Why has our LB recruiting been so bad? Really missed badly and it's showing

#1
B

Bigun

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#1
Dodson to A&M and Phillips to OU and both from the mid-state and we didn't go hard after either one.

Meanwhile in Butch's year 4 we are having to play a walk on and 4th string guys that have never played before.

Looking at the current LB commits I don't think the usual 5.6 three stars are going to be any better.
 
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#2
#2
We did recruit a number of 4 star players. They haven't showed up yet. Bates, El. Berry, Bryant, Blakely etc. When you lose your entire starting lb (JRM, DK Jr., Sapp), your lack of quality depth gets exposed.
 
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#3
#3
Vols4ever said:
We did recruit a number of 4 star players. They haven't showed up yet. Bates, El. Berry, Bryant, Blakely etc. When you lose your entire starting lb (JRM, DK Jr., Sapp), your lack of quality depth gets exposed.
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They haven't showed up yet or they haven't been developed? Serious question? See I have this theory about the first 5 games and that is there was enough talent healthy and able to cover up coaching malpractice. Now with all the injuries its starting to show its ugly head.
 
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#4
#4
Volsfaninva917 said:
They haven't showed up yet or they haven't been developed? Serious question? See I have this theory about the first 5 games and that is there was enough talent healthy and able to cover up coaching malpractice. Now with all the injuries its starting to show its ugly head.
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I don't know if any team other than the one we just played could sustain these injuries and do any better. The real question is why all the injuries? Is it conditioning, bad luck, cheap shots, what? I don't see anyone else having this level of problem with it.
 
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#6
#6
LordBolton said:
I don't know if any team other than the one we just played could sustain these injuries and do any better. The real question is why all the injuries? Is it conditioning, bad luck, cheap shots, what? I don't see anyone else having this level of problem with it.
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But hes had 4 years here to recruit and develop. The development needs some improvement. So if not 4 years to recruit and develop then how long? 10 years? Another reason CBJ needs to hire up with his staff is hes a terrible game manager.
 
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#7
#7
Why does everyone around here think should be able to lose two all conference types at one position and not have a drop off?

There is a reason why expectations were sky high this year and guys like JRM, Kirk, and Cam are why. Take them away and we resemble the 2014 defense, which had talented guys with limited experience.
 
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#8
#8
Vols4ever said:
We did recruit a number of 4 star players. They haven't showed up yet. Bates, El. Berry, Bryant, Blakely etc. When you lose your entire starting lb (JRM, DK Jr., Sapp), your lack of quality depth gets exposed.
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HIgh school/juco stars do not always equal D1 college stars. Recruiting sites are not always accurate.
 
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#9
#9
justsaying said:
HIgh school/juco stars do not always equal D1 college stars. Recruiting sites are not always accurate.
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Recruiting is still more art than science...Dillon Bates is a 4 star LB...Dontavius Blair a 4 star OL...and you can list plenty of others at UT and at every school...ask Auburn fans about Jeremy Johnson - the 5th best pro style QB coming out of HS...yea, kid can't read defenses, can't check off the primary receiver, and is as slow as I've seen...but he was a blue chip recruit...

We have some talent at LB but of the blue chip recruits, 4 are injured, two are true freshmen and one is a slow developer (I'll say that instead of bust)...
 
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#10
#10
It's yr 4 talent shouldn't be a issue on the OL, that's on CBJ, skill players play early and continue to regress, the DL should be a strength but it's mid level sec type DL except Barnett and he takes plays off occasionally. Sutton is the only DB on roster that knows how to play position. Take an honest look at roster and you'll see talent, but it's mid level type talent. I like CBJ but his staff has no idea how to prepare a player/team for games unless they have a month to prep see bowl games for example
 
#11
#11
I thought Elliot did decent.

It didn't really sink in but literally our top defenders(excluding Barnett) are out.

Our CBs need some better development.
 
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#12
#12
You can't lose 4 guys at one position and expect the third string guys to play to the level of the all-conference starters.
 
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#13
#13
Volsfaninva917 said:
But hes had 4 years here to recruit and develop. The development needs some improvement. So if not 4 years to recruit and develop then how long? 10 years? Another reason CBJ needs to hire up with his staff is hes a terrible game manager.
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Hes starting fresh every 4 years. If they cant develop players in 4 years, they never will
 
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#15
#15
photovol said:
DB's and LB's are sub-par for SEC play and it shows big time in the stats
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That's a very legitimate statmet. I'd add the offense line to this as well. If the Vols continue to recruit 3 star players at these positions, they will never compete with top 5 teams.
 
#17
#17
Volsfaninva917 said:
They haven't showed up yet or they haven't been developed? Serious question? See I have this theory about the first 5 games and that is there was enough talent healthy and able to cover up coaching malpractice. Now with all the injuries its starting to show its ugly head.
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So who developed JRM? He was a low 4*. What about Sapp? Berry looked solid out there, out of position a few time but that's expected from someone making their first ever start. Go watch the beginning and last year and go watch this 4 game stretch and tell me if Jumper has gotten any better
 
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#18
#18
Backwards K said:
That's a very legitimate statmet. I'd add the offense line to this as well. If the Vols continue to recruit 3 star players at these positions, they will never compete with top 5 teams.
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3 star undersized young OL going against 4&5 star monster DL = injuries

When we had big road grader OL types, we could go years with zero OL injuries. Now we have a more finesse blocking scheme and lose the entire line to injuries.

We need to recruit more LB and OL every year - stockpile and redshirt to develop. I think Thig can develop them into stars. Majors used to over recruit RBs and turn the excess into good Linebackers. We barely have enough at any position (but what seems to be an excess of blockers at WR and TE)
 
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#20
#20
armchair said:
We haven't recruited the LB positioned well enough. Injuries did the rest.
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What else would you have him do? There's no way he could have seen our top 4 linebackers would all be injured, or that highly touted blue chip guys like Bates and Bryant wouldn't pan out. 8/11 of our scholarship linebackers are 4*.
 
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#21
#21
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
What else would you have him do? There's no way he could have seen our top 4 linebackers would all be injured, or that highly touted blue chip guys like Bates and Bryant wouldn't pan out. 8/11 of our scholarship linebackers are 4*.
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Hopefully some of the folks on here can identify those HS blue chips who aren't going to pan out and let everyone know BEFORE we sign them...that would be a huge help so we wouldn't end up with 4 star LBs like Dillon Bates and 4 star OL like Dontavius Blair
 
#22
#22
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
What else would you have him do? There's no way he could have seen our top 4 linebackers would all be injured, or that highly touted blue chip guys like Bates and Bryant wouldn't pan out. 8/11 of our scholarship linebackers are 4*.
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The obvious answer is to recruit 85 4/5* LBs thereby ensuring we never run out of starting linebackers.

You're welcome, Butch.
 
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#23
#23
Sarms58 said:
Hopefully some of the folks on here can identify those HS blue chips who aren't going to pan out and let everyone know BEFORE we sign them...that would be a huge help so we wouldn't end up with 4 star LBs like Dillon Bates and 4 star OL like Dontavius Blair
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Bama's and OSU's star players have panned out pretty well wouldn't you say? Sounds like a coaching issue to me.
 
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#24
#24
Bigun said:
Bama's and OSU's star players have panned out pretty well wouldn't you say? Sounds like a coaching issue to me.
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Not sure that's true since bama signs 20 blue chip players and we sign 10...they have plenty of players that wash out but have signed more than anyone else...

You do realize we only have Kamara because he washed out at Bama...he was the 4th best RB in his class at bama...
 
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