The NFL Draft Proved the '24 Vols OVERACHIEVED!

[Brave Volunteer]

With a favorable schedule, I had us at 10-2. I thought we’d lose to UGA and one more, Bama or one on the road.

This yr is a different story though: 8-4

At best. We might have gone 8-4 WITH Nico. I think 7-5 is a real possibility.

 

[Go47]

At best. We might have gone 8-4 WITH Nico. I think 7-5 is a real possibility.

Agree. The team has unknowns at WR, overall oline play, lost an all SEC performer at RB, huge unknown at QB.

On defense - losing McCoy to injury and not being sure when he will return was a gut punch.

None of that when considering the meat grinder that is an SEC football schedule is good.

8-4. Regroup for the next year with a chance again at 10-2.

 

[OffTackleVol]

At best. We might have gone 8-4 WITH Nico. I think 7-5 is a real possibility.

LOL, we're not going to lose 5 games, very doubtful we lose 4.

 

[xpsyclonex2002]

We punch above our weight. Been doing it for years. That's not the best strategy. As the OP stated, "big battalions".......
There's going to be a tectonic shift in the college football world over the next 5 to 10 years with the NIL programs going as they are. When you start hearing programs like Texas threatening to spend $40 million on a football team, you know that there's going to be haves and have nots. It pains me to say it, but we're going to be a have not unless something miraculous happens. The money in states like Texas cannot be imagined. That oil money is like nothing you've ever seen if you've never lived there. Army used to be one of those perennial national championship teams. Now they're a "used to was". There's a whole laundry list of teams that were perennial contenders that now barely even have a D1 program. Time is cruel. There's a lot of schools, not just Tennessee, the better get their collective s*** together or they're going to become dinosaurs in the football world.

 

[cgrish]

Sure we overachieved. But man that ending to the season is still bitter…

Ohio State played their best game of the season against us. Mcoy had his man covered most of the time as well as anyone could have covered and Ohio still fit the ball in a very tight window. And we probably played one of our worst games. If what we are hearing is true, and Nico threatened to sit out that would disrupt the whole team. Samson getting hurt also hurt us very bad. In other words we could have played a much closer game than we did.

 

[knox73]

NIL levels the playing field between top talent states/teams such as Florida, Texas, Georgia Ohio, etc and the Tennessees and South Carolinas. Retaining quality depth will be difficult for all but scouting to pull in guys like Kitselman, Star Thomas, and affordable high ceiling kids from smaller schools will be critical.

This is a challenging era but one that could be friendlier to Tennessee than pre-NIL. The disparity in in-state high school talent vs other SEC schools was tough to overcome. Heck Vanderbilt now can pick up Pavia and men like that and be in business.

 

[Boca Vol]

I'm not sure UT overachieved. Weren't they favored in 10 out of 12 games? The schedule was favorable with Bama & UF at home. They won both of those and lost to Ark.

If you go back to last summer and listening to sports talk radio in Knoxville, the question was, is 10-2 was good enough to get a spot? They did. It was.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

I had them 10-2

I did too. I was disappointed that both sides of the ball did not play better, but looking back, obvious we were outmanned. I am very proud of last year's players and coaches.

 

[volbound1700]

With a favorable schedule, I had us at 10-2. I thought we’d lose to UGA and one more, Bama or one on the road.

This yr is a different story though: 8-4

I thought Arkansas or Oklahoma were likely. I had a funny feeling we would beat Alabama just because it was at home. Same with Florida. We tend to get teams in Neyland now with Heupel. Winning on the road is our challenge.

 

[wmcovol]

I'm flumoxed Texas didn't put up a better fight against OSU with all their talent.

But, YES, totally agree...the 2024 version of the Vols did overachieve. I, myself, only had them at 7 to 8 wins before the season...as did most "pundits".

Texas was first & goal down 21-14 late in the 4th Qtr. Granted OSU looked stronger thru the game but strip sack/fumble return made the score appear bigger than it could have been.

Going back to the 2021 recruiting season (this years seniors) OSu & Alabama had 7 5 star guys. OSU kept most of theirs. Tennessee (mostly Pruitts last class) was 31st I believe behind powerhouses Maryland & UNC. One player outta that class really contributed, Jaylon Wright, & he was drafted last year.

Hell, yes, Tennessee overachieved

 

[volbound1700]

Ohio State had no business losing to Michigan. They turned it on after that game. I do think the trash talking by the fan base did not help and players for Ohio State cited that as motivation.

We had a similar setup with 2022 Georgia where a bunch of high-profile Vols like Erik Ainge talked all this smack and Georgia came out like it was their Super Bowl.

That being said, I think the Texas game was also about Ohio State slowing down. You can't get that momentum rolling forever. Ohio State was the best team in CFB and showed up like it in the playoffs. We didn't show up well, IMO. I know people will point out Oregon but Oregon also didn't show up well against Ohio State. Both teams could have played better while Ohio State was almost flawless.

 

[pimo1]

I'm somewhat surprised none of you guys picked up on this.

We were all butthurt about the a$$ whoopin' Ohio State put on our beloved Vols to kick off their run through the playoffs to the title. Their only really significant opposition came from Texas.

OSU 42 Tennessee 17 - wasn't that close. Losing Sampson made UT one-dimensional

OSU 41 Oregon 21 - wasn't that close

OSU 28 Texas 14 - see draft #s

OSU 34 Notre Dame 23 - wasn't that close

NFL Draft OSU led all schools with 14 players drafted, Texas had 12, Oregon 10, Notre Dame, 6. Notice a pattern?

Tennessee was anchor man of the schools OSU played in the playoffs with only 4.

Of the SEC schools Tennessee played:

Georgia came in second over all with 13 picks & beat the Vols 31-17. Won SEC, lost in the playoffs to ND due to Beck getting injured in the SECG which made them essentially one-dimensional. An NC game between the Dawgs with Carson Beck and OSU would have been one for the ages with UGA slightly more likely to win due to NC experience.

2024 SEC season for the Vols:

Tennessee beat Alabama and Florida: each with 7 picks

Lost to Arkansas with 2 picks: blind hog theorem

Beat Kentucky (2), Oklahoma (2), Vandy (1), MSU (0) the pattern holds.

O/A the SEC had 79 picks, the BiG 71. There was a steep drop between OSU and Oregon and the rest of the conference.

As Ol' Nappy said, "God is on the side of the big battalions."

note that Texas' 12 should have an asterisk it should have been 13 except for a certain WR getting in hot water off field. Second note.. Quinn Ewers was very close to Mr irrelevant territory himself. This was a very weird draft year.

Ewers and Bond falls were overshadowed by Sanders drop...
The browns' draft could be the best ever or pure insanity. They got 2 of the best RB's imho and 2 of the top college QB and in both cases drafted the better one second...
The rb situation should be fine they needed bodies in that room.
Their QB room has to have some movement asap... 5 guys is too much and 3 of the guys are rookies, plus Pickett who seems the likely odd man out unless one or both of the rookies stinks it up.

As far as UT's talent level, A single draft does not explain everything just that particular class. But in this case it does as we probably have about the same number of guys draftable next year and the year before...The crazy thing is every year recently a lot of former Vols do get drafted.. just a lot of them transferred to other schools. We seem to have issues retaining our NFL talent on roster of late.

All that said I think if we dug in the number the VOls probably lead the SEC un UDFA's that make it. lol

 

[IndianaVol]

Ohio State had no business losing to Michigan. They turned it on after that game. I do think the trash talking by the fan base did not help and players for Ohio State cited that as motivation.

We had a similar setup with 2022 Georgia where a bunch of high-profile Vols like Erik Ainge talked all this smack and Georgia came out like it was their Super Bowl.

That being said, I think the Texas game was also about Ohio State slowing down. You can't get that momentum rolling forever. Ohio State was the best team in CFB and showed up like it in the playoffs. We didn't show up well, IMO. I know people will point out Oregon but Oregon also didn't show up well against Ohio State. Both teams could have played better while Ohio State was almost flawless.

Michigan has been Ohio States "Florida" lately, especially under Ryan Day.

Like Tennessee, there's something mental there that just becomes a stumbling block.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Ohio State played their best game of the season against us. Mcoy had his man covered most of the time as well as anyone could have covered and Ohio still fit the ball in a very tight window. And we probably played one of our worst games. If what we are hearing is true, and Nico threatened to sit out that would disrupt the whole team. Samson getting hurt also hurt us very bad. In other words we could have played a much closer game than we did.

Ohio State turned into the team they were supposed to be in the CFP. I actually think what they did to Oregon in the Rose Bowl was worse than what happened to us in Columbus.

 

[pimo1]

Ohio State turned into the team they were supposed to be in the CFP. I actually think what they did to Oregon in the Rose Bowl was worse than what happened to us in Columbus.

Playoffs was money making time for a lot of those guys.. they turned on fully. This is just my opinion but, the Michgan loss was mostly because of all the transfers.. they did not have the investment and hatred for Michigan that a normal Junior or Senior would have. Most of that team was Mercs. Winning or losing that game did not really mean as much to them, especially since they were going to the playoffs either way. Once they hit the playoffs it was win or die mode. Anyone can be motivated by that, especially on a stacked team where you want to get more film in the can.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Playoffs was money making time for a lot of those guys.. they turned on fully. This is just my opinion but, the Michgan loss was mostly because of all the transfers.. they did not have the investment and hatred for Michigan that a normal Junior or Senior would have. Most of that team was Mercs. Winning or losing that game did not really mean as much to them, especially since they were going to the playoffs either way. Once they hit the playoffs it was win or die mode. Anyone can be motivated by that, especially on a stacked team where you want to get more film in the can.

I put a lot of that game on Ryan Day. The game plan played right into Michigan’s hands. They completely opened it up after that game and realized that they had the best offensive weapon in college football . Their coaching staff with Kelly and Hartline was outstanding , once the handcuffs were taken off they went crazy. I do think guys like Judkins and some of the others are certainly out for themselves though.

 

[pimo1]

I put a lot of that game on Ryan Day. The game plan played right into Michigan’s hands. They completely opened it up after that game and realized that they had the best offensive weapon in college football . Their coaching staff with Kelly and Hartline was outstanding , once the handcuffs were taken off they went crazy. I do think guys like Judkins and some of the others are certainly out for themselves though.

I know people love blaming and crediting coaches for everything but the truth is at a certain point its the players on the field especially at a high level. Coaching and game plans are more important on teams lacking talent... when you have multiple freak-level players a lot of that is less important. At that level it becomes about the coaches knowing when to get out of the way and let their players do what they do. That Michigan game was simple Michigan's players wanted it.. OSU players were slightly interested. A perfect example would be UT Vandy or UT Kentucky most years. No one has ever come up on the UT side with some super special game plan for those games...But those teams have OUTCOACHED us pretty much every win they have gotten because they have to. The talent levels are too disparate. But those kids on those teams want to beat us if they don't win another game. With Michigan vs OSU its the same except there isn't the huge gap in talent so though game plan can come into affect its mostly those players wanting it. The only comparison to that is maybe Bama/Auburn.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

NIL levels the playing field between top talent states/teams such as Florida, Texas, Georgia Ohio, etc and the Tennessees and South Carolinas. Retaining quality depth will be difficult for all but scouting to pull in guys like Kitselman, Star Thomas, and affordable high ceiling kids from smaller schools will be critical.

This is a challenging era but one that could be friendlier to Tennessee than pre-NIL. The disparity in in-state high school talent vs other SEC schools was tough to overcome. Heck Vanderbilt now can pick up Pavia and men like that and be in business.

How is NIL leveling the playing field? I mean are we seeing vastly different teams winning NCs? Seems to me we are seeing the same teams we almost always see at the top.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I know people love blaming and crediting coaches for everything but the truth is at a certain point it’s the players on the field especially at a high level. Coaching and game plans are more important on teams lacking talent... when you have multiple freak-level players a lot of that is less important. At that level it becomes about the coaches knowing when to get out of the way and let their players do what they do. That Michigan game was simple Michigan's players wanted it.. OSU players were slightly interested. A perfect example would be UT Vandy or UT Kentucky most years. No one has ever come up on the UT side with some super special game plan for those games...But those teams have OUTCOACHED us pretty much every win they have gotten because they have to. The talent levels are too disparate. But those kids on those teams want to beat us if they don't win another game. With Michigan vs OSU its the same except there isn't the huge gap in talent so though game plan can come into affect its mostly those players wanting it. The only comparison to that is maybe Bama/Auburn.

Great point. At some point players have to be held accountable. Take the GOAT, Nick Saban. What year was it Bama got smoked by OU with Trevor Knight at QB I think? And the times he lost to Ole Miss with Freeze. Like our game against Arkansas last year or SC in 2022. We shouldn’t have lost either one of those games. The fact is the players didn’t play up to their potential.

 

[pimo1]

Great point. At some point players have to be held accountable. Take the GOAT, Nick Saban. What year was it Bama got smoked by OU with Trevor Knight at QB I think? And the times he lost to Ole Miss with Freeze. Like our game against Arkansas last year or SC in 2022. We shouldn’t have lost either one of those games. The fact is the players didn’t play up to their potential.

Or the south carolina game......they did have an advantage by all reports but still the players laid an egg that one.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I know people love blaming and crediting coaches for everything but the truth is at a certain point its the players on the field especially at a high level. Coaching and game plans are more important on teams lacking talent... when you have multiple freak-level players a lot of that is less important. At that level it becomes about the coaches knowing when to get out of the way and let their players do what they do. That Michigan game was simple Michigan's players wanted it.. OSU players were slightly interested. A perfect example would be UT Vandy or UT Kentucky most years. No one has ever come up on the UT side with some super special game plan for those games...But those teams have OUTCOACHED us pretty much every win they have gotten because they have to. The talent levels are too disparate. But those kids on those teams want to beat us if they don't win another game. With Michigan vs OSU its the same except there isn't the huge gap in talent so though game plan can come into affect its mostly those players wanting it. The only comparison to that is maybe Bama/Auburn.

I agree, but Ohio State decided to run into the teeth of the Michigan defense, the only place where Michigan had talent. Made zero sense. It was like they wanted to prove they could out tough Michigan. Smith had 5 catches for under 40 yards. That’s coaching malpractice IMO.

 

[pimo1]

I agree, but Ohio State decided to run into the teeth of the Michigan defense, the only place where Michigan had talent. Made zero sense. It was like they wanted to prove they could out tough Michigan. Smith had 5 catches for under 40 yards. That’s coaching malpractice IMO.

point taken.