Merk is entering the portal

#177
#177
Rocky Top T said:
Peyton started because of injuries. Peyton also didn't play 9 conference games and the conference is much stronger as a whole now
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Folks trying to rewrite history. Peyton was plan C or D. They never had any intention on playing either freshmen with a healthy Colquitt and Helton backing up.
 
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#181
#181
I love everybody asking about Peyton Manning like he was absolutely stellar as a freshman lol. We don’t have the time to wait on a guy to have an ok first season with us going 6-6. In today’s college football it’s win NOW not slowly build up to a 10-2 season. We gotta go get a QB that can put us in position to be 10-2 next year!
 
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#182
#182
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
They were older guys when they arrived. Heupel's success with young guys is...... Nico?

Developing from scratch is the question and we don't have an answer yet about his success at UT.
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Here's a thought. Maybe QBs tend to understand football more as upperclassmen than as underclassmen and Heupel has only had 1 decent opportunity and didn't get a chance to develop them to be an upperclassman.
 
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#183
#183
CNeagleVolFan said:
I love everybody asking about Peyton Manning like he was absolutely stellar as a freshman lol. We don’t have the time to wait on a guy to have an ok first season with us going 6-6. In today’s college football it’s win NOW not slowly build up to a 10-2 season. We gotta go get a QB that can put us in position to be 10-2 next year!
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They're going to blame Heupel regardless of what choice he makes. If we dont get a portal QB and have a bad year, they'll say we should've got one. If we do, then he's cheating a Freshman QB and doesn't know how to develop.
 
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#184
#184
Vol865 said:
Here's a thought. Maybe QBs tend to understand football more as upperclassmen than as underclassmen and Heupel has only had 1 decent opportunity and didn't get a chance to develop them to be an upperclassman.
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Yes, Heupel has had success at other stops with QBs and here with older QBs.

The question is: how long is getting portal QBs and coaching them up sustainable vs developing them and being "QB U?" That WAS the thought when Heupel got here: His offense is PERFECT for dual threat QBs! We're going to see QBs DYING for him to develop them!

We've seen staff at UT develop young talent in other positions. I don't think it's too much to ask that our highly talented, highly recruited QB prospects are developed by our highly touted QB developing HC AND want to stay at UT?
 
#185
#185
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
Yes, Heupel has had success at other stops with QBs and here with older QBs.

The question is: how long is getting portal QBs and coaching them up sustainable vs developing them and being "QB U?" That WAS the thought when Heupel got here: His offense is PERFECT for dual threat QBs! We're going to see QBs DYING for him to develop them!

We've seen staff at UT develop young talent in other positions. I don't think it's too much to ask that our highly talented, highly recruited QB prospects are developed by our highly touted QB developing HC AND want to stay at UT?
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Development doesn't mean being a finished product as a Freshman or Sophomore.

You do what gives your team the best chance to win. Merk would not have won 8 games. GMac wasn't ready due to his size more than anything.
 
#186
#186
Vol865 said:
Development doesn't mean being a finished product as a Freshman or Sophomore.

You do what gives your team the best chance to win. Merk would not have won 8 games. GMac wasn't ready due to his size more than anything.
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No argument that Heupel's job is to win and that putting the best QB on the field is his job BUT as I said, we've seen position coaches recruiting and developing in house.

I don't think it's wrong to expect our HC and very talented QB developer Josh Heupel to actually develop talent in house WE CAN USE.
 
#189
#189
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
No argument that Heupel's job is to win and that putting the best QB on the field is his job BUT as I said, we've seen position coaches recruiting and developing in house.

I don't think it's wrong to expect our HC and very talented QB developer Josh Heupel to actually develop talent in house WE CAN USE.
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Sure. I just haven't seen anything yet that suggests that isn't happening. My opinion is we are merely stabilizing the QB situation to have continuous depth that has been in the program vs throwing a young guy to the wolves, jeopardizing his development and our success as a team
 
#190
#190
Vol865 said:
Sure. I just haven't seen anything yet that suggests that isn't happening. My opinion is we are merely stabilizing the QB situation to have continuous depth that has been in the program vs throwing a young guy to the wolves, jeopardizing his development and our success as a team
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What year are we in?

We had Nico who despite being a head case was a serviceable QB but his development was nowhere near what was expected. I can grant that the head case issues might overshadow his talent. We got a good year out of Nico. ROI? I'll let you decide.

We had Merk, who appears to have done everything correctly, worked hard, but apparently lacks SEC level development. We'll get zero real ROI on any investment in Merk.

We have G-Mac, a little skinny for my tastes but so was Nico most of his career, and a virtual unknown who somehow didn't jump Merk in the depth chart. If Joey A comes back, G-Mac seems to be QB2 who may have to fight off Faizon Brandon for that spot by the end of 26 and for QB1 in 27. ROI, undetermined.

We have Faizon, another highly touted splash QB like Nico, who is now being said to be "the chosen one" for Heupel to develop. See above for my skepticism on our ROI potential for Faizon.

I'm looking at this from a business point of view. Maybe we SHOULD just take a couple of older portal guys that others have already worked out the fundamentals kinks on and pay them well because Heupel as a freshman to starter QB developer hasn't worked out so far to give us the ROI I'd like to see.
 
#191
#191
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
What year are we in?

We had Nico who despite being a head case was a serviceable QB but his development was nowhere near what was expected. I can grant that the head case issues might overshadow his talent. We got a good year out of Nico. ROI? I'll let you decide.

We had Merk, who appears to have done everything correctly, worked hard, but apparently lacks SEC level development. We'll get zero real ROI on any investment in Merk.

We have G-Mac, a little skinny for my tastes but so was Nico most of his career, and a virtual unknown who somehow didn't jump Merk in the depth chart. If Joey A comes back, G-Mac seems to be QB2 who may have to fight off Faizon Brandon for that spot by the end of 26 and for QB1 in 27. ROI, undetermined.

We have Faizon, another highly touted splash QB like Nico, who is now being said to be "the chosen one" for Heupel to develop. See above for my skepticism on our ROI potential for Faizon.

I'm looking at this from a business point of view. Maybe we SHOULD just take a couple of older portal guys that others have already worked out the fundamentals kinks on and pay them well because Heupel as a freshman to starter QB developer hasn't worked out so far to give us the ROI I'd like to see.
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Regardless of how you feel about Nico's antics, this goes back to my argument that development isn't based off of what you are in your 1st year starting.

Merklinger was never anything more than a stopgap until GMac got here. He's not an elite QB. Coaching doesn't fix talent.

Now we're back to this year. If we sent out GMac or Merklinger and went 6-6 or 7-5, the Heupel hot seat talk would be off the charts.

For these reasons, unless Faizon or GMac are overly ready, I still think we need to pick up a 1 year rental at QB for next year and then let GMac and Faizon fight it out after both have been here a minute. This also gives us an opportunity to get another QB in here before one transfers if the lose the job to someone with basically the same amount of eligibility.
 
#194
#194
K-town Vol Fan said:
Why not? It's either that or play a Freshman. QB is the most important position in sports. I know it's not unheard of to start a freshman but it's also not ideal.
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Why would you have to play a freshman qb?
you can find a qb for 1.5 to 2.5M which makes more sense. JA was closed to 1.2 M and he did an admirable job.
The extra 3M will do to DL or DB, which makes more sense.
 
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#195
#195
VolRanch said:
Actually grew up a Cincy fan. Still live in Ohio.
Played travel baseball and we were close to Knoxville so we checked out campus one summer. Fell in love with it, slowly started following UT, started with the baseball team ironically right before Senzel got there. Then he made me follow more closely, one thing led to another and boom since about 2018 I’ve been full blown Vols number 1. I really don’t know how but here we are lol
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Very cool, the state, the town and the Big Orange keeps pulling fans in. If old hateful, I mean old fateful would allow it I’d move to east TN, stuck in n jawja.
 
#198
#198
VolRanch said:
Cincy is my second team. That’s a reach. Talented for sure but in pretty much every big game and against good defenses he was very pedestrian. Would Heup and Co bring something out of him? Maybe but I’d be cautious
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Amen, UC alum and avid bearcats fan. Sorsby IS NOT the answer.
 
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