Could Our Defense Be The Best Ever

#1
OldVol

OldVol

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#1
Front: I believe our front 7 stand a chance of being the best we've ever had.

Secondary: Very few question marks, really? The problems we had last year were not problems of ability, but inexperience. The fact that Jason had to play at the Safety even meant there was less experience at the Corners. Now, the Corners are experienced and very capable, plus, we have some monster recruits coming in.

Now, this is what really gets my attention: Our offense has as many weapons as I can ever remember. We are better established at QB than any time in the history of the program. When we had Peyton, if he went down, the team went down. That's not the case now. We are strong from top to bottom. Gerald has as much ability as any RB we've ever had. He could have a record breaking year. 3/5 of the line returns. The receivers are the best, top to bottom, that I can ever remember. Now, what does that have to do with the Topic Of The Thread?

Our 1st team offense didn't score a TD from scrimmage against the 1st team Defense all Spring long.

Folks, this is going to be a banner year.

Coaches will get the problems corrected, they're minor anyway.

We might need to be contemplating where we're going to put that next Sear's Trophy.

GO BIG ORANGE
 
#2
#2
no flaming here! our D is going to be a force to reckon with and defense wins championships!
 
#4
#4
I have been saying this since last season ended.....we will have a top 10 defense next year...maybe even a top 5 if things go right.

Sure the secondary is in question still, but I feel pretty comfortable with Allen, Fellows, Hefney, Campbell and Stewart back there. If Campbell continues to improve his tackling, he will have one of the Saftey spots covered....
 
#5
#5
We are extremely deep at both DL and LB. We should have the corners covered but depth there is questionable at this point. Fulmer seems to think our safeties have improved. It is possible that we will have a top 10 D this year. If the DBs do improve substantially over last year, we'll be in the top 5.
 
#6
#6
I hope you are right OLDVOL. I just hope alot of the success the defense enjoyed this spring was not the result of injuries amongst our starters on offense. A strong kick-butt physical defense could set the tone for the whole team. It would be fun to see some swagger in the T again.
 
#7
#7
I think our only problem(that won't even be that big) is our inexperiance at Safety position.
 
#8
#8
Originally posted by BHAMVOLFAN@Apr 19, 2005 11:38 AM
We are extremely deep at both DL and LB. We should have the corners covered but depth there is questionable at this point. Fulmer seems to think our safeties have improved. It is possible that we will have a top 10 D this year. If the DBs do improve substantially over last year, we'll be in the top 5.
Click to expand...

I think their performance this Spring is proof that they have improved. I mean, geez people, our offense is not slouchy. Can you imagine the crap those guys are going to have to eat all summer at the training table.
 
#9
#9
Potenially this defense has a chance to be one of the best to ever wear the Orange and White.

This is the deepest defense in the Fulmer era and quite possibly since the Dickey Era.
 
#10
#10
Originally posted by TNVOLS1@Apr 19, 2005 11:54 AM
Potenially this defense has a chance to be one of the best to ever wear the Orange and White.

This is the deepest defense in the Fulmer era and quite possibly since the Dickey Era.
Click to expand...

i agree with potentially....but we will have to hope they produce like they should.
 
#13
#13
I want to see the secondary in live action before I make a judgement about the defense.
 
#14
#14
Originally posted by GAVol@Apr 19, 2005 1:22 PM
I want to see the secondary in live action before I make a judgement about the defense.
Click to expand...

Come on GaVol, live a little...

Say our defense is going to be great. Go on, say it. You can do it.... :good:
 
#15
#15
I would love to see the 05 Vols have a stellar year. The talent is there. The motivation is a question mark. Here's a big reason why:
http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14

When a young guy hears this media hype, it's not too far fetched an idea that he's already looking ahead - beyond putting in the work - to the reward. When TN got the high recruiting ranking, I had to wince. It's hard enough to coach, without adding extranneous nonsense from the press.
Just my humble opinion, but after what's happened recently - wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall in a few team meetings? It may take until Fall to get some heads out of the clouds. Right about the time the pads start popping.
:banghead:

 
#16
#16
I think..

offense-great..Ainge, Riggs, Mecham, Anderson..GREAT year coming up.

defense-Top 5 ever at UT. Simon, Gaither, Haralson, Allen, Parys, Mahelona..WOW!!! :bow:

special teams- decent..Wilhoit will be great but im not so sure about the punting game.
 
#17
#17
Top five defense EVER at UT? I've done my fair share of reading up on the General, and that seems pretty farfetched...

I will wait before I pass judgement on the defense. The D let us down too many times last year for me to say that they will go from mediocre at best to top 5 in the country.
 
#19
#19
Originally posted by milohimself@Apr 19, 2005 4:18 PM
Top five defense EVER at UT? I've done my fair share of reading up on the General, and that seems pretty farfetched...

I will wait before I pass judgement on the defense. The D let us down too many times last year for me to say that they will go from mediocre at best to top 5 in the country.
Click to expand...

I don't know that you can compare the defenses of those two eras. I think at some point, to be fair, you have to place a marker where the age of the forward pass began and where games were truly played with 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

To be sure, the General had some amazing Ds. I believe we still have the last team to go without being scored on. To be fair, there is no humanly possible way that could happen in this era.

I think we would be comparing apples to oranges in that regard.
 
#20
#20
Originally posted by MarkRulez@Apr 19, 2005 2:58 PM
I would love to see the 05 Vols have a stellar year. The talent is there. The motivation is a question mark. Here's a big reason why:
http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14

When a young guy hears this media hype, it's not too far fetched an idea that he's already looking ahead - beyond putting in the work - to the reward. When TN got the high recruiting ranking, I had to wince. It's hard enough to coach, without adding extranneous nonsense from the press.
Just my humble opinion, but after what's happened recently - wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall in a few team meetings? It may take until Fall to get some heads out of the clouds. Right about the time the pads start popping.
:banghead:
Click to expand...

I think this is where you have to trust the staff. There have been years when the staff didn't control the hype. 2002 was one of those years to be sure. Last year though, with 2 freshmen QBs starting, the staff kept the media at bay and it worked really well.

As long as we don't have any players labeling themselves (ala The Future) I think we'll be alright. I believe the problems of the Spring will work to our advantage with the staff cranking down the screws on the team more than they would have had there not been these problems.

If the players respond then we're in great shape. If they rebel, it's our and their loss.
 
#21
#21
Fulmer said yesterday that our Dline has a chance at being the BEST Dline we've had during his tenure at Tennessee. Expects Mahelona to have an All-American type season. Talked about how GREAT Justin Harrell has looked all spring. He is VERY excited about him. He said he believes we have the best LBs in the SEC. Says Fellows will probably start opposite Jason Allen at CB. Says based on what he saw this spring, Hefney should lock down one of the safety positions. He joked about the other safety position by asking if anyone in the crowd had any eligibility to play the other safety position. I think Stewart or Campbell will step up at the other safety spot. I'm not ready to say this will be the best defense ever at Tennessee, but I think it has a chance to be a very good one. I think the front 7 has a chance to be special this year.
 
#22
#22
Didn't say it wouldn't be good, 'cause it sure will be. After all the problems we had stopping the pass last year, I will wait to say we are gonna dominate on D.
 
#23
#23
All those listed below can play D-Line in the SEC with the exception of Harris.

Demonte Bolden
Jason Hall
Parys Haralson
Justin Harrell
Jesse Mahelona
Turk McBride
Tony McDaniels - He should be back
Xavier Mitchell
Robert Ayers
Antonio Reynolds
Jarod Hostetter
LaRon Harris - we'll see so far a waste of scholarship
 
#24
#24
someone please tell me why yall keep bowing down to simon.

he is good yes. but he has stayed injured his whole career except 2003 and he didnt have that good of a season at all.

he is overrated by a longshot. will probably end up hurt again.

gaither is our linebacker u guys.

 
#25
#25
I still think the late nineties with likes of Wilson, Henderson, Haynesworth, Goodrich, Grant and the likes were pretty D#$@ good.
 
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