'24 GA QB Jake Merklinger (Tennessee)

#554
#554
LittleVol said:
I still doubt Joe.

Great Orange Bowl, but I still don't see a championship type QB.

I'd love for him to prove me wrong again.
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Most people didn't see that in Joe Burrow either and he had started for an entire season the year prior. I saw tremendous progress from Milton last year, so if he has a similar progression this year the offense will continue to be potent. A championship run will be more about the defense than Joe Milton.
 
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#555
#555
bigl3327 said:
Most people didn't see that in Joe Burrow either and he had started for an entire season the year prior. I saw tremendous progress from Milton last year, so if he has a similar progression this year the offense will continue to be potent. A championship run will be more about the defense than Joe Milton.
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Closer to home, but much earlier, I don't think anyone thinks Tee Martin was a better QB than Peyton, but who won the championship? It is, and always will be a team game.
 
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#556
#556
BondJamesBond said:
Closer to home, but much earlier, I don't think anyone thinks Tee Martin was a better QB than Peyton, but who won the championship? It is, and always will be a team game.
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Tee was definitely not even close to Peyton's level, obviously the career NFL stats show that. But Tee was able to use his feet much better. To this day I still have no idea why Peyton never won a NC at TN. Well actually Fla is why but... Just like it boggles the mind how Fulmer only went to and won 1 NC. Lots of wasted talent. Also didn’t help when Cut left. Can you imagine what Casey would have done under Cut? And he had a really good career inspite of Randy Sanders. But nobody can take it away from Tee. Him, our RB's and stout Def,( with help from Clint Stoener) earned it in 98!!
 
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#557
#557
bigl3327 said:
Most people didn't see that in Joe Burrow either and he had started for an entire season the year prior. I saw tremendous progress from Milton last year, so if he has a similar progression this year the offense will continue to be potent. A championship run will be more about the defense than Joe Milton.
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We beat Clemson because of staunch defense and Milton playing like he practiced.

So a Championship requires a good Milton and good defense. Both improved from the previous year.

Hendon with a good defense wins a championship.
Do you expect Joe to play up to that level?
 
#558
#558
LittleVol said:
We beat Clemson because of staunch defense and Milton playing like he practiced.

So a Championship requires a good Milton and good defense. Both improved from the previous year.

Hendon with a good defense wins a championship.
Do you expect Joe to play up to that level?
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And Clemson playing a TR FR QB who moved it between the 20's , but couldn't get it in the endzone. Special Teams hurt Clemson too. But we were missing a lit of players on our end.
 
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#560
#560
LittleVol said:
We beat Clemson because of staunch defense and Milton playing like he practiced.

So a Championship requires a good Milton and good defense. Both improved from the previous year.

Hendon with a good defense wins a championship.
Do you expect Joe to play up to that level?
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I expect the offense to look a little different but possibly even more effective. There are several factors at play here.
1. Golesh is gone and Heupel is back calling plays with a heavy influence from Halzle.
2. Milton's arm allows our receivers to play in space more. DB's won't have as much time to react.
3. Milton is not the same QB we saw start the 2021 season. I believe he is more Orange Bowl Joe than 2021 Pitt game Joe.
4. If teams don't respect the bazooka, I think Joe will connect on the long ball more often than not now. If they do respect it, then we may lead the SEC in total rushing yards this season. Much of this is dependent on OL play.
5. If Joe isn't playing to a championship level by the Florida game. We won't be having Joe Milton discussions for very long.
 
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#561
#561
bigl3327 said:
I expect the offense to look a little different but possibly even more effective. There are several factors at play here.
1. Golesh is gone and Heupel is back calling plays with a heavy influence from Halzle.
2. Milton's arm allows our receivers to play in space more. DB's won't have as much time to react.
3. Milton is not the same QB we saw start the 2021 season. I believe he is more Orange Bowl Joe than 2021 Pitt game Joe.
4. If teams don't respect the bazooka, I think Joe will connect on the long ball more often than not now. If they do respect it, then we may lead the SEC in total rushing yards this season. Much of this is dependent on OL play.
5. If Joe isn't playing to a championship level by the Florida game. We won't be having Joe Milton discussions for very long.
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1) So far so good what weve seen from Halzle.

2) Agreed. He gets it out there in a hurry.

3) Also agreed, but even Orange Bowl Joe was still holding the ball too long, and taking unnecessary sacks. However he showed the touch we've all been hoping to see

4) I'm not sold on Thornton having a gear like Hyatt. I don't see it on film. But I do still see a nice deep threat still. Speaking of running. Joe will run a lot less, luckily he will also have nice new swiss army knife in Seldon to just zip it out to. Seldon adds that extra dimension that makes the defense hesitate. We should see Seldon and Wright/SMall in on formations together. Very good point about the Oline. They won't be last years line, but there's some beef there.

5) Joe can be a facilitator and put up 3,000 yards 20 TDS, 3 Ints only and still have success with overall complimentary football, with our deep RB room, more mature/ athletic defnese, and solid kicking game.
He doesn't need to be a championship QB, he just needs to not zap the energy out of the team with his play. That never felt like a possibility vs Clemson. He can play average and still keep Nico on the bench so long as the Vols keep winning.
 
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#562
#562
LittleVol said:
1) So far so good what weve seen from Halzle.

2) Agreed. He gets it out there in a hurry.

3) Also agreed, but even Orange Bowl Joe was still holding the ball too long, and taking unnecessary sacks. However he showed the touch we've all been hoping to see

4) I'm not sold on Thornton having a gear like Hyatt. I don't see it on film. But I do still see a nice deep threat still. Speaking of running. Joe will run a lot less, luckily he will also have nice new swiss army knife in Seldon to just zip it out to. Seldon adds that extra dimension that makes the defense hesitate. We should see Seldon and Wright/SMall in on formations together. Very good point about the Oline. They won't be last years line, but there's some beef there.

5) Joe can be a facilitator and put up 3,000 yards 20 TDS, 3 Ints only and still have success with overall complimentary football, with our deep RB room, more mature/ athletic defnese, and solid kicking game.
He doesn't need to be a championship QB, he just needs to not zap the energy out of the team with his play. That never felt like a possibility vs Clemson. He can play average and still keep Nico on the bench so long as the Vols keep winning.
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If we are winning every game, then he's a championship QB. We aren't likely to continue winning with a game manager. Our defense won't be at that level this season. Say what you will about his Orange Bowl performance, but he led us to a win without the Biletnikoff Award winner, and a true freshman WR making his very first start. He also threw TD passes to all three starting WRs. Two of those being NFL level TD passes.
 
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#563
#563
bigl3327 said:
If we are winning every game, then he's a championship QB. We aren't likely to continue winning with a game manager. Our defense won't be at that level this season. Say what you will about his Orange Bowl performance, but he led us to a win without the Biletnikoff Award winner, and a true freshman WR making his very first start. He also threw TD passes to all three starting WRs. Two of those being NFL level TD passes.
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i said he showed the touch that game. i said that.
 
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#564
#564
LittleVol said:
1) So far so good what weve seen from Halzle.

2) Agreed. He gets it out there in a hurry.

3) Also agreed, but even Orange Bowl Joe was still holding the ball too long, and taking unnecessary sacks. However he showed the touch we've all been hoping to see

4) I'm not sold on Thornton having a gear like Hyatt. I don't see it on film. But I do still see a nice deep threat still. Speaking of running. Joe will run a lot less, luckily he will also have nice new swiss army knife in Seldon to just zip it out to. Seldon adds that extra dimension that makes the defense hesitate. We should see Seldon and Wright/SMall in on formations together. Very good point about the Oline. They won't be last years line, but there's some beef there.

5) Joe can be a facilitator and put up 3,000 yards 20 TDS, 3 Ints only and still have success with overall complimentary football, with our deep RB room, more mature/ athletic defnese, and solid kicking game.
He doesn't need to be a championship QB, he just needs to not zap the energy out of the team with his play. That never felt like a possibility vs Clemson. He can play average and still keep Nico on the bench so long as the Vols keep winning.
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3000 yards and 20 TDs is a mediocre season in this offense…maybe below.
 
#565
#565
Quarterback commit Jake Merklinger returned to Knoxville as a peer recruiter.

“Just being around the other recruits and coaches in a fun, competitive environment was awesome," he said.

After another visit, Merklinger is even more sure of his decision to be a Vol.

“The more I come to Knoxville, the more I realize I made the right decision," Merklinger told VolReport. "I'm a VFL."
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- VolReport
 
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#571
#571
thunder5 said:
Good deal…he’s certainly photogenic
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They can’t all be Kirk Herbstreit. This dude started and ran a successful business dating back to high school, did all the physical WORK as the scholarship players and was front and center developing our NIL program to bring in future stars. Runs workshops for players on how to generate and monetize opportunities and how to be financially responsible afterwards. Has nothing to apologize for…quite the opposite.
 
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#572
#572
butchna said:
They can’t all be Kirk Herbstreit. This dude started and ran a successful business dating back to high school, did all the physical WORK as the scholarship players and was front and center developing our NIL program to bring in future stars. Runs workshops for players on how to generate and monetize opportunities and how to be financially responsible afterwards. Has nothing to apologize for…quite the opposite.
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Tall, handsome, smart, motivated…and it sounds like he’s already financially stable to say the least…he’s going to do well in life
 
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