Not happy with RB depth

[BearCat204]

You have to weigh the QB situation into it strongly, and Dobbs would tip it in our favor to me. But it is subjective.

I would take Jeremy Johnson over Dobbs any day.....the guy might be the best QB in the SEC behind Prescott. Bama and UGA do have issues at QB though, I will give you that, but still I would trade rosters with those teams in a heartbeat.

 

[EZE]

I would take Jeremy Johnson over Dobbs any day.....the guy might be the best QB in the SEC behind Prescott. Bama and UGA do have issues at QB though, I will give you that, but still I would trade rosters with those teams in a heartbeat.

All of them definitely have better upperclassmen, but we are right there with them in the underclassmen ranks.

We will see about Johnson. I think Prescott is way overrated.

 

[KBVol]

I'd say Paulk and the kid that trnsferred to ECU would've helped the depth issue. But neither were elite talents. I would look at Kelly as rated in thatbse area if not lower. And now there are some questions surrounding his failure to enroll in summer session.

It's a concern. Espescially when you consider Butch has signed over 70 players since taking the job and right now he has two scholarship RBs on the roster, one of which is recovering from surgery.

Actually, as of yesterday, he now has 5scholarship RBs on the roster (Hurd, Kamara, Abernathy, Young, Bruce) with one more on the way at the end of the month (Kelly). Not sure what all the RB handwringing is about when one actually looks at the RB situation. 2 NFL caliber RBs at the top, a proven/experienced situational all purpose back and some talented young freshmen coming in to provide additional depth. Looks pretty good to me.

 

[butchna]

Actually, as of yesterday, he now has 5scholarship RBs on the roster (Hurd, Kamara, Abernathy, Young, Bruce) with one more on the way at the end of the month (Kelly). Not sure what all the RB handwringing is about when one actually looks at the RB situation. 2 NFL caliber RBs at the top, a proven/experienced situational all purpose back and some talented young freshmen coming in to provide additional depth. Looks pretty good to me.

Cuz if we weren't doing this, we'd have to grouse about failure to recruit longsnapper depth. :scare:

 

[sport3500]

At that position to have depth and have players push each other for carries.

 

[JDisThereThere]

There is no returning depth at RB.

This guy right here might disagree with you.

 

[bristolbigorangef]

This bothers me more than any other position. Butch has had time to build this up but we're as thin as you can get even with no injuries.

Third string RB is not even on campus yet and he's not an every down back.

Shame they didn't hire you.....sounds like you know more.....NOT!!!!!!

 

[KBVol]

This guy right here might disagree with you.

Plus, running back is inarguably perhaps the one and only position where "returning depth" really isn't much important as long as whoever you got coming in is talented. This is proven by looking back no further than last year .....Chubb, Michel, Fournette, Webb and Hurd, 5 of the best running backs in the league, were each freshmen.

We'll have 6 scholarship RBs on the roster this year at a minimum, headlined by two 5star NFL caliber running backs. Looks like to me that Jones has done just fine getting talent and depth at the position going into 2015.

 

[Old Man Orange]

Is there not a thread for Doofus defenders to write their essays?

 

[OrangeDog]

This guy right here might disagree with you.

He's way too tall for an RB.
The ONLY reason that he hasn't been moved to TE is that we have no depth in the Backfield.

ooops, I forgot.

 

[ajvol01]

Is there not a thread for Doofus defenders to write their essays?

Careful OMO. You might be labeled a lemming with posts like that.

He never disappoints.

 

[bbaker3119]

If I recall correctly Harbaugh/Michigan wanted Kelly really bad and we beat them out. This leads me to believe that perhaps Kelly is not quite the chump that many on this board are making him out to be. He might actually be pretty good.

 

[HomeGrownUTVOL]

He is responsible. Coaches get paid to be responsible. How many times has he referred to the responsibility of being the caretaker of UT football? He knows it. He OWNS it... which is totally respectable. I'm not sure why people get hacked off when someone points out what Jones himself would say.

In the two classes prior to this one, Jones signed 4 RB's. One never made it to campus and then the two you mentioned. This was in spite of recruits knowing there would be a complete void at RB in '14. In the same period, Richt signed Chubb, Michel, Turman, and Douglas in spite of having Marshall and Gurley on the roster.


Whatever Jones tried to sell to RB's, it didn't work. Unless they just made a total mistake in recruiting Scott, I'm not sure how they couldn't convince him to stay with such an empty depth chart.

Never seen a so-called fan rag on a coach that has simply performed miracles, it's never ending with you man! Not trying to insult you but you are the definition of a NEGAVOL!

 

[smokey0625]

I don't. You might want to stop ignoring facts because they're unpleasant or might not reflect the "perfection" on Jones that you want to attribute to him.

There is no returning depth at RB. The staff is having to scramble around looking for players to provide depth behind Hurd and Kamara. Jones IS responsible for building the roster. The issues at RB are in large (not total) measure a product of the decisions made by Jones.

Jones has addressed rb depth. He has two high SEC talented rbs. More than most in our conference, but it's not what you like. We get it, I dont like stuff but I'm not going to act like a child and rant and rant. Your Richt comparison is dumb becaue Richt has a history of developing rbs. Jones has to build that kind of rep and it won't happen overnight. Richt has a ton more years experience, therefore more street cred with recruits.
Lastly, you're angry at Dooleys crap recruiting. Let's stop arguing over things that are Dookeys fault and just agree it's a complete and final answer to all things wrong with our lack of SEC talent on our roster. Jones is bringing back talent and like anyone with a ****ing clue, it takes four years to build championship depth when you started at ground zero. Rome was not built in a day and neither will our teams athletic ability. But we are closer than we used to be. You should be more worried about the lack of expeienced depth on our d line (specifically dt), instead of a position that has a sophomore starter, junior backup all american at the juco level, and several freshmen third stringers for one rb position. Calm down and please read espn.com for awhile.

 

[BearCat204]

Never seen a so-called fan rag on a coach that has simply performed miracles, it's never ending with you man! Not trying to insult you but are the definition of a NEGAVOL!

I think many would define him as something else..........

 

[TheNoiseofCook]

Dunno if it's on here yet, but this adds some depth.

Show Time Joe Young Senior Highlights - Joseph Young highlights

Here's the link to the highlight video for Joe Young, the newest Vol RB.

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

Dunno if it's on here yet, but this adds some depth.

Show Time Joe Young Senior Highlights - Joseph Young highlights

Here's the link to the highlight video for Joe Young, the newest Vol RB.

No good enough, it's too late now. Butch should have added him back in 2013.

 

[LA Vol]

On Bussey: I know that. They were going to blue/grayshirt him because CBJ was bringing in more players, which is basically what I said.

Nobody's complaining about Butch's recruiting? Nobody? Have you taken a look around the very thread that we are conversing in? Hell, the first 2 words of the title of this thread are 'Not Happy".

We could win the National Championship next year, and some people would find something to complain about or critique.

When are you not concerned about your starters getting hurt?

My main point is that the people saying we have no RB depth are acting like Hurd and Kamara aren't even on the roster, or they seem resigned to the fact that they will get hurt. Also, how do all of you complainers know that a 3rd back won't emerge? They are all unknowns, so we really have no way of judging them at this point.

Just saying that ya'll seem to be nitpicking just for the sake of nitpicking.

Your gripes might be best addressed with the Head Complainer, Butch Jones, who has stressed that depth at RB is not where we want it to be and said that we will try to bring in at least 2 RBs in 2016. Just last week, he reiterated that injuries are a concern, especially at positions where we are thin. He was emphatic that depth is how you win championships and made it clear that we're not there yet. He did a lot more of what is perceived as complaining, nitpicking and critiquing here, but was well-received as worthy points of discussion elsewhere.

Butch Jones is "not happy" a lot. So is Nick Saban and Urban Meyer. "Not happy" means you're always striving to do better... and that's what wins championships. I'm glad we finally have a coach who cares about that.

 

[sjt18]

Why didn't you let CBJ borrow your crystal ball so that he could see Paulk would assault his gf. Why didn't you tell him Scott would leave? Why are you keeping information like this to yourself? You should share it with the coaching staff.

Or... why didn't he sign one or two more? He had choices on how to use his scholarships. And yes, these programs spend tremendous amounts of money researching these players. They do everything they can to reduce risk but ultimately the coach has to make the call. Jones has made no bones about the fact that he personally extends scholarship offers and exercises veto authority.

We spend no where near the amount of money doing testing and research on prospective employees as UT does on potential recruits. The recruits are pretty public so there's a lot of info on them. Applicants are mostly anonymous. But I can predict with a high degree of accuracy what the potential problem areas are for a new employee and which are more of tenure risks than others. I can only assume that the professionals paid $100's of thousands to choose recipients of 85 football scholarships can do the same.

With the his first partial class, CBJ took lineman because the @$$hole before neglected to take any one year.

Neglected? That would suggest you think Dooley had a functional plan or program at that point.

My personal opinion is that his staff was dysfunctional by then and everyone they recruited told them "no".

With his second class, CBJ took 3 RB's.

He didn't fill all of the scholarships in that first season, remember? He saved them. Maybe there wasn't a quality RB available and willing to listen?

How many should he have taken? 5? Two are no longer on the team. No one knew that would happen, but you. You are the only person. VN hates you for keeping that information to yourself.

I am apparently one of the few that understands that "tenure risk" is something you can determine BEFORE signing/hiring someone.

How many should he have taken? Three... 4... 5? As many as it took not to have a hole at RB as void as any that were left to him by Dooley who we agree FAILED as a coach and recruiter.

If Dooley failed and set Jones up for OL problems by not signing an OL for one class (and he did) then how out of the other mouth can you make excuses when entering year 3 Jones only has one scholarship RB?

Jones has succeeded overall more than Dooley when it comes to off the field stuff. Hopefully the on the field results will follow soon. But you cannot be honest then excuse Jones from the same standard you use to condemn Dooley.


This is one isolated position. In case you haven't noticed (which I think you have but to be honest about it would destroy your whole case that I'm just a bad guy intent on hurting Jones), I HAVE BEEN one of the ones DEFENDING his "depth" at QB. I honestly do not believe it is the problem that many do. They have 2 and possibly 3 very talented guys behind Dobbs. I'm not sold on Jennings as a QB but think Jones made EXCELLENT choices in the other two.

That's the mystery to me. He signed 3 quality players to QB where the same guy will play every snap... but could not make the sale to RB's when there were obviously plenty of carries to be offered.

 

[sjt18]

Your gripes might be best addressed with the Head Complainer, Butch Jones, who has stressed that depth at RB is not where we want it to be and said that we will try to bring in at least 2 RBs in 2016. Just last week, he reiterated that injuries are a concern, especially at positions where we are thin. He was emphatic that depth is how you win championships and made it clear that we're not there yet. He did a lot more of what is perceived as complaining, nitpicking and critiquing here, but was well-received as worthy points of discussion elsewhere.

Butch Jones is "not happy" a lot. So is Nick Saban and Urban Meyer. "Not happy" means you're always striving to do better... and that's what wins championships. I'm glad we finally have a coach who cares about that.

Good post.

 

[smokey0625]

Good post.

Good report

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

Or... why didn't he sign one or two more? He had choices on how to use his scholarships. And yes, these programs spend tremendous amounts of money researching these players. They do everything they can to reduce risk but ultimately the coach has to make the call. Jones has made no bones about the fact that he personally extends scholarship offers and exercises veto authority.

We spend no where near the amount of money doing testing and research on prospective employees as UT does on potential recruits. The recruits are pretty public so there's a lot of info on them. Applicants are mostly anonymous. But I can predict with a high degree of accuracy what the potential problem areas are for a new employee and which are more of tenure risks than others. I can only assume that the professionals paid $100's of thousands to choose recipients of 85 football scholarships can do the same.

Neglected? That would suggest you think Dooley had a functional plan or program at that point.

My personal opinion is that his staff was dysfunctional by then and everyone they recruited told them "no". He didn't fill all of the scholarships in that first season, remember? He saved them. Maybe there wasn't a quality RB available and willing to listen?



I am apparently one of the few that understands that "tenure risk" is something you can determine BEFORE signing/hiring someone.

How many should he have taken? Three... 4... 5? As many as it took not to have a hole at RB as void as any that were left to him by Dooley who we agree FAILED as a coach and recruiter.

If Dooley failed and set Jones up for OL problems by not signing an OL for one class (and he did) then how out of the other mouth can you make excuses when entering year 3 Jones only has one scholarship RB?

Jones has succeeded overall more than Dooley when it comes to off the field stuff. Hopefully the on the field results will follow soon. But you cannot be honest then excuse Jones from the same standard you use to condemn Dooley.


This is one isolated position. In case you haven't noticed (which I think you have but to be honest about it would destroy your whole case that I'm just a bad guy intent on hurting Jones), I HAVE BEEN one of the ones DEFENDING his "depth" at QB. I honestly do not believe it is the problem that many do. They have 2 and possibly 3 very talented guys behind Dobbs. I'm not sold on Jennings as a QB but think Jones made EXCELLENT choices in the other two.

That's the mystery to me. He signed 3 quality players to QB where the same guy will play every snap... but could not make the sale to RB's when there were obviously plenty of carries to be offered.

I understand now, you don't exactly know how this football and scholarship thing works. There were 32 young men signed with the 2014 class. Even with taking all 32, there is still an 85 scholarship limit. So how do you work around the 85 scholarship limit? It must be nice to live in the matrix where you write the rules as you go. In the real world, we can't do that. Hell, he even had to blueshirt three young men with this class to get more players. You just can't sign as many players as you can until you run out of ink.

 

[sjt18]

Jones has addressed rb depth. He has two high SEC talented rbs. More than most in our conference, but it's not what you like.

To the contrary, I think he's doing the best he can to react now. That doesn't mean it isn't a problem or that different judgment calls over the past 3 years wouldn't have yielded a better result.

Kamara certainly looks like a great compliment to Hurd. Kelly looks like a quality player.

And... they demonstrated last year that they could manage the RB position and get production with Hurd and Lane. Lane didn't play at an SEC level last year... so basically they did it with one guy... a Fr.

We get it, I dont like stuff but I'm not going to act like a child and rant and rant.

Dude. Maybe I shouldn't respond to every attack response... but don't pretend that I'm the one that turned this into an all against one argument.

Your Richt comparison is dumb becaue Richt has a history of developing rbs.

And that's precisely why it is not "dumb". That is a KNOWN challenge.

Jones has to build that kind of rep and it won't happen overnight.

But it won't happen without players either. And FTR, he produced some really good RB's at Cincy.

Lastly, you're angry at Dooleys crap recruiting. Let's stop arguing over things that are Dookeys fault and just agree it's a complete and final answer to all things wrong with our lack of SEC talent on our roster.

Check again. I wasn't the one that brought Dooley up.

Jones is bringing back talent and like anyone with a ****ing clue, it takes four years to build championship depth when you started at ground zero.

He didn't start at ground zero... and I haven't said that he had to produce a championship this year. He has had enough time however to have more than one returning RB.

You should be more worried about the lack of expeienced depth on our d line (specifically dt),

But I'm not. Last year they had 3 DT's who took almost every snap. This year they'll have at least 5 SEC caliber "bodies" at the DT position. To his great credit, Jones has gone from McCullers to O Wms and Vickers who are apparently two of the strongest guys around and play with energy... not to mention the two Fr.

My concern with the RB position is that you have Hurd, Kamara, and then a huge drop in pure athletic ability to the next guy. Other positions would get younger... but the talent drop off wouldn't be that much.

Calm down and please read espn.com for awhile.

I'm calm. Please convey that sentiment to those who start their responses with things like "Who are you, Dooley?" or "Doofus defenders..."

 

[sjt18]

Never seen a so-called fan rag on a coach that has simply performed miracles, it's never ending with you man! Not trying to insult you but you are the definition of a NEGAVOL!

READING IS FUNDAMENTAL. Don't judge a person by a single thread.

I have given Jones a TON of credit for things he's done well. But he isn't perfect and the current situation at RB is a reflection of that.

Funny... I'm so "negative" that I've said UT had the talent to run Mizzou off the field this fall... and that they had the talent to win any or all of 11 games and perhaps even Bama considering the production they replace.

 

[BearCat204]

I am apparently one of the few that understands that "tenure risk" is something you can determine BEFORE signing/hiring someone.

And you wonder why most think you come off as a narcissistic prick. Most do understand this, contrary to what you have running around in that big head of yours.