PFF 10 true freshman to know

#1
Freak

Freak

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#1

3. OT David Sanders Jr., Tennessee​

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 9 overall, No. 2 OT (Five star)​

Tennessee’s offensive line only posted a 61.5 grade as a unit in 2024, 105th in the FBS. The Volunteers also lost four starters up front, opening the door for Sanders to start immediately as a true freshman. He’s the current favorite to start Week 1 at right tackle for Tennessee and is an elite athlete for the position who’s a freight train in space. Sanders also didn’t allow a sack in his senior year. He will need to continue adding strength to his frame but is already up to 305 pounds after playing at around 275 pounds in high school.

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10 true freshmen to know in college football entering the 2025 season

Max Chadwick breaks down 10 true freshmen to know in college football entering the 2025 season.
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#2
#2
@#3 I don't see those expectations as being too high. Would love to see a bit more preseason film of him...he is fun to watch
 
#6
#6
marcusluvsvols said:
Crazy that our Oline ranked 105th out of what 135 FBS teams last year...and we STILL lead the SEC in rushing for the 2nd straight year...

Tells you how bad our pass blocking was. If JA stays healthy at QB i bet he puts up better numbers than Nicos from last season.
Click to expand...
It's astonishing how terribly awful the OL was at pass blocking. I truly don't understand how it was so bad. Who knows what the Vols could have accomplished if the OL would have been better. At least just better at pass blocking. Could've been the difference between a championship team and not. It was absolutely piss poor and this is NOT Nico's fault. He spent tons of his time running for his life, or having to rush passes. Cold hard truth. It won't matter who the Vol QB is, if this doesn't get MUCH better.

I'm concerned how this is getting overlooked and not talked about. Everything was just blamed on Nico. I remember saying I'd be surprised if he makes it through last season injury free with how awful the pass blocking was. Basically non-existent.
 
#7
#7
madbamahater said:
It's astonishing how terribly awful the OL was at pass blocking. I truly don't understand how it was so bad. Who knows what the Vols could have accomplished if the OL would have been better. At least just better at pass blocking. Could've been the difference between a championship team and not. It was absolutely piss poor and this is NOT Nico's fault. He spent tons of his time running for his life, or having to rush passes. Cold hard truth. It won't matter who the Vol QB is, if this doesn't get MUCH better.

I'm concerned how this is getting overlooked and not talked about. Everything was just blamed on Nico. I remember saying I'd be surprised if he makes it through last season injury free with how awful the pass blocking was. Basically non-existent.
Click to expand...
How often did you see Nico step up in the pocket and look down field?

Great QBs help OL pass blocking
 
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#8
#8
Pass blocking was what it was, but Nico also held the ball too long and still missed reads. Not to mention the overthrows on the wide open long balls. All 11 guys on offense have to work cohesively in order to achieve success, it’s rarely if ever the fault of 1 position group. What I am encouraged by is how Huepel got that team to the playoffs, and I think that’s being overlooked on prognostications for this year as that man can coach.
 
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#9
#9
I view the offensive line departures the same way I viewed the secondary departures from 2 year ago. Yes, we did technically lose a ton of people, but sometimes getting new bodies in there makes a huge difference. Obviously there's a bit of a learning curve for some of the young inexperienced guys, but I view their ceiling as far higher than the previous group.
 
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#11
#11
rdk4121 said:
I view the offensive line departures the same way I viewed the secondary departures from 2 year ago. Yes, we did technically lose a ton of people, but sometimes getting new bodies in there makes a huge difference. Obviously there's a bit of a learning curve for some of the young inexperienced guys, but I view their ceiling as far higher than the previous group.
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Yep. Losing starters on an already questionable unit isn’t a bad thing when you’ve been recruiting. We have good depth/talent along the O line on paper. Need to see some good improvement
 
#12
#12
marcusluvsvols said:
Crazy that our Oline ranked 105th out of what 135 FBS teams last year...and we STILL lead the SEC in rushing for the 2nd straight year...

Tells you how bad our pass blocking was. If JA stays healthy at QB i bet he puts up better numbers than Nicos from last season.
Click to expand...
Nico took a lot of sacks to keep his completion percentage up (or to keep the clock running,) our line was better (slightly?) than that statistic.
 
#13
#13
marcusluvsvols said:
Crazy that our Oline ranked 105th out of what 135 FBS teams last year...and we STILL lead the SEC in rushing for the 2nd straight year...

Tells you how bad our pass blocking was. If JA stays healthy at QB i bet he puts up better numbers than Nicos from last season.
Click to expand...
Yeah dude we had almost 3000 yards rushing and were a bottom tier OL? I'm kind of over a lot of these analytics
 
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#14
#14
marcusluvsvols said:
Crazy that our Oline ranked 105th out of what 135 FBS teams last year...and we STILL lead the SEC in rushing for the 2nd straight year...

Tells you how bad our pass blocking was. If JA stays healthy at QB i bet he puts up better numbers than Nicos from last season.
Click to expand...
It also tells you how good Sampson was. He turned an immense amount of backfield hits into positive gains last year. That was a thing that separated him from other RBs who were brought down around the line of scrimmage more easily.
 
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#16
#16
rdk4121 said:
I view the offensive line departures the same way I viewed the secondary departures from 2 year ago. Yes, we did technically lose a ton of people, but sometimes getting new bodies in there makes a huge difference. Obviously there's a bit of a learning curve for some of the young inexperienced guys, but I view their ceiling as far higher than the previous group.
Click to expand...

This. I appreciate Mays, Campbell, Spraggins and Karic but it will be nice to actually have good athletes at these positions. I thought it was telling Spraggins and Mays were four year SEC starters and neither were drafted.
 
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