‘23 LA CB Jordan Matthews (Tennessee)

[jakez4ut]

I think there's plenty of time left in this transfer cycle and the next, before we need to pass judgement on our portaling.....

 

[UTvol1fn]

I think there's plenty of time left in this transfer cycle and the next, before we need to pass judgement on our portaling.....

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

They haven’t really portal’d much though. We had looming NCAA baggage last year. We will get a better feel on how they treat the portal this year.

That NCAA baggage is way overblown. We took 5 guys via the portal on scholarship. 2 panned out, 1 showed flashes at times, 1 never played, and 1 lasted a week. The staff simply hasn’t done a good job in that regard. That’s not a slight on the staff in general, but pretending there isn’t an issue there is just people lying to themselves

 

[Nuctech777]

That NCAA baggage is way overblown. We took 5 guys via the portal on scholarship. 2 panned out, 1 showed flashes at times, 1 never played, and 1 lasted a week. The staff simply hasn’t done a good job in that regard. That’s not a slight on the staff in general, but pretending there isn’t an issue there is just people lying to themselves

Drawing conclusions based on a very limited sample size does not make it statistically significant. All I’m saying is let’s wait and see before drawing definitive conclusions.

 

[sjt18]

That NCAA baggage is way overblown. We took 5 guys via the portal on scholarship. 2 panned out, 1 showed flashes at times, 1 never played, and 1 lasted a week. The staff simply hasn’t done a good job in that regard. That’s not a slight on the staff in general, but pretending there isn’t an issue there is just people lying to themselves

No. That's you being ignorant while thinking yourself an expert on the subject. You are the one "lying to yourself" about what you know on this.

The portal is part of an overall strategy. There aren't that many players in the portal certain to bring value. UT doesn't need to lower their bar so you can feel good about their use of the portal.

 

[sjt18]

Drawing conclusions based on a very limited sample size does not make it statistically significant. All I’m saying is let’s wait and see before drawing definitive conclusions.

You are probably wasting time. I'm kind of a glutton for arguing with guys like him. He thinks he knows a lot more than he does... and then judges the staff and others based on his self-presumed omniscience.

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

No. That's you being ignorant while thinking yourself an expert on the subject. You are the one "lying to yourself" about what you know on this.

The portal is part of an overall strategy. There aren't that many players in the portal certain to bring value. UT doesn't need to lower their bar so you can feel good about their use of the portal.

Did you watch our defense this past year? The corner from Va and Cincinnati would start here from day 1. Meanwhile the staff is out pushing for more WRs when we already have 2 starters plus Squirrel returning

 

[MarcoVol]

Did you watch our defense this past year? The corner from Va and Cincinnati would start here from day 1. Meanwhile the staff is out pushing for more WRs when we already have 2 starters plus Squirrel returning

Defense wasn’t as terrible as you say.

23.5 ppg is pretty dang good, especially when your offense leads the country in scoring

 

[Volfan39]

Did you watch our defense this past year? The corner from Va and Cincinnati would start here from day 1. Meanwhile the staff is out pushing for more WRs when we already have 2 starters plus Squirrel returning

I get what your saying but I think you are over valuing the portal. Look at the teams in the playoffs. They are all built through high school recruiting. Georgia and Michigan barely have any transfer support. Tcu is all built through high school recruiting I think(not so sure about this one), and Ohio State has like one transfer of note. So I would rather have our freshman play next year struggle at times and get experience for the 2024 season when we should be hitting our peak with talent and experience.

 

[volsagain]

Defense wasn’t as terrible as you say.

23.5 ppg is pretty dang good, especially when your offense leads the country in scoring

One absolutely horrible game. It still amazing only 23.5 ppg giving up considering how fast we score and the number of possessions the other team had . D still needs to get better pass rush and db play.

 

[LouderVol]

That NCAA baggage is way overblown. We took 5 guys via the portal on scholarship. 2 panned out, 1 showed flashes at times, 1 never played, and 1 lasted a week. The staff simply hasn’t done a good job in that regard. That’s not a slight on the staff in general, but pretending there isn’t an issue there is just people lying to themselves

What success rate do you want? 60% seems pretty good.

 

[RudyVol]

We already landed a promising looking RB in the portal right? That is a position of need but admittedly not the largest need.

 

[cncchris33]

We already landed a promising looking RB in the portal right? That is a position of need but admittedly not the largest need.

We did?

 

[825VOL]

Here is the issue some of you are missing regarding the portal. We have 6 good prospects set to sign early in just a few days. Even if you love a CB from the portal, why bring him in at this moment? You need to wait. There is no reason to try and bring someone in now and potentially scare off the recruits we have set to commit. You know other schools would immediately call them and use the portal CB as a reason they need to look elsewhere. Get the current crop of kids signed, then look at the portal.

 

[butchna]

We already landed a promising looking RB in the portal right? That is a position of need but admittedly not the largest need.

No

 

[sjt18]

Did you watch our defense this past year?

Yes. That still doesn't make the portal the lone or even obvious solution. And the jury is still out as to how much of the struggles were talent and how much are the DC.

The corner from Va and Cincinnati would start here from day 1.

Well, since UT finished the season with safeties at both CB spots... probably. The Vols weren't deep then Burrell goes out before the season even started, Hadden played hurt, Rucker was hurt,...

As for those particular CB's, maybe they fit the culture but maybe they don't. Maybe the competition Cincy played and UVA for that matter might not tell exactly how they'd look vs the SEC. Maybe they had a destination in mind before entering the portal.

And remember, that's two guys who MIGHT be able to help. Where's the actual cutoff. Two CB's with about 60 P-5 schools looking to add CB's... not great odds.

Meanwhile the staff is out pushing for more WRs when we already have 2 starters plus Squirrel returning

Some players are worth pursuing. Others are not.... and "needs" don't determine the quality of players available in the portal.

Again, you keep talking out your rear. I don't claim to have "answers". Every possible answer introduces a new question that we as fans have absolutely NO way of knowing. You are just too arrogant to accept that reality... or that Heupel and the staff know more about what they're doing than YOU do..

 

[sjt18]

Defense wasn’t as terrible as you say.

23.5 ppg is pretty dang good, especially when your offense leads the country in scoring

The D is a problem. That clown doesn't KNOW the solutions any more than Grandpa's goat... but the D couldn't consistently stop opponents and had a total collapse vs USCe.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

The previous staff landed Hooker. Not Heupel, and I’m not talking about our offense. I know it will always be good. We seem to be neglecting the defensive side of the ball in the portal. Which is a recipe for disaster next year with Milton at QB. There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever why South Carolina and Arkansas did a far better job in the portal than we did last season. We have massive holes in our defense that need to be addressed ASAP that won’t be accomplished with true freshmen

Dude the portal just opened a week ago and here you are saying we are neglecting it. You have no clue who this staff is targeting or will target. This is as ridiculous as your constant dragging of Christian Conyers. You think he sucks. You are not a Felton evaluator. You are not a D1 coach. You are just like all of us and let’s face it if we fans recruited our players the team would like our be terrible.

Did you think we were gonna fill our portal needs in one week? Jesus.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Did you watch our defense this past year? The corner from Va and Cincinnati would start here from day 1. Meanwhile the staff is out pushing for more WRs when we already have 2 starters plus Squirrel returning

When will you believe the Heup?

 

[T2P_Priceless]

You are probably wasting time. I'm kind of a glutton for arguing with guys like him. He thinks he knows a lot more than he does... and then judges the staff and others based on his self-presumed omniscience.

our team wouldn’t be where it is this year without the portal

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

That NCAA baggage is way overblown. We took 5 guys via the portal on scholarship. 2 panned out, 1 showed flashes at times, 1 never played, and 1 lasted a week. The staff simply hasn’t done a good job in that regard. That’s not a slight on the staff in general, but pretending there isn’t an issue there is just people lying to themselves

Lyn-J Dixon is the only transfer we've taken that hasn't helped make our team better.

 

[BelieveTheHeup93]

Lyn-J Dixon is the only transfer we've taken that hasn't helped make our team better.

Turrentine hasn’t done much either

 

[JRVOL11]

Turrentine hasn’t done much either

hasn’t been given the chance, they should have let him play some this year.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

Turrentine hasn’t done much either

Depth.

 

[Vol737]

hasn’t been given the chance, they should have let him play some this year.

He played some. I think he may have been hurt part of the season, but don't recall for sure.