JJ Peterson will shine for the vols defensively

#28
#28
1TallVolFan said:
It will be nice to have someone to push the other LBs for competition. Hopefully if anything it will bring the dog out in Butuli, Sapp, & DK Jr. That LB core has lacked intensity and aggressiveness since Maggitt and AJ left which to me was the heart of the defense. On that note it was nice to see Butuli chewing some @$$ in the O&W game.
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Jaylen Reeves Maybin was better than everyone you listed And he came a litte after those two.
 
#29
#29
Rifleman said:
My favorite thing watching his film?

Not the lightning speed sideline to sideline, not the explosive, fundamentally perfect, tackling, not the ability to get in the backfield and cause havoc.

No. It is the simple fact that when a blocker actually gets a body on him, he angrily and quickly defeats that block and comes off of it with speed and separation on his way to the ball carrier.

We have sure been missing that around here.
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This! This! This! Not stopping on contact! Gotta love it! The way the position is supposed to be played. I was always told Defensive Ends and Linebackers are all crazy.... And honestly you have to be if you want to be good because you have to just want to destroy the other person no matter what.
 
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#30
#30
orangebloodgmc said:
What's up with that, anyway? On UTSports.com our roster always listed heights and weights -- I know they were not necessarily current -- until now. :dunno:
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My guess is because Pruitt doesn't want competition knowing how big our boys are really getting. All of them have put on muscle and weight. Preparing for someone who was only 225 last year and is now 245 this year is completely different. Heck our Linebackers are starting to look jacked.

I only assume it is for that reason. Our O-Line is definitely bigger and more solid as was evident in the O&W game.

Even Wolf looked way bigger. Heck Jordan Allen went from big to way big lol....

So yeah anyways I think it's that. Hard to prepare for a team who is bigger, stronger, faster, and in better shape than they were a year ago. The product on the field during the WV game is going to be awesome IMHO.
 
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#31
#31
If JJ is gonna be an Olb for us he'll have to gain like 20 pounds if he is at 230.

An Olb in a 3-4 needs to be around 240-270
 
#32
#32
dcm3w said:
If JJ is gonna be an Olb for us he'll have to gain like 20 pounds if he is at 230.

An Olb in a 3-4 needs to be around 240-270
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In my experience it hasn't been an issue once guys are in a college program to put on 10 to 20 pounds of healthy weight in a few months. Heck he probably already has put on weight. I wouldn't worry about that.
 
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#34
#34
butchna said:
So just 10?
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OH wow you're a mathematical wizard. He could go for the "minimum" at 240 but why only play 10 pounds above your HS weight? Also, 230 is a guesstimated weight. 250 would probably be the ideal weight for him to play in this system in the SEC.
 
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#35
#35
dcm3w said:
OH wow you're a mathematical wizard. He could go for the "minimum" at 240 but why only play 10 pounds above your HS weight? Also, 230 is a guesstimated weight.
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It didn’t take “wizardry” to get to your declared minimum. :) Now you’re getting into psychology.
 
#40
#40
Darth_Shiveman said:
I'm a little hesitant to annoint him yet too because he'll have some pretty decent guys ahead of him.

But he's the highest rated LB we've signed in a long, long time. He's super athletic and has all the tools to be a great 3 down LB for us. I'm not sure that will translate to taking PT from DK Jr, Bituli, or Sapp in 2018, but if we have an injury or two, he'll probably get a shot.
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I don't believe we have to worry about him taking time from them.

He will be on the edge I think.
He's about 6'2 and change. Built a little thin at 220.

You watch his videos...his speed is fantastic and runs low with speed (Barnett). Physical too. He'll strike you

OLB Patterson 6'2 230
SLB Bituli 6'3 240
MLB Kirkland Jr 6'1" 230
OLB Johnson 6'3 245
 
#41
#41
LittleVol said:
I don't believe we have to worry about him taking time from them.

He will be on the edge I think.
He's about 6'2 and change. Built a little thin at 220.

You watch his videos...his speed is fantastic and runs low with speed (Barnett). Physical too. He'll strike you

OLB Patterson 6'2 230
SLB Bituli 6'3 240
MLB Kirkland Jr 6'1" 230
OLB Johnson 6'3 245
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Austin Smith?
 
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#42
#42
dcm3w said:
If JJ is gonna be an Olb for us he'll have to gain like 20 pounds if he is at 230.

An Olb in a 3-4 needs to be around 240-270
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Haha, maybe in the NFL, but 75% of the top OLB's there are under 270. The NFL average for a 3-4 OLB is only 262.83 pounds. Why does a Freshmen OLB have to put on 8 more pounds than the NFL average?
 
#43
#43
Burger said:
Austin Smith?
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Will contribute.

But this defense. This team needs new energy.

Peterson has type of raw explosion we haven't had since...Omar Gaither/Burnett

Austn Smith has all the physical tools...but he's never played with passion.
 
#44
#44
LittleVol said:
I don't believe we have to worry about him taking time from them.

He will be on the edge I think.
He's about 6'2 and change. Built a little thin at 220.

You watch his videos...his speed is fantastic and runs low with speed (Barnett). Physical too. He'll strike you

OLB Patterson 6'2 230
SLB Bituli 6'3 240
MLB Kirkland Jr 6'1" 230
OLB Johnson 6'3 245
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Patterson? Do you mean Taylor at OLB?


But yeah, I mostly agree here. I think JJ will get a chance to be a ST machine for us this year and be poised to be a starter in the middle after a year on campus. But if someone like Bituli or Kirkland goes down, that timeline may get moved up.
 
#45
#45
LittleVol said:
Will contribute.

But this defense. This team needs new energy.

Peterson has type of raw explosion we haven't had since...Omar Gaither/Burnett

Austn Smith has all the physical tools...but he's never played with passion.
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Austin Smith is one of the few linebackers that fits the new defense. If Pruitt is worth his weight in silver, Austin Smith will do better.
 
#46
#46
Rifleman said:
My favorite thing watching his film?

Not the lightning speed sideline to sideline, not the explosive, fundamentally perfect, tackling, not the ability to get in the backfield and cause havoc.

No. It is the simple fact that when a blocker actually gets a body on him, he angrily and quickly defeats that block and comes off of it with speed and separation on his way to the ball carrier.

We have sure been missing that around here.
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It's been so very long since UT had a good defense, so very very long, hope eternal for the beleaguered Vols:)
 
#47
#47
Burger said:
Austin Smith is one of the few linebackers that fits the new defense. If Pruitt is worth his weight in silver, Austin Smith will do better.
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It’s just hard to expect too much from Smith becausehe hasn’t been healthy since 2015 and has been a part of a terrible S&C program basically his whole time here.



His sophomore year he ate himself into a 4-3 DE and was buried on the depth chart there (partly due to injury). Last year he went down a couple weeks before the season started with a knee injury.


We haven’t seen him play football since he was a true freshman. No way to know what his upside is since we’ve seen so little of him the past few years. But in the O&W game he was behind Deandre Johnson at OLB and I don’t think anyone is taking time from Darrell Taylor there anytime soon either.
 
#48
#48
LittleVol said:
Austn Smith has all the physical tools...but he's never played with passion.
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This is a dumb argument.

We haven’t seen Taylor since he was a freshman in 2015. He showed a lot of promise that season. He’s been MIA since because of injuries (and weight gain in 2016).

Edit: Smith, not Taylor.
 
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#49
#49
Darth_Shiveman said:
This is a dumb argument.

We haven’t seen Taylor since he was a freshman in 2015. He showed a lot of promise that season. He’s been MIA since because of injuries (and weight gain in 2016).
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Hey dummy...You mean Smith? Promise amounts to unfulfilled potential.

Even when he was healthy he wasn't creating a lot of buzz. Just that he looked and moved like a college ready linebacker.


Kirkland as a freshman jumped out at you. AJ Johnson, Jaylen Reeves Maybin both were hard to miss as freshman.

Smith is "tailor" made for our defense in regards to his size and speed. But if he were a potential star we'd know it by now...

JJ will be. And yeah..I'm also putting D Johnson over Taylor.
 
#50
#50
LittleVol said:
Hey dummy...You mean Smith? Promise amounts to unfulfilled potential.

Even when he was healthy he wasn't creating a lot of buzz. Just that he looked and moved like a college ready linebacker


Kirkland as a freshman jumped out at you. AJ Johnson, Jaylen Reeves Maybin both were hard to miss as freshman. Smith is "tailor" made for our defense in regards to his size and speed. But if he were a potential star we'd know it by now...
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Yep! I did mean Smith. My bad.

Anyway, disregarding the unneccessary personal attack you started this off with, this is definitely a not-dumb argument. Good job! Much more substantive than "he's never played with passion," which is a lazy, subjective, and/or flat out incorrect observation.



And yeah..I'm also putting D Johnson over Taylor.
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That's....bold. Very unlikely to happen. But hey we can't get them all right! *cough* Maleik Gray at RB *cough*
 
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