There is a chance this team is MUCH BETTER than even the most optimistic predictions

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#1
Dobbs 4 Heisman

Dobbs 4 Heisman

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#1
Just for a second, consider this train of thought. Last year we had a couple of players who either played very little (i.e. Jalen Reeves-Maybin) or very poorly (i.e. Joshua Dobbs) as true freshmen that made gigantic leaps as 2nd year players. Both went from backups to STARS. Its possible that we have another sophomore or two who will make the similar leap from year 1 backup to year 2 star. Who will be the Jalen Reeves-Maybin/Joshua Dobbs of this year? Maybe its Emmanuel Moseley. Its possible he develops into a lockdown corner opposite Cam Sutton to the point people begin talking about Tennessee having the best secondary in the country instead of Florida. Maybe its Ethan Wolfe and he gets talked about as one of the best TEs in the country. Maybe its Todd Kelly Jr. and Evan Berry supplanting the two seniors ahead of them on the depth chart? All I'm saying is we have alot of 2nd year players with the potential to be STARS.

Now onto the true freshmen. Just like last year, we have another stellar group of highly touted freshmen coming in. We all thought Jalen Hurd would be a stud. And he didn't dissapoint. Likewise there are high expectations for Kahlil McKenzie. And I'm confident he'll also live up them. However, at this time last year no one knew Derek Barnett would be a SUPERSTAR from the day 1. No one knew Jashon Robertson would start every game and prove to be one of the best offensive lineman on the team. Who will be the Derek Barnett/Jashon Robertson of this class? Some might say freshmen starting is a bad sign. I say some freshmen (like Cam Sutton in 2013 or Derek Barnett in 2014) are too good to bench even on championship caliber teams.

Now I know the negavols are ready to come and be buzzkills so I'll give them this little nugget. Its also possible some of our stud 1st year players regress in year 2 like Marquez North. Whether its injuries or just ineffective play. And obviously everything I said depends solely on the health of Joshua Dobbs. This team will only go as far as he takes it. However, I made this long post just to say that this team has the potential to be ALOT BETTER than even the most optimistic predictions. I wouldn't limit their ceiling to simply going 10-2 and being a sacrificial lamb to the western division champion in Atlanta. Its possible that if things breaks right for us, that we could go 11-1, win the SEC Championship, and maybe make a cinderella run to the national championship like Ohio State did last season. I'm not saying this will happen. Just saying I wouldn't count this team out.
 
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#2
#2
We've clearly started to get attention just by the fact that we haven't been ranked in preseason polls since 2008. I think Butch Jones and the team will show that a preseason top 25 ranking was wrong, we should be ranked much higher.
 
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#3
#3
I'm glad you mentioned North's regression last season. Whether it be by injury or what have you, not every freshman takes a big jump their sophomore year. I'm excited to see the surprises in fall camp.
 
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#4
#4
If everything happens perfectly, then yes.......:but with that said, we could also be much, much worse than the least optimistic prognostication. 5 more Saturday's.......
 
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#5
#5
All about avoiding injuries... WR appeared it would be deep, now with Pearson (?) and Williams (?) and 2 others coming back from major injury , an injury here could be big... Lose Dobbs and outlook changes quickly as well.. Just having 2 RBs in the SEC is seldom enough as well.. This team still needs 3rd team depth to be great unless it can avoid injuries..
 
#6
#6
5-7
7-6
6-7
5-7
5-7
5-7
7-6

40-47 is our combined record for last 7 seasons.

Average of 6-7.

Not sure how we are supposed to believe that we should expect to be better than 10-2 which some media has predicted.
 
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#7
#7
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Just for a second, consider this train of thought. Last year we had a couple of players who either played very little (i.e. Jalen Reeves-Maybin) or very poorly (i.e. Joshua Dobbs) as true freshmen that made gigantic leaps as 2nd year players. Both went from backups to STARS. Its possible that we have another sophomore or two who will make the similar leap from year 1 backup to year 2 star. Who will be the Jalen Reeves-Maybin/Joshua Dobbs of this year? Maybe its Emmanuel Moseley. Its possible he develops into a lockdown corner opposite Cam Sutton to the point people begin talking about Tennessee having the best secondary in the country instead of Florida. Maybe its Ethan Wolfe and he gets talked about as one of the best TEs in the country. Maybe its Todd Kelly Jr. and Evan Berry supplanting the two seniors ahead of them on the depth chart? All I'm saying is we have alot of 2nd year players with the potential to be STARS.

Now onto the true freshmen. Just like last year, we have another stellar group of highly touted freshmen coming in. We all thought Jalen Hurd would be a stud. And he didn't dissapoint. Likewise there are high expectations for Kahlil McKenzie. And I'm confident he'll also live up them. However, at this time last year no one knew Derek Barnett would be a SUPERSTAR from the day 1. No one knew Jashon Robertson would start every game and prove to be one of the best offensive lineman on the team. Who will be the Derek Barnett/Jashon Robertson of this class? Some might say freshmen starting is a bad sign. I say some freshmen (like Cam Sutton in 2013 or Derek Barnett in 2014) are too good to bench even on championship caliber teams.

Now I know the negavols are ready to come and be buzzkills so I'll give them this little nugget. Its also possible some of our stud 1st year players regress in year 2 like Marquez North. Whether its injuries or just ineffective play. And obviously everything I said depends solely on the health of Joshua Dobbs. This team will only go as far as he takes it. However, I made this long post just to say that this team has the potential to be ALOT BETTER than even the most optimistic predictions. I wouldn't limit their ceiling to simply going 10-2 and being a sacrificial lamb to the western division champion in Atlanta. Its possible that if things breaks right for us, that we could go 11-1, win the SEC Championship, and maybe make a cinderella run to the national championship like Ohio State did last season. I'm not saying this will happen. Just saying I wouldn't count this team out.
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To have a great season, win the east maybe the SEC, we will need some luck. No team wins a championship without a little luck. I hope it's our turn to get some. What does that mean?

Not too many injuries, maybe some nagging injuries that get better with the season, but few if any catastrophic injuries. Then we need a few bounces of the ball we haven't had lately. Last we need a few whistles on calls that we haven't had lately, either for us or against them. When a team is rising and getting better they seem to get them.

Last, I believe we may catch lightning in a bottle. When a team like UT has some really great players that are developing so quickly like Barnett, Sutton, Hurd, etc, then add some unbelievable new talent such as Kamara, Richardson, McKenzie, Tuttle, etc, then the stage is set for some extraordinary play. All of a sudden expectations mean nothing. And this is the key, average players that are performing as they should will suddenly start making plays no one expects because of the way opposing teams have to prepare for all the talent we have now.

Of course we have to see it to realize it, but I have drunk the orange koolaid. With a few bounces of the ball and a healthy year I believe we may be in Atlanta and maybe another game or two. You have to believe before it's possible.
 
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#10
#10
I think the offensive line will make or break the season. The defense should be fine. The skill positions fine. It's all on the O-line.
 
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#12
#12
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
8-4 is what I'm predicting. Anything more and I'll be dancing around like a lunatic.
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This is me as well. This team is still on the young side, which means we'll probably win a game we shouldn't (think USCe last year) and we'll probably lose a game we shouldn't (think UGA last year). We could arrive and beat expectations, if you have ever been on a championship team, you know chemistry is critical to success. Its hard to quantify and hard to develop and then harder still to maintain. I just have this feeling we have kids on this team that understand that and are buying into being champions. "Now that I think it, I just have to do it," I believe these kids are buying what CBJ is selling.
 
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#13
#13
ajvol01 said:
5-7
7-6
6-7
5-7
5-7
5-7
7-6

40-47 is our combined record for last 7 seasons.

Average of 6-7.

Not sure how we are supposed to believe that we should expect to be better than 10-2 which some media has predicted.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of teams that had down years then bounced back. Just go back and look at the records of Alabama and Auburn. I would agree with you if Butch was bringing in the same kind of talent that Dooley was but this talent Butch is bringing in is much different. Just because TN went 7-6 last year doesn't mean they will only win one or two more games. Don't forget that Dobbs was 4-1 as a starter last year and we have since brought in even more fire power (Kamara/McKenzie/Tuttle etc). I feel bad for those who can't see it coming but we will let you join us when you actually see it.
 
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#17
#17
Tony Barnhardt did an interview and summed it up best. He essentially said UT's skill players, RB, QB, WR, and DE could match up with anyone in the nation. He said though OL is a year away and to make the SECCG someone like UGA that has great OL and DL would have to falter. He also said our schedule and UGAs lined up for that to be a possibility.
 
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#18
#18
OP, I'm leaning on the optimistic side. With the talent we've brought in the last 2-3 years, things could happen in a big way that none of us really expect right now.

The way I see CBJ's process from his introductory press conference to now really makes me see how intentional he is about every small detail inside the program -- and this is what makes me think this could be the break out season that begins his legend as an all-time Vols great coach. Head football coaches like CBJ that exhibit an insane amount of passion/excitement around the program while at the same time showing detailed processes and complete control are usually the ones who win big and sustain long tenures.

I think CBJ will be the talk of college FB by the end of the year and then 2016 expectations will be through the roof -- nat'l championship talk.
 
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#21
#21
UT will be in every game. I won't be surprised if they win them all. I will be if they lose more than 2-3.
 
#23
#23
Evet Vols said:
There are plenty of teams that had down years then bounced back. Just go back and look at the records of Alabama and Auburn. I would agree with you if Butch was bringing in the same kind of talent that Dooley was but this talent Butch is bringing in is much different. Just because TN went 7-6 last year doesn't mean they will only win one or two more games. Don't forget that Dobbs was 4-1 as a starter last year and we have since brought in even more fire power (Kamara/McKenzie/Tuttle etc). I feel bad for those who can't see it coming but we will let you join us when you actually see it.
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Saying Dobbs was 4-1 last year as a starter while true is very misleading. Dobbs is greatly improved from his Freshman year but I want to see him actually do well start to finish against an elite or at least good SEC defense before I get to excited. Better to be realistic and enjoy the ride than to raise your expectations so high that you will almost assuredly be disappointed.
 
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#24
#24
I hope and pray we have a great year, but also hope that these lofty expectations don't make the fanbase turn on Butch if we only win 7 games. I think we now have a good football team across the board but still lack talent/depth in a few positions.

WR
MLB
RB

We desperately need to get Von back out there if he is innocent. North also needs to be the guy we all know he can be. Pig needs to stay healthy and they need to put the ball in his hands this year more often.

MLB is going to be tough to watch at times I'm afraid. I'm hoping that having experienced players around that position will help to make up for our weakness there.

We have two stud running backs which is great, but if even one of them to down we are in serious trouble. All of the attrition has really hurt our depth at the position. Maybe
Abernathy can step in if needed and get some good carries.

Finally, we need to hope and pray Dobbs stays healthy, but then again what good team can be successful without it's starting QB? (Besides OSU) I really hope that Josh has progressed into a better passer and overall better QB for this year. To be getting as much praise he really hasn't done all that much. He has to bw more accurate than he has been in the past. We cannot miss wide open receivers and blow scoring chances and expect to beat good teams.

Like I said I hope we win it all, but I also hope that these lofty expectations don't turn the fanbase and all the momentum against this team. I think 8-9 wins is where we will be this year, and I will be happy with that.
 
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#25
#25
JohnMarxism said:
I'm glad you mentioned North's regression last season. Whether it be by injury or what have you, not every freshman takes a big jump their sophomore year. I'm excited to see the surprises in fall camp.
Click to expand...

Malone needs to take a giant step if Pearson doesnt come back.
 
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