Per ESPN recruiting rankings...

#52
#52
Bituli will be the guy missed most. Warrior didn't decide to show up until Mid season; and still got burned some.
It did take a while. I wish we had him for another year though.

Bituli will be missed as much anyone to wear the orange. He'll be hard to replace. I imagine the D will take a step back without him. It'll be hard not to.
 
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#54
#54
I'll take another Eric Gray all day. Don't worry about stars. Identify good talent that also fits your scheme, regardless of star rating.
And much more the philosophy of CJP and his staff imo. Identify the quality of good young men that fit your locker room, your scheme, needed skills and bring them in. Don't worry about of the assigned * rating by some guy who couldn't get a job as a High school coach.
 
#55
#55
It did take a while. I wish we had him for another year though.

Bituli will be missed as much anyone to wear the orange. He'll be hard to replace. I imagine the D will take a step back without him. It'll be hard not to.

Losing Bituli and Taylor hurts. But we have good talent at LB and we return our entire DL, entire secondary except Warrior and Buchanon?
 
#56
#56
Losing Bituli and Taylor hurts. But we have good talent at LB and we return our entire DL, entire secondary except Warrior and Buchanon?
Hopefully it comes together quickly. Someone is going to have to step up into Bituli's role. We were not nearly as good without him last year. I'm not saying we'll be bad. I just doubt we start the year as good as we ended last year, on that side of the ball.
 
#58
#58
Hopefully it comes together quickly. Someone is going to have to step up into Bituli's role. We were not nearly as good without him last year. I'm not saying we'll be bad. I just doubt we start the year as good as we ended last year, on that side of the ball.
To’oto’o will take that role. Now who will take Henry’s spot? Banks, JJ, Crouch most likely. Or possibly one of the Whitehaven LBs. Will be find, IMO.
 
#59
#59
To’oto’o will take that role. Now who will take Henry’s spot? Banks, JJ, Crouch most likely. Or possibly one of the Whitehaven LBs. Will be find, IMO.
I agree it will be To'oto'o eventually. But he's just going to be a sophomore. Expecting him to be on Bituli's level out of the gate next year is probably a tall order. I question the idea that Banks will be back. Well have to see who Henry's running mate ends up being. That not being clear also makes me think the D will have some work to do in order to get back to where we were. We'll have to wait until week 1 to see exactly how much work.
 
#60
#60
Yes. So were most of the impact players on last years roster. I hate Butch too, but you can’t say he didn’t bring in talent.

The PROGRAM brought in some talent. Hell, you’d have to be an ogre with bad breath and body odor not to be able to recruit some players here. Jones philosophy of small OL, big WRs over speed and few defensive players in general set the program back in the SEC.
 
#61
#61
Did you ever stop to think maybe you are the "stench of Butch" in the forums these days?

I mean...no one else brought him up in this thread. Wouldn't have thought of him at all here if it weren't for you.

Sometimes you gotta let things die, brother.
POST OF THE YEAR! Props to you sir!
 
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#62
#62
I agree it will be To'oto'o eventually. But he's just going to be a sophomore. Expecting him to be on Bituli's level out of the gate next year is probably a tall order. I question the idea that Banks will be back. Well have to see who Henry's running mate ends up being. That not being clear also makes me think the D will have some work to do in order to get back to where we were. We'll have to wait until week 1 to see exactly how much work.
To’oto’o was the #2 ILB almost the moment he stepped on campus....hence the guys he jumped transferring. No one is close so he will take the calls and the next best ILB will take his former role.

And Banks will be back. Question is whether it’s spring or fall.
 
#63
#63
Yes. So were most of the impact players on last years roster. I hate Butch too, but you can’t say he didn’t bring in talent.
I’ll agree he did bring in some talent. But they didn’t play particularly well until he was gone.
 
#64
#64
To’oto’o was the #2 ILB almost the moment he stepped on campus....hence the guys he jumped transferring. No one is close so he will take the calls and the next best ILB will take his former role.

And Banks will be back. Question is whether it’s spring or fall.
We'll just have to see on Banks. Discipline issues aside, he has a ton of potential. Henry will definitely take the calls. I just don't see him being as good as Bituli, immediately. He'll probably get there. He might even pass him. But I expect it to take a little time. You don't lose someone like Bituli without dealing with some growing pains from an underclassmen replacement. I'm not knocking To'oto'o. I'm just being realistic.
 
#66
#66
According to 247Sports, since 2000, Bryce Brown is the highest rated recruit we have ever signed. That is really all you need to know about these so-called rating services.
I think Trey Smith was ranked number recruit in his class. However, I do not recall what his point number.
 
#67
#67
The O should make strinds next year. If they don't, something is wrong. If the D is able to maintain at all without Bituli/Warrior, we should be 1 or 2 games better. If one of the QBs can pass JG early, we'll be cooking with gas.
Replacing warrior will be a breeze. Loved what I saw from the young guys back there. McCollough in the box is a FORCE. If we can just get an athletic guy next to To’o we will be fine. He’s right next to Henry. He can tell him where to go every play.
 
#68
#68
Bituli and Jennings. No way to replace the leadership those guys brought.

Hot take, but Bituli will he replaced with Henry T. The kid grew up immediately and will be a dominant all American caliber linebacker for next two seasons. Jennings will be the biggest loss because he was leader of the entire team. Very rare a receiver is that person but he’s what made the entire program tick along with the entire fan base. He was to football what Admiral was to the basketball program last year.
 
#69
#69
To’oto’o was the #2 ILB almost the moment he stepped on campus....hence the guys he jumped transferring. No one is close so he will take the calls and the next best ILB will take his former role.

And Banks will be back. Question is whether it’s spring or fall.

I hope your wrong.
 
#71
#71
We'll just have to see on Banks. Discipline issues aside, he has a ton of potential. Henry will definitely take the calls. I just don't see him being as good as Bituli, immediately. He'll probably get there. He might even pass him. But I expect it to take a little time. You don't lose someone like Bituli without dealing with some growing pains from an underclassmen replacement. I'm not knocking To'oto'o. I'm just being realistic.

The real question at ILB in my opinion is whether Peterson finally gets in healthy game shape after another year of SandC....or if he gets beat out as starter opposite Toot. The Memphis 3 all project as ILB...so there will be mucho competition for that 1 starting ILB slot with Henry a lock. Peterson was a really high ranked 4 star...I believe he was our highest rated defensive player in his signing class ...2nd overall in that class. He has enough size speed and talent to be an SEC backer...I am wondering if maybe the reason he cant get more playing time is what's between his ears. CJP knows what's best though, and I trust he will play whoever gives us the best chance to win.

GO VOLS. FLORIDUH SUCKS.
 
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#72
#72
Hot take, but Bituli will he replaced with Henry T. The kid grew up immediately and will be a dominant all American caliber linebacker for next two seasons. Jennings will be the biggest loss because he was leader of the entire team. Very rare a receiver is that person but he’s what made the entire program tick along with the entire fan base. He was to football what Admiral was to the basketball program last year.


100% agree
 
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#73
#73
Need to see results on the field. We’ve thought the O-line was going to be a strength of the team before and been monumentally let-down. The signs are good, but there’s a lot of bad (recent) history that should keep us from being over confident. This group needs to come in to 2020 with huge chips on their shoulders and something to prove.
 

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