OL Behemoths

#1

RTE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2021
Messages
361
Likes
513
#1
At Knoxville's West Town Mall yesterday, I saw 4 or 5 of our O Lineman lumbering along....and, oh my Lord, these guys are absolutely huge! I definitely gave them a wide berth !

So shocked by their size, I looked up the roster when I returned home, and saw that UT has about a dozen dudes that go 320 lbs or more! Probably at least 5-6 of them go 335 or more! I'm thinking these earth-movers are up to the task of protecting the pocket, as well as grading the road! I would have gone up and offered best wishes for the season, but I feared I might get swept away in theIr undertow!
 
Last edited:
#2
#2
IMHO, OL is the one position where development and coaching make the most difference. It is truly a "team" effort where 5 mediocre guys playing well together can be more effective than 5 great players who aren't well coached or schemed.

I have no hesitation in saying that UT has more than enough talent to field a very good and effective OL this fall.
 
#3
#3
PS- those published rosters are notoriously wrong. By design, they aren't updated frequently. Opponents could get some cues about what UT was doing in development if they published that info often.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tbh and GTBATV
#4
#4
IMHO, OL is the one position where development and coaching make the most difference. It is truly a "team" effort where 5 mediocre guys playing well together can be more effective than 5 great players who aren't well coached or schemed.

Ha ha, I thought I remembered you telling us that our the reason our OL look bad last year was because of #2....
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigOrangeTrain
#5
#5
You should have seen Shane Burton and Richard Howard standing next to each other when we hit the Old City for some fun in the 90’s. Two Trees!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boca Vol
#6
#6
You should have seen Shane Burton and Richard Howard standing next to each other when we hit the Old City for some fun in the 90’s. Two Trees!
I had a class with Shane in Glocker. He had to duck to get through the door. Big human!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TJVol95
#10
#10
Ha ha, I thought I remembered you telling us that our the reason our OL look bad last year was because of #2....
I didn't mention last year's OL in my post.

FTR, yeah, JG was HORRIBLE and hurt every other position group including the OL. I do not know how much better they might have been with a QB who made better, faster decisions. That's only a matter that can be speculated.
 
#11
#11
I didn't mention last year's OL in my post.

FTR, yeah, JG was HORRIBLE and hurt every other position group including the OL. I do not know how much better they might have been with a QB who made better, faster decisions. That's only a matter that can be speculated.

Just giving you a little grief since we've gone back and forth the past 3 years for the cause of our offensive issues (Incompetent coaching vs Bad QB play)

We played 4 or 5 other QBs other than JG the past 3 years with largely similar results. I think we will see this year that most of our offensive woes were coaching related when one of the QBs who couldnt beat out JG looks like a competent D1 QB and that our OL can actually block someone.
 
#12
#12
You should have seen Shane Burton and Richard Howard standing next to each other when we hit the Old City for some fun in the 90’s. Two Trees!
One day I was in the really old weight room which was a one room , maybe 30 by 30 room in the old Memorial gym. it had one bench press station and was all they had back in the 1950s. Dough Atkins and Jack Stroud walked into the room and they looked like they took up the entire space. Two of the largest men I have ever seen. Remember this wad almost over 60 years ago.
 
#14
#14
Hopefully. they've learned a thing or two from "less-Friendly" Coaching

R48f7d2ec71781df8a70e36528366e036


Tennessee fans turn on offensive line, mock 'TVA' nickname after loss to Georgia (msn.com)
 
#15
#15
The Nebraska model during their heyday, sign a bunch of corn fed behemoths, redshirt them for a year of weights (& steroids) and turn them into pros.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Big Al Orange
#17
#17
I was on a flight from Santa Anna, CA to Nashville on Saturday and there was a young man that was every bit of 6'5 and I would guess 315-335 lbs. He was wearing a UT t-shirt (stretched to it's limits) and was very muscular. I did not get the opportunity to speak with him but I felt pretty sure he was (or could be) a lineman for UT.
 
#19
#19
PS- those published rosters are notoriously wrong. By design, they aren't updated frequently. Opponents could get some cues about what UT was doing in development if they published that info often.
By wrong, are the weights understated or overstated? A couple of these guys looked just a few biscuits shy of 400!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TennesseeTarheel
#20
#20
By wrong, are the weights understated or overstated? A couple of these guys looked just a few biscuits shy of 400!
UGA guard, Ben Cleveland, was listed at 6'-6", 330#. When the Ravens signed him this year, he was 354# with no fat. I think they use the measurements when a player enrolls, and never update it.
 
#22
#22
By wrong, are the weights understated or overstated? A couple of these guys looked just a few biscuits shy of 400!
Either and both. There have been guys whose weights on the published roster stayed the same for 2 or 3 years.
 
#23
#23
PS- those published rosters are notoriously wrong. By design, they aren't updated frequently. Opponents could get some cues about what UT was doing in development if they published that info often.

Published roster individuals have always bee wrong...take Doug Atkins for example. He was listed as 6'2" and 215 lbs. Actually, he was 6'8" and 265 lbs.
 
#25
#25
IMHO, OL is the one position where development and coaching make the most difference. It is truly a "team" effort where 5 mediocre guys playing well together can be more effective than 5 great players who aren't well coached or schemed.

I have no hesitation in saying that UT has more than enough talent to field a very good and effective OL this fall.

Agree on your assessment of the offensive line. If our QB guru can develop that position, combined with the talent at WR and RB, we have a "chance" to be pretty freaking good on offense.
 

VN Store



Back
Top