Quite the transformation. (Kahlil McKenzie)

#26
#26
I think he came in much too big, especially in his legs. If he had came to a team that could afford to put him in for a few plays, then rest him, he could have done OK to start with. Someone mentioned injuries, which probably factors in somewhere. Also, if anyone needed the proper strength and conditioning program, it was him. We all now know what happened there.

Put all those factors together, maybe add a little laziness on his part, and you have a wasted college career. I have no doubt that he can last a long time in the league if he wants to put in the work. It is up to him.
 
#27
#27
jeff1vol said:
You can't blame Jones for a players "want to". Kahlil did next to nothing during his time here. Made a tackle here or there. Just another UT 5 star that didn't live up to the hype. We've had many more of those than the 5 stars that do.
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Which is exactly why you can blame Jones. If it were an isolated incident then it's probably on the player. When it's the overwhelming majority of our blue chip guys over the last 4-5 years then it's clearly a development issue.
 
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#28
#28
Didn’t hear much about his combine numbers. Middle of the pack. Not great and not bad. One guy did 42 bench reps. McKenzie should be right there.
 
#29
#29
Freak said:
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That's ridiculous.. what the hell was going on here?
 
#33
#33
jps2194 said:
This is complete BS. While I admit that coaching, schemes, play calling, etc. definitely have an impact on a player's production, at the end of the day great players make plays. We all saw enough of AK's skills to know what he was capable of in the right offense. So while our play calling held him back, we still saw plenty of evidence that he was a special player.

You simply can't keep a good player from displaying flashes of greatness. Great players find a way to dominate. At the end of the day, for most players it comes down to man on man - especially on the d-line. As much as I wanted Khalil to dominate and be a force, it just never materialized. You cannot blame that solely on Butch and if you do, you are delusional.

Please explain how in the same system with the same coaches, Barnett absolutely dominated? Is this because he was coached differently or because he rose above inadequate coaching. I think we all know the answer. DB dominated from the time he was a freshman. Any player that wants to make it to the NFL should be able to find a way to rise above.
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#35
#35
Butch was not the best HC and he never coached the DLine. KMac played under two good DLine coaches, so don’t blame the coaches. Other players developed well under these coaches.

KMac came in missing his senior year of HS and out of shape, so under achieved year 1. He was injured year two just as he was making progress. He had a decent Jr year but was playing too many snaps on a beat up DLine . Overall I would not call him a bust, I agree he did not reach his potential. When healthy he was a good solid player. I believe he would have had a really good senior year.
 
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#36
#36
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
You guys need to stop blaming the players for Butch Jones ineptitude.

You would think Alvin Kamara taught yall a lesson.

None of our players were put in position to succeed under Butch Jones.
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I have to say that I held on to the Butch Jones being our coach for quite a while. And I do believe people give up on coaches too early. But, in hindsight, I'm so glad to have a new coach. Great that you can recruit but coaching of course is so much more. Jones wasn't getting 'the rest' done. I now expect to see McKenzie do good things at the next level (like Kamara).What could have been at UT.
 
#37
#37
Hopefully the light comes on for KMac at the nfl level when it’s about making a living and drawing an nfl paycheck.
 
#38
#38
When the $$$ is calling you tighten up, he looks good, good for him
 
#39
#39
jps2194 said:
This is complete BS. While I admit that coaching, schemes, play calling, etc. definitely have an impact on a player's production, at the end of the day great players make plays. We all saw enough of AK's skills to know what he was capable of in the right offense. So while our play calling held him back, we still saw plenty of evidence that he was a special player.

You simply can't keep a good player from displaying flashes of greatness. Great players find a way to dominate. At the end of the day, for most players it comes down to man on man - especially on the d-line. As much as I wanted Khalil to dominate and be a force, it just never materialized. You cannot blame that solely on Butch and if you do, you are delusional.

Please explain how in the same system with the same coaches, Barnett absolutely dominated? Is this because he was coached differently or because he rose above inadequate coaching. I think we all know the answer. DB dominated from the time he was a freshman. Any player that wants to make it to the NFL should be able to find a way to rise above.
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Well said, this is an excellent post imho.

I’m more than happy to blame Jones and staff for a general lack of player development, because I have no doubt it’s a legit criticism. But your point is very valid that at some point, superior players with superior talent are just gonna win their one on one matchups and we just rarely, if ever, saw that happen....certainly not with KMac.

It’s also one of the reasons why I find myself questioning just how much talent is on this roster right now despite all the 4 star and in some cases 5 star rated players.....we just rarely, if ever saw anybody beat the man in front of them last season.....whether we were playing Alabama or Georgia....or UMass, Missouri and Vandy.

Finally, you said “we all saw AK and what he was capable of....” that’s almost true. Everybody but D4H saw it, since he rattled on and on for 2 straight years about Hurd, not AK, being the best running back in America and about how he should get more carries/touches rather than split any time or touches with AK.
 
#40
#40
wesleydmartin said:
When the $$$ is calling you tighten up, he looks good, good for him
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I thought he had a good combine showing and I hope that helps him get drafted and make some money. I fear however that when they juxtapose his measurables and combine performance with his game film that GMs might quickly forget the combine and be very hesitant to pull the trigger on him.

One thing that did surprise me though was how few reps of 225 he did. Could’ve sworn he did 30+ as a freshman or sophomore at Tennessee....only did 26 at the combine. I really thought he would shine on the bench and that he would be among the leaders there. But I thought he moved really well in the drills and he ran a good 40 for his size and body type.
 
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#42
#42
Butch and the SC staff are actually responsible for a majority of that transformation. He looked pretty close to the 2nd pic by the time he left.
 
#43
#43
KBVol said:
Well said, this is an excellent post imho.

I’m more than happy to blame Jones and staff for a general lack of player development, because I have no doubt it’s a legit criticism. But your point is very valid that at some point, superior players with superior talent are just gonna win their one on one matchups and we just rarely, if ever, saw that happen....certainly not with KMac.

It’s also one of the reasons why I find myself questioning just how much talent is on this roster right now despite all the 4 star and in some cases 5 star rated players.....we just rarely, if ever saw anybody beat the man in front of them last season.....whether we were playing Alabama or Georgia....or UMass, Missouri and Vandy.

Finally, you said “we all saw AK and what he was capable of....” that’s almost true. Everybody but D4H saw it, since he rattled on and on for 2 straight years about Hurd, not AK, being the best running back in America and about how he should get more carries/touches rather than split any time or touches with AK.
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Totally agree as well and also wonder just how much talent we have. The only one we can be sure of is Trey Smith because he proved it week after week. I'm hoping Pruitt and staff can develop our guys so they reach their potential and beyond. I love your last paragraph about AK, Hurd and D4H, that is totally on point! :clapping:
 
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#44
#44
KBVol said:
I thought he had a good combine showing and I hope that helps him get drafted and make some money. I fear however that when they juxtapose his measurables and combine performance with his game film that GMs might quickly forget the combine and be very hesitant to pull the trigger on him.

One thing that did surprise me though was how few reps of 225 he did. Could’ve sworn he did 30+ as a freshman or sophomore at Tennessee....only did 26 at the combine. I really thought he would shine on the bench and that he would be among the leaders there. But I thought he moved really well in the drills and he ran a good 40 for his size and body type.
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I have actually missed most if not all combine stuff (been swamped lately), so i appreciate you filling me KB, thanks! Does look like the team he had prepping him did a solid job of cutting the jiggle and getting him focused, always helps when ur dad is a GM too, im sure he had more then a few stern convos with his pops on expectations etc.
 
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#45
#45
jps2194 said:
Totally agree as well and also wonder just how much talent we have. The only one we can be sure of is Trey Smith because he proved it week after week. I'm hoping Pruitt and staff can develop our guys so they reach their potential and beyond. I love your last paragraph about AK, Hurd and D4H, that is totally on point! :clapping:
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rite now i just hope Trey can have a healthy life and perhaps once that is figured out, come back and contribute to our football team.....
 
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#46
#46
Brave Volunteer said:
Yes but at least Kamara flashed when he was on the field. You can't blame Butch Jones for every single inch of ineptitude that some of our players demonstrated. KM was a bust, period. To be so highly touted coming out of high school and to have such a small impact on our defense, you can't say he was anything else.
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I also place a lot of blame on the defensive Coach's also. If there was as much hate and lack of continuity among the Defensive Coach's, Shoop and Hoke in particular I wouldn't have busted my a$$ for them either. Then throw in a lame duck HC that the players quit on, it's no wonder we were a 4-8 0-8 football team. It was a small miracle we won what we did and were 3 plays away from 3 other wins. Even a decent HC could have gotten 8 wins out of last year's team. Thank God that won't be an issue under JP. I do with KM, Gaulden and Kelly would have stayed and had a year under these Coach's. Have no clue what John Kelly was thinking.
 
#48
#48
If only he could have found that motivation while on the hill...

Soft as a marshmallow when he was here.

I will be more weary of these NFL prodigies in the future and realize they don't give two ****s about college ball.
 
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#49
#49
jps2194 said:
This is complete BS. While I admit that coaching, schemes, play calling, etc. definitely have an impact on a player's production, at the end of the day great players make plays. We all saw enough of AK's skills to know what he was capable of in the right offense. So while our play calling held him back, we still saw plenty of evidence that he was a special player.

You simply can't keep a good player from displaying flashes of greatness. Great players find a way to dominate. At the end of the day, for most players it comes down to man on man - especially on the d-line. As much as I wanted Khalil to dominate and be a force, it just never materialized. You cannot blame that solely on Butch and if you do, you are delusional.

Please explain how in the same system with the same coaches, Barnett absolutely dominated? Is this because he was coached differently or because he rose above inadequate coaching. I think we all know the answer. DB dominated from the time he was a freshman. Any player that wants to make it to the NFL should be able to find a way to rise above.
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You guys are making 2 arguments. On the one hand you are saying KMac was a bust here at Tennessee and on the other hand you are saying he didn't dominate. You do know there is a middle ground?

I've never said KMac was a DOMINANT player here at Tennessee. All I've argued is he was SOLID. You guys are simply trying to use his high school hype against him. That because he failed to reach those unrealistic expectations of being some disruptive 3-technique that he was a bust at Tennessee.

Kahlil was NOT a bust. He was not dominant but he was a very good player. You guys just expected him to be something he's not. Kahlil is not a guy who gets sacks or TFLs. He's not a disrupter. He lacks the quick twitch to do that. What he is, however, is a strong powerful stout run defender with some potential as a bull rusher. He's a 0-technique in the 3-4 defense or a 1-technique in the 4-3. He's similar to NFL players like Pat Williams who never got much in the way of sacks or TFLs. Their job was to simply hold up at the point of attack, protect their gaps, and keep lineman off the linebackers so they can flow to the football.

You guys need to stop thinking that because KMac didn't live up to your UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS of his game that he was a bust. He was very good the last 2 years when he was healthy. Its why he'll be drafted this spring in a very strong draft class and why he'll play in the NFL for a very long time.

Kahlil McKenzie is a good football player. PERIOD.
 
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#50
#50
AlumniChase said:
If only he could have found that motivation while on the hill...

Soft as a marshmallow when he was here.

I will be more weary of these NFL prodigies in the future and realize they don't give two ****s about college ball.
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That describes 90% of our team last year. We were called soft by numerous people including NFL Scouts. First thing JP noticed too. He said we were small and thinks that's what lead to a lot of our injury problems. These players wont be small and soft for long.
 
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