Serious question: how are other players being picked over Vols?

[sechamp2012]

WTF are you trying to say? The highlighted section isn't even a sentence.

He's(PharmD) trying to say because Jerry Rice went to Mississippi Valley State (for example) he should have not been drafted back in the day. He was a non Power 5 player
and BTW PharmD there are numerous non Power 5 Pro Bowl guys.

 

[VolinMichigan]

There is no hatred. And he was a very good player. He just wasn't one of the elite football players in the game. he was the only player we had, so his numbers looked good. That's what happens when you use a 1st round pick on Matt Jones as a WR.

Which dovetails to an argument in favor of the OP? How the hell do Reggie Williams and Matt Jones get drafted in the first round as WR?

I think NFL GMs and coaches can talk themselves into anything. For example, a QB runs a freakishly fast 40 for his size and GMs, coaches and scouts start salivating about the potential of putting that guy somewhere on the field and what it could do for their offense etc etc. It’s a possibility that those guys aren’t good football players and they’ve been able to get by purely on their athleticism. It’s also possible that the Owners, GMs and coaches aren’t good at their jobs. If it works out they look like a genius. But it almost never works out.

 

[Sea Ray]

Please allow me to rant for one moment. I have watched a few football games (UT and non-UT) in my lifetime. I would consider myself a casual fan of numerous other teams that have no bearing on UT’s schedule. I just like football plain and simple. Which brings me to my point:

Based on level of success vs competition, it makes no sense whatsoever how a player’s body of work at Ball State, La Tech, Colorado and a myriad of other programs could be considered superior to the SEC. Players like Bituli and JJ should’ve been off the board by yesterday. I am a reasonable fan. I am not referring to every SINGLE case. However can find probably 20 players that have been drafted and I’m like “nah, take that cash and put it in the toilet”. I am not trying to crap on the dreams of others but I seriously don’t understand it.

If you've seen your share of UT football games in recent yrs then the answer should be obvious to you. Ever wonder why the team has struggled to win games? It's a lack of talent. JJ was lucky to even play for the Vols. He barely got reinstated in 2018.

This draft should be a wake up call that the talent level in Knoxville needs to improve and that it's not where it should be

 

[Sea Ray]

Jauan Jennings
Vertical: 29 inches (2nd worst among WRs)
Broad: 119 inches (7th worst among WRs)
40 yard dash: 4.72 (2nd worst among WRs)

Numbers the NFL looks at.

He's too slow to play WR; not big enough for TE. He's not a guy NFL teams seek out. He was able to muscle his way into making plays in the SEC but he won't be able to do much of that in the NFL

 

[MikeVol44]

He's(PharmD) trying to say because Jerry Rice went to Mississippi Valley State (for example) he should have not been drafted back in the day. He was a non Power 5 player
and BTW PharmD there are numerous non Power 5 Pro Bowl guys.

Walter Payton played at Jackson State in Miss.....no power 5 team.

 

[MikeVol44]

I was shocked that Taylor went in the 2nd round.....He has demonstrated some explosion and skill at DE, but he's looked terrible at times, too. I know that he's battled injuries...so there's some talent there for sure...I thought 3rd or 4th rounder.

Callaway is an over-rated receiver and always has been--hate on me if you must, but he just ain't that good.
Bituli is NOT GOOD...and it's just that simple...slow, weak, and lacks agility and foot speed. He can't cover, and his lack of speed and explosion means he's a terrible NFL prospect

I know you're gonna chew on me for saying it...but it's flat out true.

There's a difference in being a football fan who watches a lot of games...and KNOWING HOW to watch a game--and specifically, how to evaluate a player's performance.
If you've never played and had coaches evaluate your performance on film---that fact is just too hard to explain to people who think they can know everything thru google and youtube.

Personally--other than Taylor, I think DWA has the best opportunity to sign as a FA and make a living for himself in the NFL if he does the physical work necessary to drop weight and gain a few steps as a TE.
Warrior has an outside shot, too, to be a "Bill Bates" career special teams guy who could turn that into a living in the NFL

I think Pruitt's next 2 or 3 recruiting classes will demonstrate to all Vol fans just how bad the "talent" was at UT when he took over.

 

[sechamp2012]

I agree with a lot of what is being said but what if JJ and Callaway had PM throwing them the football instead of QB G and assorted freshman. JJ would be a great slot receiver. Edelman (Pats) is slow and not too big but he has good hands and gains yards after the catch. Very surprised that Callaway did not get drafted.

Edelman’s 4.52 is way faster than JJ not even close & his got a quick twitch rated one highest in league one best route runners in league per Tom Brady. If JJ has close to Edelman career we will be proud.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

JJ killed his own draft stock with a poor combine showing. Ran slow, had an awful vertical. NFL is all about measurables. Sure he broke a lot of tackles, that's because he can't outrun anyone. He's got good fight in him, but he also let several passes through his hands in televised games. I'm not surprised at all that he hasn't been picked. Speed is something you either have, or you don't. Don't act surprised when a 4.3 guy gets picked before his 4.72 time. There are QBs and LBs and some linemen running faster times than that. It just is what it is.

Tony Mandarich and Todd Marinovich

 

[05_never_again]

It is crazy but NFL scouts look at odd things. SF just drafted TE our of UGA and he had 34 career catches. 9 in 2019. Who would think he would get drafted before JJ.

Broadly speaking, I don't think NFL scouts put as much stock in college stats/performance as you do.

I love Jauan - I absolutely adore the way he plays the game and he made a ton of big plays for us over the years. For long periods of time in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, he was one of the only guys on the entire team who seemed to care and played hard. He'll always be beloved by Vols for that. He's tough as nails and one of the toughest people I've ever seen play WR in either college or the NFL. Those are definitely intangibles that don't show up on a stat sheet, and you only become aware of them after you've watched the guy play for years.

However, let's be real...his college stats don't exactly jump off the page. I think we all might be too close to the situation to view this objectively. To a non-Tennessee fan, Jauan is a WR who played on a bad college team, put up respectable but not eye-popping stats in college, and wasn't impressive at the combine. He never had a 1000-yard receiving season in college. 19 total TDs in 48 career games. Is some of that caused by QB play? Yes, of course. But in 2015 and 2016 combined, when he had better QB play from Dobbs, he only racked up 729 total receiving yards and 7 TDs. He had issues with drops at times.

Take a look at WRs who were drafted just ahead of Jauan...Freddie Swain, Patmon, Hodges, etc. Very similar numbers to Jauan, and when you get to guys in the 4th and 5th rounds you start running into guys who were more productive than Jauan was. He was drafted about where he should have been, IMO.

 

[05_never_again]

We know the SEC is the best league out there. There is no question. But, the way some people speak, it's as if people in other leagues can't play.

There are plenty of small school guys that get it done. It's the same as high school. There are prospects who were 3* and 2* guys coming out of high school that went in the 1st round of the draft. Well, what happened? They gained 30 points. They dropped a few tenths of a second from their 40 time. They grew 3 inches. It happens.

Sometimes, it's easier to scout small school guys too. Great example. Which of the Alabama WR's is going to make the best pro? Who knows? And it's hard to know because they're all good and they all have Tua throwing to them. Was it them or Tua? Did Jeudy make it easy for Ruggs or did Ruggs make it easy for Jeudy? It's not until you get to the pros where you find out who the real alpha dog is.

The best things about JJ are things you can't measure.

I normally wouldn't say this about the QB/WR relationship because I think in most cases it is the QB who makes it easier for his WRs, but I honestly think in their case Ruggs/Jeudy made it easy for Tua. At least during their time at Alabama...Tua might go on to be a great pro. I don't know.

Tua is capable of making difficult throws, to be sure, but how many yards and TD passes did Tua throw for in his college career to a wide open Ruggs or Jeudy on that middle slant? When they caught the ball there was nobody within 5 yards of them, and they are fast enough to simply outrun everybody 50 yards for the TD.

Jeudy and Ruggs are great on their own, but put them on the same team and it's totally unfair. I thought it was kind of interesting that Ruggs got drafted ahead of Jeudy, as Jeudy was the more productive college player, but I guess after Ruggs ran that 4.27 40 all bets were off.

 

[08Vol]

The evaluation of the TCU wide receiver that went in the first round is basically he’s very athletic and fast but his skill level is very raw. His entire weaknesses section is basically what OP said they don’t look at.

You’re talking about ESPN’s analysis. NFL teams don’t use ESPN’s analysis and you can bet they aren’t about to show anyone else how they analyze potential draft picks.

 

[LSU-SIU]

It is crazy but NFL scouts look at odd things. SF just drafted TE our of UGA and he had 34 career catches. 9 in 2019. Who would think he would get drafted before JJ.

Stephen Sullivan only had 46 catches in his career and only 12 this year and he was drafted in the 7th round. Of course, he was probably 4th to 5th on the depth chart as well with some deep pockets. A couple of other ones that come to mind is Russell Gage and James Wright, Wright only had 25 catches at LSU and 0 as a Senior. But both of those guys played a bunch of special teams as well, dual roles if needed. Many top players (meaning for their team) should be fighting for special team time as NFL scouts will look at what they can do on special teams to take chances on players.

Jennings fell down the line because of combine numbers, but it was a heavy WR class as well. I mean Stephen Sullivan is probably 2-3 inches taller and what 25-30lbs more and his measurables at the combine were 4.66s 40yd, 36.5 in. vj, and 123in. bj.

I would say Jennings is probably a better receiver than Sullivan (he lacks some skills as far as separation and moving after the catch), but I am not surprised they both went late.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

Tony Mandarich and Todd Marinovich

Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning ... so even, can't go wrong either way, right?

 

[thistime]

Think about this:
According to the a study, just 0.08 percent of high school senior players will be drafted by an NFL team. In other words, eight in every 10,000 players will eventually have their names called during the NFL Draft

16.7% don’t even end playing for the drafting team (20 years average)
37% are considered ‘useless’, or busts.
5.3% are ‘poor’. Busts such as Jamarcus Russell are here.
So 69% are ‘poor’ or worst.
10.5% average
12.3% good
6.8% great
1% legendary
That gives 20.1% good. 2 out of 10.

As much as I want them all to get drafted NFL teams look for a specific skill set more times than not after the first part of the first round and not just the best available. The so called draft experts that are on the TV and internet if you will notice are never right after the first 3 or 4 picks. These guys just get paid to say who they think will get drafted by who and never get close.

GO VOLS !!!!