Reasons to be negative about the 2017 season

#203
#203
KBVol said:
Only true DT we can count on right now is Vickers imo, and, God bless him, but he's just a solid and dependable, not a stud/difference-maker. There's a ton of questions at DT, DE, LB and corner right now. I know a lot of people are saying "we'll be a lot better on defense this year".....I'm not sure much of anything points to that.
Click to expand...

We lose 0 LBs from the 2-deep last year, if you don't count Reeves-Maybin, because he barely played last year. We return every DT, lose Barnett, Vereen and Lewis at DE, lose Sutton and Foreman at CB, but return everyone else in the 2-deep from last year. No doubt that we miss those guys, but I think the defense, as a unit, should be better after another year in a new system.
 
#205
#205
CMcEver said:
We lose 0 LBs from the 2-deep last year, if you don't count Reeves-Maybin, because he barely played last year. We return every DT, lose Barnett, Vereen and Lewis at DE, lose Sutton and Foreman at CB, but return everyone else in the 2-deep from last year. No doubt that we miss those guys, but I think the defense, as a unit, should be better after another year in a new system.
Click to expand...

there's a decent thread going on about this now, about the potential defensive starters.

but you're still making some assumptions...DT is thin, and we're not healthy, and not sure when we will be. DE has talent, but those two being replaced will be missed.

LB i agree, but even with those guys returning, they were on the roster last year too, and we still had to run a 4-2-5 due to LB issues. that has to get resolved.

the secondary, is a log jam of guys at DB, with probably TK and NW at Safety.

yes, 2nd year in Shoop's system but new DB and DL coach, at least opens the door for possible growing pains, developmentally, chemistry wise and communication wise.
 
#206
#206
CMcEver said:
We lose 0 LBs from the 2-deep last year, if you don't count Reeves-Maybin, because he barely played last year. We return every DT, lose Barnett, Vereen and Lewis at DE, lose Sutton and Foreman at CB, but return everyone else in the 2-deep from last year. No doubt that we miss those guys, but I think the defense, as a unit, should be better after another year in a new system.
Click to expand...

How'd our LBs play last year without JRM? (I know DKJr was hurt too, but he's not shown to be on JRMs level quite yet). So, our LB corp wasn't good, we had nobody near his level of play. McDowell replaced him and did well at times, ok overall, but the drop off was fairly severe.

We lost OBrien who played the 1st half the season last year.....didn't replace him with anybody last year who played well the second half of the season and we find ourselves in that same position now.

Very doubtful Tuttle will be ready to go for the start of the season, and how good/explosive/healthy is he gonna be once he returns after not one, but two bad leg injuries? KMac has been disappointing his first 2 seasons....will he be much better coming off a torn pectoral muscle which has limited his time in the weight room in the offseason? Vickers is out for some or all of Spring, Picou and A. Johnson have shown nothing yet, and no freshmen DTs early enrolled.

We lost arguably the best DE in program history and by far our best defensive playmaker last year in Barnett and we lose a solid, steady DE in Vereen who finished his career, as a part time starter, with 111 tackles, 26 TFLs and 13 sacks....Vereen's production will be difficult to replace, Barnett's virtually impossible.

We lose Sutton and Foreman, two of our best DB playmakers, and we return everybody else....all of which were on balance, very bad last year....is that a positive?

This defense may indeed prove to be better, more disciplined, more fundamental, more effective. But I'd argue it's virtually impossible to make that point right now, on paper, as we head into Spring practice.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#207
#207
CMcEver said:
We lose 0 LBs from the 2-deep last year, if you don't count Reeves-Maybin, because he barely played last year. We return every DT, lose Barnett, Vereen and Lewis at DE, lose Sutton and Foreman at CB, but return everyone else in the 2-deep from last year. No doubt that we miss those guys, but I think the defense, as a unit, should be better after another year in a new system.
Click to expand...

you are talking about players that gave up

5,840 yards of offense, the most in at least 40 years. Probably an all time Tennessee record...

2,841 yards rushing, the most in at least 40 years, probably an all time Tennessee record.

28 rushing touchdowns, the most in at least 40 years and probably a Tennessee record.

The stats I keep up with go back 40 years and no further. I could look it up but don't have time to see if a UT record.

they also gave up 375 points the second most in 40 years.

and that was with the best defensive lineman on the team since Reggie White 35 years ago.

Maybe they will be better this year. we can hope for that anyway.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#209
#209
KBVol said:
How'd our LBs play last year without JRM? (I know DKJr was hurt too, but he's not shown to be on JRMs level quite yet). So, our LB corp wasn't good, we had nobody near his level of play. McDowell replaced him and did well at times, ok overall, but the drop off was fairly severe.

We lost OBrien who played the 1st half the season last year.....didn't replace him with anybody last year who played well the second half of the season and we find ourselves in that same position now.

Very doubtful Tuttle will be ready to go for the start of the season, and how good/explosive/healthy is he gonna be once he returns after not one, but two bad leg injuries? KMac has been disappointing his first 2 seasons....will he be much better coming off a torn pectoral muscle which has limited his time in the weight room in the offseason? Vickers is out for some or all of Spring, Picou and A. Johnson have shown nothing yet, and no freshmen DTs early enrolled.

We lost arguably the best DE in program history and by far our best defensive playmaker last year in Barnett and we lose a solid, steady DE in Vereen who finished his career, as a part time starter, with 111 tackles, 26 TFLs and 13 sacks....Vereen's production will be difficult to replace, Barnett's virtually impossible.

We lose Sutton and Foreman, two of our best DB playmakers, and we return everybody else....all of which were on balance, very bad last year....is that a positive?

This defense may indeed prove to be better, more disciplined, more fundamental, more effective. But I'd argue it's virtually impossible to make that point right now, on paper, as we head into Spring practice.
Click to expand...

At LB, we lost DKJr and JRM for most of the season, as well as McDowell and Sapp. Considering we were in a base 4-2-5, we were playing with 3rd and 4th string LBs, so I really wouldn't expect a much different outcome in the first year of a new DC. I have to give it to Jumper, though, he got thrown into the fire and handled it well at times.
At DT, we lost 4 to injury/attrition, again putting us down to 3rd/4th string at this position as well. Which got ugly against the run, real fast. I think we gave up like 400 yds a game for a stretch there?
Then at DB, we lost Sutton, and continuously lost others to injuries throughout the year.
At DE, we were solid, but if you can just run down our throats, it kind of made the DEs ineffective.
But with a month of preparation, we held Nebraska to 60 yds rushing, which was promising to me.
I just feel like we would have been okay without all of the injuries, and maybe could have handled them, had we not needed to start players who weren't even ready to get PT yet. I am just hoping that this year we will have more players that know the system, and will be ready to go if the injury bug hits us again. I do think losing Barnett will hurt, but I still believe we will be more prepared and should have a better defense, as a whole.

I thought these stats were interesting:
• Tennessee secondary featured 11 different starting combinations

• Tennessee linebacking corps had eight different starting units

• Tennessee defensive line had seven different starting combinations

• DT Kendal Vickers & DE Derek Barnett were the only two players on defense to start every game

• Tennessee had 27 different players start at some point on defense
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top