Tennessee projected top 10 defense in 2020 (ahead of Bama)

#26
#26
VOLnFLA said:
You don't think Eric grey is a future superstar? I think he is an Alvin kamara in the making
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Don’t see it. He’s talented but limited. Don’t see him being a stud, top SEC running back. Could certainly be wrong, hope I am. He and Chandler should split time this season imo with one of the big young pups helping out on short yardage/goal line packages.
 
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#27
#27
KBVol said:
Don’t see it. He’s talented but limited. Don’t see him being a stud, top SEC running back. Could certainly be wrong, hope I am. He and Chandler should split time this season imo with one of the big young pups helping out on short yardage/goal line packages.
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He was a freshman behind a mediocre line in the SEC and still produced. This guy is a stud in the making. JMO.
 
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#28
#28
LittleVol said:
Ehh..idk

Chandler was banged up this year, but Regardless Gray showed much better running ability.

Chandler has been decent. He's averaging over 5 yards a carry for a his career. Lack of consistent passing attack hasn't been easy to overcome.

Gray absolutely has a chance to be special.
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When? At no point during last season did he show better running ability than Chandler, last season’s leading rusher, outside of the Vandy game, which was an anomaly game for him..,,.150 of the 246 yards came on 2 long runs where he didn’t get touched. The other 96 yards came on 23 carries vs the 2nd worst rush defense in the conference.

Is he talented, yeah. Can he be a good, serviceable back, yeah. But special? Got a long way to go before he’s “special”, if he can ever get there. Lewis, Henry, Garner, Webb, Cobb....those guys were special and you knew it as soon as you saw them. Nothing Gray did last year, aside from a few lateral cuts here and there showed he is “special”.
 
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#29
#29
If Gray can play at about 205 without losing quickness or speed then he may become a very good RB. But he was way too easy to tackle last year.
 
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#30
#30
TMvol10 said:
So now we are doing preseason rankings for units? Preseason rankings are getting out of hand. With that said, I’ll take a seventh ranked every day and twice on Sundays. Offense is fun to watch but having a stifling defense that teams hate playing against is more fun for me
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The magazines have been doing rankings of units, for years, both in the SEC, and nationally.

Sure, positive predictions for us are just some individual's opinion ... but so are the negative ones.

But, how many years back would we have to go since the last time someone even opined in print that we might have a top 10 D? It would be at least a decade and a half. I'll allow it.
 
#31
#31
BigBadVol said:
He was a freshman behind a mediocre line in the SEC and still produced. This guy is a stud in the making. JMO.
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I’ve seen stud freshmen running backs at Tennessee.....he wasn’t it last year. Through 11 weeks, going into the Vandy game, he had 207 yards on 62 carries, 3.4 yards per carry, and no rushing touchdowns.....nothing special about that. I was excited about his 246 yard performance vs the Commodedores, but let’s be honest about it....Chandler could’ve and very likely would’ve broken both of the Td runs Gray did in that game, running through gaping holes, where nobody touched him....only he would’ve scored a little quicker since he clearly has better straight line speed. Heck, Carlin Fils-Aime would’ve scored on those plays as well, maybe even Tim Jordan.

I’m not saying Gray isn’t a good, talented back. His lateral cuts are outstanding. But on most of his runs last year, he finished getting knocked backwards or sideways. Until the 2 runs vs Vandy he had hit a major freshman wall and was generally disappointing. Hopefully he takes a huge step forward as a sophomore. Either way, I think he splits time with Ty Chandler and rightfully so.
 
#32
#32
Hawkeye4588 said:
24/7 has us at #7 on their projecting the top 10 defenses in the nation for 2020: Projecting college football's Top 10 defenses in 2020

Here is their synopsis of UT:



and, yes, as I stated in the title, Bama is #8 on this list. I wonder how Saban likes the view from behind?
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I think we'll have one of the best passing defenses in the SEC alongside Ga this next season if we stay healthy. I think our pass rush is going to be relentless and with Taylor and Thompson locking down WRs we're going to be tough to throw against. Do we keep Middleton and who replaces Bituli will determine what we look like vs the run.
 
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#33
#33
KBVol said:
When? At no point during last season did he show better running ability than Chandler, last season’s leading rusher, outside of the Vandy game, which was an anomaly game for him..,,.150 of the 246 yards came on 2 long runs where he didn’t get touched. The other 96 yards came on 23 carries vs the 2nd worst rush defense in the conference.

Is he talented, yeah. Can he be a good, serviceable back, yeah. But special? Got a long way to go before he’s “special”, if he can ever get there. Lewis, Henry, Garner, Webb, Cobb....those guys were special and you knew it as soon as you saw them. Nothing Gray did last year, aside from a few lateral cuts here and there showed he is “special”.
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Agree, I think Gray has the potential to be a special player, but isn't there quite yet. I fear that our fans are already starting to over-hype him and that if he doesn't live up to their inflated expectations, they'll start calling him a bust.
 
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#34
#34
MWAVolfan said:
Well Bama's defense was not great last year so the #8 ranking makes some sense. But I need to see results on the field before I'll believe our D is better. It's one thing to try and project talent 7 months ahead of the season, its another to see how player perform on opening day. I'm glad to see expectations are real high though. but I'm waiting on a Tennessee team that actually meets expectations.
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Yeah they also had a devastating number of injuries and were having to start multiple true freshmen just along the LB corps. I'd expect a more seasoned defense this year and typical top 5 or top 10 Saban defense.

Whether we can have a top 10 defense is up in the air.

On one hand - we lost our 3 alphas, 3 best defenders - 1 at each level. Also replacing every defensive assistant except Ansley. That's a huge amount of turnover off the bat - though Pruitt and Ansley are steadying presences still there.

Upside is a very seasoned DL with Gooden returning. Stud CBs. Decent safeties and talented, but inexperienced LBs. I'm afraid LBs and a lack of organic pass rush will be our weaknesses. Despite the talent at LB, it's just too inexperienced for SEC play, especially with all the complicated RPO stuff coming at LBs these days.

All in all, I'm expecting our 2nd half of the season defense from last year, for the entire season. I'm expecting top 25 or even top 20 defense. Expecting some struggles from Bituli being gone. But overall more speed and more beef inside.
 
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#35
#35
While that's by and large good company... not buying Wisconsin or Oregon unless they're factoring in the lack of competition in the Pac12 and Big10 West.
 
#37
#37
stevenrich2003 said:
I wonder if his special friend has worn holes in the knees to his pants yet? I find it a special slap in the face that he went to work at a bama of all places to be a coffee boy.
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knees are safe,the little dwarf would have to stand on a ladder
 
#40
#40
PulaskiVolFan said:
One thing is for sure, if it happens you'll get credit for predicting it!!
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Think about where the program is, we are on a big winning roll, the players (those not looking at jail time) have their minds on the game and have bought into the program, CJP has recruited lights out. The only similarity between the first two games of this season vs. last season will the equipment used, chalk up two more wins. Some have been worried about going to Norman-they are a good team, have a nice stadium and school, but they are about to suffer an Orange Tornado, when we leave with a "W" the Red Cross may need to be called in. After that we shall be unstoppable! CJP you the man.
 
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#41
#41
sjt18 said:
I think a guy like Hurd would have stomped out big yardage behind last year's OL.
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No offense, but our offensive line play wasnt THAT good last year. It may have been middle of pack in the SEC (which is still an improvement from worst in P5 football) but it was far from nationally elite.

There are some posters who think we have the best OL in the country. I think those individuals will be disappointed this fall.
 
#43
#43
BigOrangeMojo said:
No offense, but our offensive line play wasnt THAT good last year. It may have been middle of pack in the SEC (which is still an improvement from worst in P5 football) but it was far from nationally elite.
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None taken but that OL was better than the ones he ran behind at UT. Jones' OL's were pathetic because of HIS philosophy on O.

There are some posters who think we have the best OL in the country. I think those individuals will be disappointed this fall.
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Don't know about the best in the country but I think they'll be in the top 3rd of the SEC... which is a pretty dramatic turnaround from the end of Jones.
 
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#44
#44
sjt18 said:
I cannot remember the last time you could say D line and UT in the same sentence. I think this may be the most impressive thing Pruitt has done... take the DL from where it was to where it is.
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Not buying it this year either. Is Pruitt upgrading the DL? Yes. Nevertheless, our DL was a weakness last year, and it will continue to be one this year.
 
#45
#45
KBVol said:
I’ve seen stud freshmen running backs at Tennessee.....he wasn’t it last year. Through 11 weeks, going into the Vandy game, he had 207 yards on 62 carries, 3.4 yards per carry, and no rushing touchdowns.....nothing special about that. I was excited about his 246 yard performance vs the Commodedores, but let’s be honest about it....Chandler could’ve and very likely would’ve broken both of the Td runs Gray did in that game, running through gaping holes, where nobody touched him....only he would’ve scored a little quicker since he clearly has better straight line speed. Heck, Carlin Fils-Aime would’ve scored on those plays as well, maybe even Tim Jordan.

I’m not saying Gray isn’t a good, talented back. His lateral cuts are outstanding. But on most of his runs last year, he finished getting knocked backwards or sideways. Until the 2 runs vs Vandy he had hit a major freshman wall and was generally disappointing. Hopefully he takes a huge step forward as a sophomore. Either way, I think he splits time with Ty Chandler and rightfully so.
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You mentioned CFA. I think that kid is talented and due to injury and such he’s never had a chance to shine. He runs hard and is quick. I would love to see him have a good season.
 
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#46
#46
Vol423 said:
Not buying it this year either. Is Pruitt upgrading the DL? Yes. Nevertheless, our DL was a weakness last year, and it will continue to be one this year.
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Agree. Much like the OL, it's much better than 17 and 18 but it's not a nationally elite unit. Still at a talent deficit along the DL.
 
#47
#47
Vol423 said:
Not buying it this year either. Is Pruitt upgrading the DL? Yes. Nevertheless, our DL was a weakness last year, and it will continue to be one this year.
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The DL was thought to be a weakness going into 2019. But, the reality was that the DL held up as a solid unit. It was generally good against the run, held its gaps really well. It got some push against the pass, we just didn't have any elite type pass rushers up front. With every player due to return, plus Gooden and the recent signees added in, I think this unit will be very stout this year if injuries don't derail us.
 
#49
#49
Vol423 said:
Not buying it this year either. Is Pruitt upgrading the DL? Yes. Nevertheless, our DL was a weakness last year, and it will continue to be one this year.
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They improved all year long and were very good by the end of the year. I don't think you can draw the conclusion you do when they entered the season with no experience at all. Now they have 6+ guys with quality experience and get Gooden back.

Not knocking you for having that opinion... I just don't share it. I think the D will be very good. I think the O comes down to whether someone overtakes JG or not. We know what we have with him.
 
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#50
#50
sjt18 said:
They improved all year long and were very good by the end of the year. I don't think you can draw the conclusion you do when they entered the season with no experience at all. Now they have 6+ guys with quality experience and get Gooden back.

Not knocking you for having that opinion... I just don't share it. I think the D will be very good. I think the O comes down to whether someone overtakes JG or not. We know what we have with him.
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Our DL showed great improvement at the end of the season when they just happened to be playing weak competition. This happens every year, and then fans project that performance to the next year against stronger competition. They are improving, but they aren't good yet. I agree with your overall assessment. I just am not sold on our defensive line as a unit yet.
 
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