Football fun again for Bituli, freakish MLB ready to 'step up'

[Remy]

LB play last year was about as bad as I've seen at UT...2017 should be better, especially if Bituli can become a play maker for the Vols
Go Vols

If DKjr has a big year and gets a lot of attention at MLB it should surprise few of us he leaves for the NFL. Hence we need Bituli being his #2 getting those reps and that experience IMO.

 

[Go Fight Win]

And I think you'd be surprised at the size difference. DB is taller. That's about it.

Having seen both recently I don't think I would be

 

[46yrvol]

omg, we have too many mlb's.

 

[AllVol4]

Having seen both recently I don't think I would be

I'll take your word for it. I haven't seen them since the Kentucky game.

 

[HalfullVol]

I would rather have Levon Kirkland at MLB coming in a 6'1" 265 than a 6'4" 250 Bituli. Leverage baby.

Wait a minute, we don't have that option.

Nevermind...

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

You seem to have a habit of making things up.

This is from the UT Sport website. And I've looked just about everywhere else and DB's weight isn't listed any higher than 238 lbs.

View attachment 129961

Point is, they weigh about the same. Only difference is, DK Jr. is shorter and more stocky. They have comparable speed and athleticism. DK Jr. is "perfectly fine" at MLB because he's the smartest guy on the field, the play caller, field general, mental and emotional leader. Not sure how you could see it any other way. He can be an AA MLB.

FWIW, JRM was the field general at OLB in 2015. A guy can make the calls to line up the defense AND be an OLB.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

McDowell is the only other LB who demonstrated SEC caliber ability. He and DKjr are the guys the group has to be built around.

McDowell was terrible last year. I don't think he demonstrated anything more than being a backup linebacker at best.

Colton Jumper showed more than him.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

So because he's "NFL mike huge," whatever that means, we should move our best player on defense out of position and replace him with unproven potential?

DKjr would be even better at weakside LB. It would allow him to use his speed and athleticism even more since he wouldn't have to deal with as many free blockers as he would have to deal with at MLB.

DKjr is a great talent at either position. I just think the team and DKjr would benefit greatly if he replaced JRM at weakside LB and Bituli took over the Mike.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

No. I think I said or meant to say that the starter should get 60-70% of the snaps and should have a starter quality back up getting 30% or so.

You're initial post made it sound like you think the starter should only get 50-60% of the snaps. (30-40% for the number two guy and 10% for another) to have championship caliber depth

But no championship caliber team is sitting their MLB 4-5 out of every 10 plays.

Go back and watch how Bama and Clemson used Foster and Boulware the previous two seasons. They pretty much stayed on the field except in blowouts. MLB is just a position that doesn't rotate quite as heavily as others.

 

[fifties fan]

Native Tennessee ballers have always been our best linebackers!

Umm, Kiner, Reynolds, Nettles come to mind.