Recruiting Forum Football Talk [RIP 9.3.2019]

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#170,279
#170,279
Day 4 notes from Simonton

I made this comment to Brent Hubbs when we were watching one section of practice today but the first few days of camp have been the quietest I can remember covering. There’s plenty of effort during drills, but not a ton of juice, trash-talk or even encouragement amongst players. The only voices you ever hear are coaches.
I know Pruitt had a nice quip back to me when I asked about the heat on Saturday, but it’s clearly noticeable that when guys aren’t taking reps they’re catching their breath or drinking water. There’s very little teammate-to-teammate interaction, whether it be praise or accountability. The one instance that did occur Tuesday was when Jarrett Guarantano snapped at Josh Palmer for a poor route. Tennessee’s quarterback voiced his displeasure with Palmer’s effort and then clapped his hands vigorously and encouraged the junior wideout to pick it up. Now, word is when we aren’t out there that Guarantano has been very vocal with his teammates, which makes sense considering all the talk about how this is his team, but I’d be curious to know if that’s the case with other position groups because that’s certainly not happening while we’re out there.

A couple guys from various positions groups who stood out Tuesday included freshman offensive tackle Darnell Wright, defensive linemen Latrell Bumphus and Aubrey Solomon and linebacker Will Ignont.

Wright already looks like he’s dropped some weight and looked more comfortable in drills Tuesday. He might be 325 pounds but he holds it well and is effortlessly athletic. He’s light on his feet and powerful out of his stance. Yes he’s a bit raw, but it’s hard to see him not factoring into the lineup soon rather than later.

Meanwhile, Bumphus and Solomon both received multiple thumbs up from Tracy Rocker during a couple different drills. It’s no secret the Vols would be very well served to have Solomon eligible this fall. Also, Emmit Gooden just stands out among the rest of the group. He's had a strong start to camp.

Another DL note: Once again, Elijah Simmons flashed his nimble footwork, leverage and power during two drills today. He moves like he’s 285 not 340. It’s also readily apparent just how agile and explosive he is when you watch his reps compared to a guy like Savion Williams. Now, Williams plays with real violence, though, which is not something I can say about Darel Middleton right now. The 6-7, 311-pound tackle looks like a million bucks and moves well but when it comes to striking a pad, sled or body there’s very little power behind it.

As for Ignont, when Kevin Sherrer and Derrick Ansley talk about retention in Year 2 of the system, the junior linebacker is the perfect example of quickly knowing his assignments now — and that of his teammates. When Sherrer shouts out a command, Ignont is always first to either respond or make the correct steps/foot placement. The rest of the ILBs had an up-and-down day, though. JJ Peterson looked good during one drill and spent time talking with Kevin Simon between reps. But then the redshirt sophomore was pulled from a run-stuffing drill in favor of Solon Page. With Daniel Bituli working with the pass rushers, Ignont and Henry To’oto’o were paired together while Page worked alongside Shanon Reid. Sherrer scolded Reid twice for not sticking his foot in the ground and flying to meet the RB in the hole.

It was a rough day to be a Tennessee tight end. Brian Niedermeyer was all over freshmen Jackson Lowe and Sean Brown during two different run blocking drills, and then when the whole unit joined the OL for a combo-blocking session, Jim Chaney was upset about the unit’s lack of aggressiveness and physicality at the point of attack.

The secondary, both corners and safeties, did lots of tracking and ball drills Tuesday, with guys like Bryce Thompson, Trevon Flowers, Jaylen McCollough and Cheyenne Labruzza all naturally plucking the ball out of the air. The ball-skills of this group has been upgraded the past two seasons with so many ex-offensive players in the group.

At safety the reps rotation went Nigel Warrior, Flowers, Theo Jackson, McCollough, Labruzza, Aaron Beasley, Brandon Davis and Tyus Fields.

During indy work, the OL that we’ve seen the first few days stayed the same, with Wanya Morris and Jahmir Johnson working at left tackle, Trey Smith, Jerome Carvin and Riley Locklear at left guard, Brandon Kennedy and Ryan Johnson at center, K’Rojhn Calbert and Nathan Niehaus at right guard and Wright and Marcus Tatum at right tackle. As noted in the chat last night, when we leave practice though, Tennessee continues to shuffle guys around, with Calbert seeing work at left tackle and Johnson time at guard.

Only saw a few minutes of routes on air, but Maleik Gray made a nice diving catch. Deangelo Gibbs and Brandon Johnson had a couple good catches, too. The group worked on double-moves and other deep balls, with Guarantano overthrowing Jauan Jennings and Palmer on two reps.

Working with the S&C staff were Jeremy Banks, Ollie Lane and Chris Akporoghene. No sign of Carlin Fils-Aime or Baylen Buchanan.
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#170,284
#170,284
Big Gucci Sosa said:
Day 4 notes from Simonton
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I think something we're all kind of missing is that note about the TEs. After DWA it seems there is a STEEP decline in our quality at TE. Dudes look tiny compared to DWA & time after time it seems like we're hearing about their lack of aggressiveness and footwork. Im almost as nervous about TE as I am the OL at this point.
 
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#170,285
#170,285
ChismsHeadband said:
Uh we're gonna beat Florida in Gainesville this year, y'all. Imagine the nips being blown off when that happens.
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#170,289
#170,289
I'm still amazed at how little unwanted attrition we have had under Pruitt.

Out of only 18 HS enrollees in 2016 - we still have 13 of them on the roster. Out of the 5 no longer playing, only Latrell Williams and Marquill Osborne have transferred under this staff, both buried in the depth chart. Brooks got his medical retirement. Mcdaniels and Jeremy Lewis had already left.

Out of 27 HS enrollees in 2017 - we still have 22 of them on the roster. Out of the 5 no longer playing, only Trey Coleman and Will Mcbride have transferred under this staff, both buried in the depth chart. Crosby and Brown got their medical retirements. Thaxton was dismissed following an arrest.

Out of 22 enrollees in 2018, only Antonutti is no longer on the roster, due to medical retirement. We will see if Garland returns or not. Pruitt is keeping that door open for him it sounds like.

I count essentially 0 concerning losses through these classes. Would love to have some of those OL guys not having to retire, but that is a different thing altogether. All in all, a night and day difference from 2014 when something like 8 guys had left on their own before the season even began and 40+% attrition after a year or two was not unusual (I wish LWS posted here, he's kept an enormous amount of running data on attrition across the entire league).

And fwiw, we have 3 5th year guys from 2015. Jennings, Taylor, and Lovingood.
 
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#170,293
#170,293
SweetasSoda said:
He's having to deal with the type of players that go to FL vs. the type that goes to Miss State also.
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Good point. A whole different breed. Ms St kids were probably hungry with chips on their shoulders. Now he's having to play with stars, divas, and all other sorts and having to "de-recruit" them. I have a sense he's going to handle all that about as well as CBJ did.
 
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#170,294
#170,294
LA Vol said:
That would be work. Intern Jones doesn't want to work. He wants to collect his token paycheck from Bama for 18 more months so he can continue to milk Tennessee for $200,000 a month-- more than he could earn per year at most schools that would hire him.
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Given how it all went down, I bet most on this board would opt to take the $200K per month. I know I would. That's what I call easy money :):)
 
#170,298
#170,298
chargervol said:
I want to give credit to the "headhunter" poster because it's such a good theory imo.

Warrior not being allowed to deliver that hit he was so good at is like telling Manning he's not allowed to set his feet.
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You like VolHeadHunter better than butchna?
 
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