"Real Concerns on Defense Remain" (Report After Spring)

[sjt18]

Our defense gave up @75% as many big plays as our offense got against our opponents.

We have to get that down to about 30% and we have a formula that can win. If we can maintain that percentage against the best teams, we have a championship team.
This isn't an Al Wilson type defense, but it is a foundation to build upon. I don't love it, but it is where we can start a winning culture on the defensive side.

I would gladly trade more big plays for more 3rd down stops. I wish they would use the Spurrier philosophy. Stop 'em or let 'em score... just get me the ball back.

 

[OneVolNation]

Who's going to the be the disrupting edge rusher and who's backing him up?

Tyler Baron and Byron Young edge rushers and we return Roman Harrison. We had a couple of studs already commit for 2023 James Pearce and Joshua Josephs and we just got a crystal ball for the #1 player out of MO edge Chandavian Bradley for 2023.

Efforts have been made and are being made so we should see a much improved result this season.

 

[OneVolNation]

I would gladly trade more big plays for more 3rd down stops. I wish they would use the Spurrier philosophy. Stop 'em or let 'em score... just get me the ball back.

The defense can definitely use improvement on both.

 

[sjt18]

I must've missed that I guess. Who's going to play linebacker this season and who's going to be backing them up? Who's going to the be the disrupting edge rusher and who's backing him up? Who's going to be the lockdown corners and who's backing them up?

You do know that MOST programs do not know who will step in and fill gaps from one year to another until someone does, right? Even program loses and has to replace productive players. Very few programs are blessed not to be looking for upgrades and multiple positions.

Here's a kinda, sorta projected depth chart. The LB's are who they are and have hopefully improved. We don't know who the DB's will be... but we do have some "bodies" capable of being good.

2022 Tennessee Volunteers Football Depth Chart | Ourlads.com

 

[sjt18]

Tyler Baron and Byron Young edge rushers. We just got a crystal ball for the #1 player out of MO edge Chandavian Bradley for 2023.

Baron isn't an edge rusher. UT is looking for a rush end who is an every down player. Harrison fills the role but he's more of a situational player. They need someone behind Young who can play the run and still get to the QB.

Efforts have been made and are being made so we should see a much improved result this season.

Efforts are being made but to be completely honest that doesn't assure improved results.

One thing to consider is that UT had an opportunity to go into the portal and chose to ride with the guys they have. I won't claim to know why... but you have to conclude that they think they can develop and work with the guys they already had. If they can't... it could turn into a really tough season.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Tyler Baron and Byron Young edge rushers. We just got a crystal ball for the #1 player out of MO edge Chandavian Bradley for 2023.

Efforts have been made and are being made so we should see a much improved result this season.

Oh I agree that efforts are being made. I was speaking mostly to just the upcoming season. People are already calling into question the competency of Tim Banks and I was simply saying he doesn't have the players yet to fairly judge him. Some here think he does and I don't agree. Next year, maybe if we decide to get aggressive in the portal.

 

[sjt18]

Oh I agree that efforts are being made. I was speaking mostly to just the upcoming season. People are already calling into question the competency of Tim Banks and I was simply saying he doesn't have the players yet to fairly judge him. Some here think he does and I don't agree.

I don't think he has great talent... and I think there's good reason to judge some of the things he's not doing well. Conversions on 3rd down often come down to the DC's play calling. After weeks, you would think they could have figured out how to stop a QB from killing them on broken field runs. Those are two things that were more coaching and teaching than talent.

 

[OneVolNation]

Need to add high 4 star edge rusher Caleb Herring (#1 player from Tennessee in '23) to the list who just committed a couple months ago too.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

I don't think he has great talent... and I think there's good reason to judge some of the things he's not doing well. Conversions on 3rd down often come down to the DC's play calling. After weeks, you would think they could have figured out how to stop a QB from killing them on broken field runs. Those are two things that were more coaching and teaching than talent.

Need more elite edge rushers and more speed at linebacker. Lack of defensive speed on the outside is killing us.

 

[volroadwarrior]

Until this coaching staff makes it a priority that we are two deep upper level quality depth, the defense will continue to suck ands it’s not the DC’s fault! CJH MUST realize 1) HIS offense is the single biggest detriment to the defense and 2) recruiting must improve!

I like CJH but he will not make it past year 5 without these improvements!

I just think you are anti CJH because you long for the grind it out offenses. But if the defense just gets 3 and outs or even 6 and outs they will not be on the field too long at given times. It is up to the defense to get off the field just like it is for the offense to score as fast as possible. When the staff was hired last year they had only a few days where they could contact and visit prospects. They lost 30 something to the transfer portal and had to play with left overs. They need more time to get on the road and get recruits-which is what they are doing now.

 

[SpookyAction]

We have talent on the roster. They just have to rise to top SEC level players to be effective against the best players they will face. Our talent just has not done that enough, and Our opponents' players have been doing that so much more than ours over the last 15 years it has put us in the SEC also ran division.
One edge rusher, one decent LB, and one shut down corner is not enough in our league and every team can scheme to negate that. Without multiple defensive threats we are going to struggle again and forever.

 

[njvols]

I don't think it comes down to Bank's ability as a DC. We just haven't been able to get a lot of dudes yet on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe some of that does fall on Banks but realistically, we don't have the Jimmy s and Joes yet.

Agree, think Banks and crew need time and are building thru high school and transfers...but, if we don't get 3rd down improvement, any gains on offense could mean another OKish season, instead of bordering on special season.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

The thread title implies some kind of update after what our program did this Spring. It mentions only 3 of our newcomers, at least one of which went thru Spring practice and is competing for a starting spot on the D. There were other early entry frosh, transfers or walkons ... no post-Spring report on them, nor on returning vets who needed to add weight/strength and/or recover from injuries. So, I'm calling it a pretty weak post-Spring report, compared with what could have provided.

 

[OneVolNation]

The thread title implies some kind of update after what our program did this Spring. It mentions only 3 of our newcomers, at least one of which went thru Spring practice and is competing for a starting spot on the D. There were other early entry frosh, transfers or walkons ... no post-Spring report on them, nor on returning vets who needed to add weight/strength and/or recover from injuries. So, I'm calling it a pretty weak post-Spring report, compared with what could have provided.

I see what you mean. In fairness to the author of the article, he titled it "Post-Spring Stock Report".

So his report is that the stock on the offense is up, the stock on the defense is down, and overall the team's stock is up.

It doesn't take into account a lot of what we know has already been done by the staff in recruiting for those of us following it
more closely than the average casual fan, but it does provide his assessment on the team's "stock" after Spring compared
with the stock from last season if I inferred the intent correctly.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

He's not wrong though. UT was bad on 3rd down. They gave up lots of 3rd and longs. Banks never solved the QB run out of the pocket. I loved seeing the negative plays they forced but when you get someone cornered you can't so consistently let them escape.

Was just saying he was inaccurate about the Kentucky thing.

Gave up a million third and longs and after Bama blitzed us in the 4th quarter things seemed to fall apart fundamentally the rest of the way. The Kentucky game had such horrendous tackling.

 

[wmcovol]

For most of the year we felt it was much better than expected.

I thought Banks did well but eventually he and any other DC is gonna run outta tricks......

 

[OneVolNation]

I thought Banks did well but eventually he and any other DC is gonna run outta tricks......

Yes, I did too. After the first 7 games the defense ranked #2 in the nation in tackles for loss!

 

[jim pique]

If the defense is able to get off the field on third downs,we will be alot less tired and the offense wil have many more chances to score.Then the other team falls behind further and has to throw more.3rd down is big this year.I hope to see a great deal of improvment and stops this upcoming season.As always,Go Vols!P.S.,bring the ranking from 101 to 20's-30's,guys will have plenty of time to recoop.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Banks is a great coach, but I really have to believe he’s been addressing our 3rd and long issue this off-season. That was downright brutal to watch, especially with mobile QB’s. They were usually reaching the marker on 3rd and long without contact.

I like Banks but I don’t see how you can say he is a great coach.

 

[Volnuck]

From Jesse Simonton's article at On3-

"... However, situationally, Tim Banks’ unit was downright abominable."



Tennessee Volunteers: Post-spring stock report

There is plenty of room for improvement specifically on:

*Red Zone Defense (121st)

*3rd down defense (101st)

*Explosive plays allowed (109th)

I'm optimistic with the returning veterans and transfers that these numbers improve under DC Tim Banks in season 2.

Go Vols!

I think we will be “some” better, but we were “really” bad on third down and with stopping running quarterbacks. However, we have to remember, it was only 10 months ago we were wondering if Coach Heupel could field a legitimate Power 5 football team with the remaining players left at Tennessee. He deserves time to build a team.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

I like Banks but I don’t see how you can say he is a great coach.

A few reasons:

While we were miserable on 3rd and long last year, the untold stat is that we got teams in 3rd and long a LOT, which is where you want to be.

There are also a lot of final scores that don’t reflect the full game. We had a lot of TD’s put up on us late in games, when we just didn’t have the depth.

He was still coaching with Pruitt’s players, and not his top players since we lost so many. We did some good things on D last year when you take that into account how shorthanded Banks was.

 

[VolRage]

Last season was the staff’s 1st year. I think I’ll wait until season 2 is over and how the next class looks before I consider anything regarding Banks or any other coach on staff. We still have some holes to fill and a talent gap to close. I doubt Kirby Smart would’ve done a better job last year with the defensive talent that was on the field.

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

For most of the year we felt it was much better than expected.

We? I cannot recall a worse defense at TN, so not sure how that translates to being better than expected. I think there are some bozos who view the TFL stat as an improvement but that's largely due to number of snaps and scheme. It says very little about our overall defense.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

We? I cannot recall a worse defense at TN, so not sure how that translates to being better than expected. I think there are some bozos who view the TFL stat as an improvement but that's largely due to number of snaps and scheme. It says very little about our overall defense.

Am pretty sure we have had significantly worse defenses than last year's, though I can't research it at the moment.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

We? I cannot recall a worse defense at TN, so not sure how that translates to being better than expected. I think there are some bozos who view the TFL stat as an improvement but that's largely due to number of snaps and scheme. It says very little about our overall defense.

Wasn’t even close to our worst defense