'15 LA RB Kendall Bussey (Former UT commit)

#701
#701
DD4ME said:
I totally agree. Would much rather have seen a slower but bruising Reid come in and smash somebody in relief than another blown up dump pass to a wr sized scat back.
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That's the crazy thing here. I'm OK with taking Kamara, Reid or another RB if the staff chooses to replace him due to visits, and RDAIV. The discussion has been some think we should take these 2, the transfer, PLUS another 1-2 more RBs in 2015.

That is where I disagree.
 
#702
#702
We take at minimum 3 backs.

Stop pretending walk ons and players of that caliber are going to allow us to compete in this league. That is sunbelt talk.
 
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#703
#703
Go Fight Win said:
We take at minimum 3 backs.

Stop pretending walk ons and players of that caliber are going to allow us to compete in this league. That is sunbelt talk.
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Exactly

We have:
Hurd
Scott

Incoming:
Kamara
Reid/replacement
RDA4, who is a situational back

Unknown:
Paulk, no official word on reinstatement
3rd back - probably Love
 
#704
#704
Nashvegas31 said:
Yep a kid that started as true freshman for Butch at Cincy and was one of his top playmakers along with dangerous kick returner is a wasted scholarship. Have you watched him play before?
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Another slot receiver not an SEC running back. RDA was actually moved to slot receiver this year before being injured. Pretty sure that's where he wants to play here.
 
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#705
#705
GLDunlap said:
Another slot receiver not an SEC running back. RDA was actually moved to slot receiver this year before being injured. Pretty sure that's where he wants to play here.
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Pretty much a slighter DY.... There should be no expectations besides helping ensure Micah.....
 
#706
#706
Go Fight Win said:
We take at minimum 3 backs.

Stop pretending walk ons and players of that caliber are going to allow us to compete in this league. That is sunbelt talk.
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I'm not really pretending anything. How many times does UT or any big time school have a situation where the walk-ons are actually getting significant carries at RB? I'd guess about never. Beyond the best 2-4 RBs on the roster, the kids are depth. Does it really matter if your #5-7 guys are 4* kids or walk-ons if they NEVER carry the ball in a game? I've think it would not.

As we have seen time and time again on here, it does not matter what a kid's possibilities are. If he is not starting or pushing for 2nd string by year 2 he WILL BE on the chopping block at least as far as the fans are concerned. "Make room for new signees" is always the play. Does it really matter if your #5-7 guys are 2* or 4* if they don't see the field they will be processed/transfer by year 2? IMO, not really.

I get the fans are fine with 4* talent sitting on the bench "just in case" they are needed. In reality, that's not really going to play out very often. If talent is not playing, that talent will look to play elsewhere. Set yourself up for a lot of transfers and all you're doing is putting yourself in a position to have to scramble to fix things.

JMO
 
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#707
#707
LebanonVolunteer said:
I'm not really pretending anything. How many times does UT or any big time school have a situation where the walk-ons are actually getting significant carries at RB? I'd guess about never. Beyond the best 2-4 RBs on the roster, the kids are depth. Does it really matter if your #5-7 guys are 4* kids or walk-ons if they NEVER carry the ball in a game? I've think it would not.

As we have seen time and time again on here, it does not matter what a kid's possibilities are. If he is not starting or pushing for 2nd string by year 2 he WILL BE on the chopping block at least as far as the fans are concerned. "Make room for new signees" is always the play. Does it really matter if your #5-7 guys are 2* or 4* if they don't see the field they will be processed/transfer by year 2? IMO, not really.

I get the fans are fine with 4* talent sitting on the bench "just in case" they are needed. In reality, that's not really going to play out very often. If talent is not playing, that talent will look to play elsewhere. Set yourself up for a lot of transfers and all you're doing is putting yourself in a position to have to scramble to fix things.

JMO
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There are a lot of guys in the NFL who sat for there first two years in college.
 
#708
#708
Keyser Soze said:
There are a lot of guys in the NFL who sat for there first two years in college.
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I'm sure there are. I'm sure a lot of them did not end up playing for the same school their whole time in college either. I'm sure a lot of them were on teams who were doing a lot of winning. If Tennessee were winning and competing for championships I might buy into the idea that kids would be willing to sit on the bench for 2-3 years and just wait their turn. When you are fighting tooth and nail to squeak by Vandy to just make a bowl game, I have no doubt quality talent will end up looking to actually play elsewhere vs sit the bench and HOPE at some point in their college career they get to see some reps.

JMO
 
#709
#709
LebanonVolunteer said:
I'm sure there are. I'm sure a lot of them did not end up playing for the same school their whole time in college either. I'm sure a lot of them were on teams who were doing a lot of winning. If Tennessee were winning and competing for championships I might buy into the idea that kids would be willing to sit on the bench for 2-3 years and just wait their turn. When you are fighting tooth and nail to squeak by Vandy to just make a bowl game, I have no doubt quality talent will end up looking to actually play elsewhere vs sit the bench and HOPE at some point in their college career they get to see some reps.

JMO
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Usually just the opposite... The underrated kids like Alden Hill and Drae Bowles end up transterring because they don't develop and see there is no potential. A player who sees they have the potential to play and that they are one snap away from being in the rotation will normally stick it out unless they are a graduate transfer. The transferring and sitting out a year is a pretty big deal to most.
 
#710
#710
Go Fight Win said:
We take at minimum 3 backs.

Stop pretending walk ons and players of that caliber are going to allow us to compete in this league. That is sunbelt talk.
Click to expand...

My only question is does RDA get counted with that? I like his playmaking but I count him more as am ATH.
 
#711
#711
LebanonVolunteer said:
I'm not really pretending anything. How many times does UT or any big time school have a situation where the walk-ons are actually getting significant carries at RB? I'd guess about never. Beyond the best 2-4 RBs on the roster, the kids are depth. Does it really matter if your #5-7 guys are 4* kids or walk-ons if they NEVER carry the ball in a game? I've think it would not.

As we have seen time and time again on here, it does not matter what a kid's possibilities are. If he is not starting or pushing for 2nd string by year 2 he WILL BE on the chopping block at least as far as the fans are concerned. "Make room for new signees" is always the play. Does it really matter if your #5-7 guys are 2* or 4* if they don't see the field they will be processed/transfer by year 2? IMO, not really.

I get the fans are fine with 4* talent sitting on the bench "just in case" they are needed. In reality, that's not really going to play out very often. If talent is not playing, that talent will look to play elsewhere. Set yourself up for a lot of transfers and all you're doing is putting yourself in a position to have to scramble to fix things.

JMO
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It does matter. We came into this year with Hurd, Scott, and Lane. Don't feed me that crap about DY, Summerhill, and Pickett being "depth." At times, we had one, ONE SEC caliber back that was anywhere close to 100% healthy.

Look at teams with 4* depth at every position. Are they winning championships? Yes. Are teams with 4* starters/two deep, then you have 2* and walk-ons winning championships? No.

We need as much talent as we can get, no matter how deep it goes.
 
#712
#712
Not really taking Leb's side here BUT Vincent Perry and Bryce Love are both similar size. Perry probably isn't quite as fast as Love but both are explosive players. They may see Perry as their third RB? Class may end up being Kamara, Love, and Perry as the three RBs IMHO, JMO, TIFWIW.

IDK what happens with Reid but if Love decides to commit and he has taken visits I think his spot is gone. Fort has pretty much alluded to that for a while. I just don't see him being part of this class if Love commits. IMHO the last RB spot is reserved for Bryce Love.
 
#713
#713
LebanonVolunteer said:
That's the crazy thing here. I'm OK with taking Kamara, Reid or another RB if the staff chooses to replace him due to visits, and RDAIV. The discussion has been some think we should take these 2, the transfer, PLUS another 1-2 more RBs in 2015.

That is where I disagree.
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If we had a guy like Lane for next year I agree but Scott and Paulk are total unknowns. I count RDA as an ATH not RB and cannot see him being a true RB. Now if Paulk or Scott where knowns then I say cap it at 2 guys and RDA. That isn't where we are though so I could see taking 3 guys and RDA. 2016 if the guys we get pan out I see it as back to a 1-2 back cycle.
 
#714
#714
Face said:
It does matter. We came into this year with Hurd, Scott, and Lane. Don't feed me that crap about DY, Summerhill, and Pickett being "depth." At times, we had one, ONE SEC caliber back that was anywhere close to 100% healthy.

Look at teams with 4* depth at every position. Are they winning championships? Yes. Are teams with 4* starters/two deep, then you have 2* and walk-ons winning championships? No.

We need as much talent as we can get, no matter how deep it goes.
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As I said, IF....IF...Tennessee was anywhere close to "playing for championships", I might buy into the thinking that kids would be willing to be that 5th, 6th, or 7th RB who just sits and hopes to get to play some day. IMO, UT is not currently in a position to expect that. IMO fans who think that are in a bit of a dreamland.
 
#715
#715
LebanonVolunteer said:
As I said, IF....IF...Tennessee was anywhere close to "playing for championships", I might buy into the thinking that kids would be willing to be that 5th, 6th, or 7th RB who just sits and hopes to get to play some day. IMO, UT is not currently in a position to expect that. IMO fans who think that are in a bit of a dreamland.
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You are absolutely correct. So... we need to recruit enough talent to have depth throughout the team to be able to play on a championship level.

Not being snarky, but who is the last guy that had talent at a high level that was unhappy with playing time and transferred? NOT a Drae Bowles type, but real talent?
 
#716
#716
DaddyChad said:
Not really taking Leb's side here BUT Vincent Perry and Bryce Love are both similar size. Perry probably isn't quite as fast as Love but both are explosive players. They may see Perry as their third RB? Class may end up being Kamara, Love, and Perry as the three RBs IMHO, JMO, TIFWIW.

IDK what happens with Reid but if Love decides to commit and he has taken visits I think his spot is gone. Fort has pretty much alluded to that for a while. I just don't see him being part of this class if Love commits. IMHO the last RB spot is reserved for Bryce Love.
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Don't say something crazy like that now! Perry, Bruce, guys like that who while carrying the ball for 1000's of yards in HS just make absolutely no sense as emergency 5th or 6th RBs on a college roster. If your 7th RB is not a HS all American who set state rushing records and is willing to sit for 3 years at the CHANCE to see meaningful reps you are destined to the SEC cellar. Come on man! Pay attention. :)
 
#718
#718
Face said:
You are absolutely correct. So... we need to recruit enough talent to have depth throughout the team to be able to play on a championship level.

Not being snarky, but who is the last guy that had talent at a high level that was unhappy with playing time and transferred? NOT a Drae Bowles type, but real talent?
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It's been a long long time since UT had multiple RBs who were considered "highly rated" on the roster at the same time. I'd venture to say having more than 2-3 even in the past 10 years or so is rare, if ever. TN RBs who considered quality talent that lost to transfer? Bryce Brown(was not because of depth), Davis Oku(it was depth), and Lennon Creer(it was depth I believe).

4* or higher rated RBs signed by TN:

2014-2
2013-0
2012-1
2011-1
2010-1
2009-2
2008-0
2007-1
2006-0
2005-2
2004-1

2-3* RBs signed:
2014-1
2013-0
2012-2
2011-2
2010-0
2009-1
2008-1
2007-0
2006-1
2005-0
2004-1

That's (11) TOTAL RBs in 11 years that were 4* players. Yeah, stacking up those classes of 3-4 4*+ talent is the only way to win. SMH
 
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#719
#719
Face said:
It does matter. We came into this year with Hurd, Scott, and Lane. Don't feed me that crap about DY, Summerhill, and Pickett being "depth." At times, we had one, ONE SEC caliber back that was anywhere close to 100% healthy.

Look at teams with 4* depth at every position. Are they winning championships? Yes. Are teams with 4* starters/two deep, then you have 2* and walk-ons winning championships? No.

We need as much talent as we can get, no matter how deep it goes.
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Jawja says hi.
 
#720
#720
LebanonVolunteer said:
It's been a long long time since UT had multiple RBs who were considered "highly rated" on the roster at the same time. I'd venture to say having more than 2-3 even in the past 10 years or so is rare, if ever. TN RBs who considered quality talent that lost to transfer? Bryce Brown(was not because of depth), Davis Oku(it was depth), and Lennon Creer(it was depth I believe).

4* or higher rated RBs signed by TN:

2014-2
2013-0
2012-1
2011-1
2010-1
2009-2
2008-0
2007-1
2006-0
2005-2
2004-1

2-3* RBs signed:
2014-1
2013-0
2012-2
2011-2
2010-0
2009-1
2008-1
2007-0
2006-1
2005-0
2004-1

That's (11) TOTAL RBs in 11 years that were 4* players. Yeah, stacking up those classes of 3-4 4*+ talent is the only way to win. SMH
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Because we've clearly been the blueprint for winning the last decade.
 
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#721
#721
SergeantVol said:
Jawja says hi.
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UGA's #4 RB this year in terms of yardage is a 2* RB named Brendan Douglas. He was their #3 RB last year in terms of yardage. I just don't know how they do it. I mean this is one of those teams who stacks 5* RBs out the wazoo. A 2-3* RB would never be in the discussion for depth at a juggernaut like Tennessee. :)
 
#722
#722
LebanonVolunteer said:
UGA's #4 RB this year in terms of yardage is a 2* RB named Brendan Douglas. He was their #3 RB last year in terms of yardage. I just don't know how they do it. I mean this is one of those teams who stacks 5* RBs out the wazoo. A 2-3* RB would never be in the discussion for depth at a juggernaut like Tennessee. :)
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What I was saying is who is our 2* even. Would be nice to have seen anyone have a pulse past Lane and Hurd.
 
#724
#724
DD4ME said:
What I was saying is who is our 2* even. Would be nice to have seen anyone have a pulse past Lane and Hurd.
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Scott was a 4*.
Pickett was a 3* #14 ATH in the country.
RDAIV was a 3*
Kamara is a 5* of course.
Reid is a 3*, Vaughn is a 4*, Love is a 4*, Bussey is a 4*.
Perry is a 3*
Bruce is a 3*

Take your pick. :)
 
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