT and Kendrick as the RT for the time being. Does Jack Jones get more reps at Tackle now to provide a backup who has game experience? IMO I don't love Kendrick at RT but he is by far the most experienced lineman to fill that spot.

Side note, anybody heard anything about how Ryan Johnson is progressing? I've read good things about Niehaus and Tatum but I thought the consensus was that they were probably redshirts.

Kendrick is not a Tackle... Not good

 

[Other_Guy]

Amazing how LOADED and YOUNG our roster is. :thumbsup:

Exactly I can't understand why people keep saying "We better win this year cuz next year will be tough". Go look at the 2 deep. Even with Hurd Kamara and Barnett leaving early, so much is coming back. Next year could be pretty good too if this year pans out.

 

[LittleVol]

Exactly I can't understand why people keep saying "We better win this year cuz next year will be tough". Go look at the 2 deep. Even with Hurd Kamara and Barnett leaving early, so much is coming back. Next year could be pretty good too if this year pans out.

Next year we'll be better.

Team 121 will be a juggernaut.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Exactly I can't understand why people keep saying "We better win this year cuz next year will be tough". Go look at the 2 deep. Even with Hurd Kamara and Barnett leaving early, so much is coming back. Next year could be pretty good too if this year pans out.

The major difference is Dobbs.

Folks that think we'll be just as good next year without him are not valuing his importance to this offense properly. He makes everything possible for us offensively. Highly unlikely Dormady is capable or Guarantano ready to fully replace Dobbs.

Now this is not to say that it's impossible for us to win it all in 2017 without Dobbs, Hurd, Kamara, Barnett, JRM, and Sutton. I mean we did win without Peyton in 98. But that team needed a lot of luck. And like 98, if we win it all in 2017, we would need lots of luck.

2016 may not be our ONLY chance to win a national title in the near future. But it is without a doubt our BEST chance.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Starting to remind me of the "It's Peyton's last year, now or never!" talk back about 18-19 years ago. I mean, the year PRIOR to the year we won a national championship with Peyton's backup Tee Martin at the helm.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Starting to remind me of the "It's Peyton's last year, now or never!" talk back about 18-19 years ago. I mean, the year PRIOR to the year we won a national championship with Peyton's backup Tee Martin at the helm.

That was a magical year with lots of luck going our way.

I'm not sure it's wise to bank on miracles to win a title.

We need to take advantage of our time. And 2016 is that time. No more talking about next year.

It's 2016 or bust.

 

[LittleVol]

That was a magical year with lots of luck going our way.

I'm not sure it's wise to bank on miracles to win a title.

We need to take advantage of our time. And 2016 is that time. No more talking about next year.

It's 2016 or bust.

We'll be better in 2017.

Just look at the roster!

We'll finally have a passing game. Experience all over the lines.

Secondary will be stout.

Preston and Josh Malone might put Hunter and Rogers type numbers.

We might win every game we play for the next two years....

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

We'll be better in 2017.

Just look at the roster!

We'll finally have a passing game. Experience all over the lines.

Secondary will be stout.

Preston and Josh Malone might put Hunter and Rogers type numbers.

We might win every game we play for the next two years....

No Dobbs.

No Hurd.

No Kamara.

No Barnett.

No JRM.

No Sutton.


Now tell me how we get better after losing our 6 best players?

This sounds as delusional as Florida fans thinking their defense will be better this year after losing 5 starters to the NFL draft.

 

[Nasavol]

We'll be better in 2017.

Just look at the roster!

We'll finally have a passing game. Experience all over the lines.

Secondary will be stout.

Preston and Josh Malone might put Hunter and Rogers type numbers.

We might win every game we play for the next two years....

This is why we may be even better next year.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

This is why we may be even better next year.

But we could be much worse running the ball.

Dobbs, Hurd, and Kamara are arguably the most talented trio in college football. You don't just lose all that talent and get better.

And FYI running the ball at an elite level coincides more with winning than throwing for alot of yards. See Alabama vs Texas A&M every year.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

No Dobbs.

No Hurd.

No Kamara.

No Barnett.

No JRM.

No Sutton.


Now tell me how we get better after losing our 6 best players?

This sounds as delusional as Florida fans thinking their defense will be better this year after losing 5 starters to the NFL draft.

Alabama loses stud players to the NFL every year. Lets see how OSU does after losing all that talent to the NFL.

Did you think that all of those guys listed would be that good here when they were recruited? I highly doubt it.
We should be at the least just as good in 2017. If we are not, then there are some glaring problems.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Alabama loses stud players to the NFL every year. Lets see how OSU does after losing all that talent to the NFL.

Did you think that all of those guys listed would be that good here when they were recruited? I highly doubt it.
We should be at the least just as good in 2017. If we are not, then there are some glaring problems.

The issue here is not whether we can still be a good team or even a contender in 2017. I think the 2017 Vols should be very good and potential title contender.

I just don't see how they can get better after losing so many of their best players. Ohio State can still contend for the title this season. They did not get better after losing 5 first round picks.

We won't be better in 2017 after losing our 6 best players in 2016.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

I said in bold (once fully recovered). Yes he's been injured. I figured that you already knew that too. He's getting back close to healthy though. He's probably about 70%-80% now but still not full strength.

This is why you haven't heard anything about him from practice updates. H was a 4* recruit. We have to remember that too. He has the skillset to help us. He just has to stay healthy just like Dillion Bates.

Plus, Butcher had the off the field incident before his freshman season too that placed him in Butch's doghouse as well.

Just highlighting the things none of actually know for sure and you have no source for. Thanks!

 

[gordonr24]

The fact that no argument has broken out on this thread speaks to how awesome this line will be. I think it's impossible for anyone to be negative about something that is so amazingly perfect. All this talent, teamed with Shoop as their leader. May God have mercy on our opponents souls...

The DL rotation is what I am most excited about with this team. All of the great Alabama teams have rotated 10+ guys on the DL. We'll be rotating at the very least 10 and at most 14.

 

[tonybologna]

Just highlighting the things none of actually know for sure and you have no source for. Thanks!

You like to respond to my posts an awful lot don't you? Most of the time it's with serious aggravation to it too. How about trying to pick on somebody else for a while? Thanks!

 

[Biopsyman]

This is why recruiting matters.. Cant have a bad or off year

 

[Nasavol]

But we could be much worse running the ball.

Dobbs, Hurd, and Kamara are arguably the most talented trio in college football. You don't just lose all that talent and get better.

And FYI running the ball at an elite level coincides more with winning than throwing for alot of yards. See Alabama vs Texas A&M every year.

In the same vein you could say Look at Alabama v Ole Miss.

Lot easier to generate yards on the ground when your passing game is clicking (see TN with Bray, Hunter, et, al.)

 

[Vols_14]

What's the eta on Evan Berry