Spring Ball 2021

#51
#51
Great thread. Am always looking forward to spring ball. I look forward to hearing about OLBs that have put on good muscle, and Rbs that are finally healthy.
 
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#55
#55
I am excited about Spring Ball as well

QB - Hopefully we add a Grad Transfer and have a 4 man battle. Competition and sending Wienke to the curb should help a ton

RB - Gray, Small, Evans, Brown... should be loaded (Chandler moves on, Beckwith to TE)

WR - V. Jones returning helps a lot, I was worried about having all underclassman. Hopefully we get a grad transfer as well.
The unit will likely be average (inexperienced bu more athletic) in 2021 but could be very good the following year if Wideman, Callaway, Holiday develop

TE - I am optimistic here. Beckwith should move back to TE and Fant/Warren may not be the best blockers but are athletic pass catching threats

DL - Middleton announced that he is coming back. Solomon, Butler.. not sure. Either way we need to get more athletic here, I am hoping we are seeing a lot more of Omari Thomas and Dominic Bailey

LB - Interior LBs are solid with Eason and French adding even more talent and depth behind Henry and Crouch. At OLD I am glad Bennet and Johnson are gone, they had their opportunities and neither could consistently produce.. Hopefully Baron or Joseph takes the next step and the JUCO or Dylan Brooks contribute. Roman Harrison is a bust.

DBs - This position group makes zero sense. Despite Ansley and Pruitt priding themselves at their DB prowess we cannot recruit or develop DBs. Theo Jackson, Shamburger, George etc.. need to move on. Perhaps Lawrence, Slaughter, McDonald can offer more.
 
#56
#56
Worst case scenario: Maurer is taken out by the investigation, Pruitt is fired, and Bailey's Dad is essentially saying if Pruitt is gone, HB is gone.

No Maurer, no Bailey, no Pruitt, no Weinke, and a true Fr QB in Salter as a likely starter? Yikes!

Hitting the portal for a transfer QB isn't just a good idea, it's essential.
 
#57
#57
Key played all over the place, not just safety. He played a lot at corner, especially when we were in dime packages. He also played in all 10 games.
Burrell started multiple games so that means he started over those upperclassman you’re trying to give all the credit and blame to.
George only played in 8 games. Burrell played in 8 but key played in 10.
I won’t argue that the upperclassmen sucked, but they certainly didn’t play the entire time and shared a lot of snaps with young folks. 2 senior OLBs, one of which was booted 7 games into the season. The rest were sophs and freshman. When you have an old team, that many underclassmen dont play that much
Key didn’t touch the field outside of special teams until end of year... key practiced all over the field. Burrell was another mainstay on special teams. I don’t know what you were watching but a big gripe was why the younger guys weren’t on the field most of the year. That included Key, Dee, Hyatt at the start of the year, Slaughter got yanked the first game.
Edit: According to UT official website. Keyshawn recorded 8 tackles in 3 games... he didn’t play hardly at all.
 
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#58
#58
I'm looking forward to seeing running back Tiyon Evans perform.

There is a freshman back that is an EE -Jaylen Wright (6'0" 205 4.3 speed)
Evans is salty. Brown is a bull with great feet and good acceleration.

But don't sleep on this Wright kid. He's legit 4.3 with great hands.
Didn't get to play his SR season because North Carolina high schools canceled the season.
So all he did was train.

Salter may be the most more important early enrollee (EE).

We still have a big talented Oline. If we get any consistency in the passing game our running game should really take off with Gray and the power backs. I still believe in the talent on the roster.

Dee Beckwith will be the 2nd tailback imo. Jabari Small won't make things easy for anyone.
 
#59
#59
I am excited about Spring Ball as well

QB - Hopefully we add a Grad Transfer and have a 4 man battle. Competition and sending Wienke to the curb should help a ton

RB - Gray, Small, Evans, Brown... should be loaded (Chandler moves on, Beckwith to TE)

WR - V. Jones returning helps a lot, I was worried about having all underclassman. Hopefully we get a grad transfer as well.
The unit will likely be average (inexperienced bu more athletic) in 2021 but could be very good the following year if Wideman, Callaway, Holiday develop

TE - I am optimistic here. Beckwith should move back to TE and Fant/Warren may not be the best blockers but are athletic pass catching threats

DL - Middleton announced that he is coming back. Solomon, Butler.. not sure. Either way we need to get more athletic here, I am hoping we are seeing a lot more of Omari Thomas and Dominic Bailey

LB - Interior LBs are solid with Eason and French adding even more talent and depth behind Henry and Crouch. At OLD I am glad Bennet and Johnson are gone, they had their opportunities and neither could consistently produce.. Hopefully Baron or Joseph takes the next step and the JUCO or Dylan Brooks contribute. Roman Harrison is a bust.

DBs - This position group makes zero sense. Despite Ansley and Pruitt priding themselves at their DB prowess we cannot recruit or develop DBs. Theo Jackson, Shamburger, George etc.. need to move on. Perhaps Lawrence, Slaughter, McDonald can offer more.

Everyone looks like a bad position coach because Pruitt's ridiculous commitment to play JG everyweek.
Is Weinke gone yet? Chaney's rep has taken a hit as well.

Yeah we have some talent.
- Yeah a grad transfer at QB may be essential depending on what happens. We may lose Bailey and Maurer :(.

- Beckwith isn't moving to TE imo. Could be wrong. If he does, Gray, Evans, Brown, Small, Wright is a pretty talented position group

- WR has some really good skill there. I'd like to see a transfer there, but I believe they can be developed if we don't. Tillman is coming on and Hyatt could explode next year.

- Fant and Warren have showed a lot of growth. Fant could be in for a breakout year

- DL needs to play better. Interested in seeing Thomas and Simmons grow.

- Interior LBs all need to improve. They aren't lacking in talent. Aaron Will push some for a spot.
Eason is now at OLB. Im not ready to call Harrison a bust yet. He has 4.5 sacks in his 2 years. But he really needs to keep his head up and be more effective on all downs. Baron should be a stud. Need Brooks to contribute day one.

- Flowers finally had a full healthy year. He was really good at times. McDonald is a physical dude. Tank was lost A LOT. needs to really study his craft. Key Lawrence needs to be on the field. Put him Nickel and let him go. Taylor and Thompson were pretty steady. Really need some CBs behind them. Rucker could factor in here. Lawrence as well, but I really think he should be the starting NB. He was physically holding his own against Texas A&M
 
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#60
#60
There is a freshman back that is an EE -Jaylen Wright (6'0" 205 4.3 speed)
Evans is salty. Brown is a bull with great feet and good acceleration.

But don't sleep on this Wright kid. He's legit 4.3 with great hands.
Didn't get to play his SR season because North Carolina high schools canceled the season.
So all he did was train.

Salter may be the most more important early enrollee (EE).

We still have a big talented Oline. If we get any consistency in the passing game our running game should really take off with Gray and the power backs. I still believe in the talent on the roster.

Dee Beckwith will be the 2nd tailback imo. Jabari Small won't make things easy for anyone.
I believe you are right about Wright. He could be the surprise sleeper out of the entire class. GBO!
 
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#61
#61
If we can get better D-Line play, that will greatly improve our defense and take pressure off the secondary. We have some decent pieces in other places on the field as long as we can get good QB play.
 
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#62
#62
A great majority of us are still waiting to see if Pruitt is truly getting another year. Regardless of that, there is still a football team that is going to have a critical off-season. A couple of huge positives too personnel wise to look at.

QB: We're going to have Bailey and Maurer for 2021. That's huge. Throw in a talented Kaden Salter and the QB room feels fresh again. Now the big question is will there be a true QB competition. Edit: I forgot about the Maurer credit card thing.

RB: More power is on the way. Cody Brown at 230. Evans at 220. Beckwith at 235 all 3 with speed and hands. Gray will certainly be the guy if he's on the team still but look for more power in the backfield.

WR/TE: Jalin Hyatt in year 2 should be able to back the safties out of the box. Velus will be the number 2 guy. Wideman and Tillman have go get it ability. Princeton Fant is getting better and better. Legit recieving TE threat.

OL: Friend is GONE. Wanya, and Darnell in year 3. Mays boys on the inside. Carvin, and Kalberht are big guys that have played a lot. I think we improve here with the QB consistency and the added power Rbs.

Defense:

Bruh...i don't know.

So comment if you are excited still about spring ball.
What will you be looking for?
Do you think a bigtime transfer is coming to Knoxville?
If Jeremy lets Chaney have complete control, do you see this team having a good spring.
If no Maurer, who will be the 3rd QB?
Any position changes??
Who are you most excited to see this spring?
Completely baffles me how we have no talent atTE and Beckwith is like a 3rd or 4th string RB.
 
#63
#63
Everyone looks like a bad position coach because Pruitt's ridiculous commitment to play JG everyweek.
Is Weinke gone yet? Chaney's rep has taken a hit as well.

Yeah we have some talent.
- Yeah a grad transfer at QB may be essential depending on what happens. We may lose Bailey and Maurer :(.

- Beckwith isn't moving to TE imo. Could be wrong. If he does, Gray, Evans, Brown, Small, Wright is a pretty talented position group

- WR has some really good skill there. I'd like to see a transfer there, but I believe they can be developed if we don't. Tillman is coming on and Hyatt could explode next year.

- Fant and Warren have showed a lot of growth. Fant could be in for a breakout year

- DL needs to play better. Interested in seeing Thomas and Simmons grow.

- Interior LBs all need to improve. They aren't lacking in talent. Aaron Will push some for a spot.
Eason is now at OLB. Im not ready to call Harrison a bust yet. He has 4.5 sacks in his 2 years. But he really needs to keep his head up and be more effective on all downs. Baron should be a stud. Need Brooks to contribute day one.

- Flowers finally had a full healthy year. He was really good at times. McDonald is a physical dude. Tank was lost A LOT. needs to really study his craft. Key Lawrence needs to be on the field. Put him Nickel and let him go. Taylor and Thompson were pretty steady. Really need some CBs behind them. Rucker could factor in here. Lawrence as well, but I really think he should be the starting NB. He was physically holding his own against Texas A&M
I believe Peyton needs to hold a 2nd Qb camp this here just for the UT Qb’s.
 
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#65
#65
Did we not have a s&c coach last spring? I thought we had a top rated coach last year? Did he leave?

Graig Fitzgerald who was a top notch S & C guy went to greener pastures and CJP promoted from within. If you compare experience between the two, there is little doubt that we had a big drop off in this department. I have nothing against climbing the career ladder, but replacing Fitz with someone who was a GA and then an intern is similar to replacing a great coach with a Google search coach IMHO.
 
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#66
#66
Graig Fitzgerald who was a top notch S & C guy went to greener pastures and CJP promoted from within. If you compare experience between the two, there is little doubt that we had a big drop off in this department. I have nothing against climbing the career ladder, but replacing Fitz with someone who was a GA and then an intern is similar to replacing a great coach with a Google search coach IMHO.
Ah. I didn't realize that. I thought we had a good coach. Honstly, i havent kept up much with the inner workings of the team last spring and summer.
 
#68
#68
Graig Fitzgerald who was a top notch S & C guy went to greener pastures and CJP promoted from within. If you compare experience between the two, there is little doubt that we had a big drop off in this department. I have nothing against climbing the career ladder, but replacing Fitz with someone who was a GA and then an intern is similar to replacing a great coach with a Google search coach IMHO.
I agree with this. I would love for a proven S&C coach to come on board, but I can't fairly judge what Artis was up against in his first year being a COVID year. I saw he was trying to be creative and send workouts to players in an attempt to motivate during isolation periods. Timing was all off too when Fitz left which IIRC was early summer.
 
#71
#71
Key didn’t touch the field outside of special teams until end of year... key practiced all over the field. Burrell was another mainstay on special teams. I don’t know what you were watching but a big gripe was why the younger guys weren’t on the field most of the year. That included Key, Dee, Hyatt at the start of the year, Slaughter got yanked the first game.
Edit: According to UT official website. Keyshawn recorded 8 tackles in 3 games... he didn’t play hardly at all.
I dont know what you were watching but here is what the website youre trying to reference says about it. Also tackles dont equal snaps.

Seen action as a reserve defensive back and special teams contributor in all nine games this season ... Matched a his career high tackles (2) and recorded his first pass breakup in win at Vanderbilt (12/12) ... Recorded his first two career tackles vs. #2 Alabama (10/24) ... Made his Tennessee debut in season-opening victory over South Carolina (9/26).

And then they also say he played in 10 games, so i will give you that it was likely only special teams or limited role until Bama, which was game 5. So that means, at a minimum he was getting secondary snaps by then.
 
#72
#72
I dont know what you were watching but here is what the website youre trying to reference says about it. Also tackles dont equal snaps.

Seen action as a reserve defensive back and special teams contributor in all nine games this season ... Matched a his career high tackles (2) and recorded his first pass breakup in win at Vanderbilt (12/12) ... Recorded his first two career tackles vs. #2 Alabama (10/24) ... Made his Tennessee debut in season-opening victory over South Carolina (9/26).
I’m curious if they have a snap count played statistic in college?
 

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