'24 GA QB Jake Merklinger (Tennessee)

#801
#801
Only one ranked teams is starting a freshman QB.

Utah is doing it because of a pre-season injury to their preferred starter.
I certainly wouldn't think their o-line is worse than ours.

No SEC team is starting a true freshman.
 
#803
#803
LouderVol said:
Only one ranked teams is starting a freshman QB.

Utah is doing it because of a pre-season injury to their preferred starter.
I certainly wouldn't think their o-line is worse than ours.

No SEC team is starting a true freshman.
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FWIW, Bryson Barnes, a junior, has started at QB for Utah the past two games.
 
#807
#807
volbeast33 said:
i think he had a lot of limitations which is why other coaches backed off on him… He still probably would have started for Pruitt though.
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He didn’t have a spring and apparently missed the first week or two of fall camp because he had covid as well, so it’s really hard to say one way or another
 
#808
#808
LouderVol said:
Only one ranked teams is starting a freshman QB.

Utah is doing it because of a pre-season injury to their preferred starter.
I certainly wouldn't think their o-line is worse than ours.

No SEC team is starting a true freshman.
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Most teams would if they had a freshman that they thought would help them win more games than the next guy. Which is why fans will continue to call for us to play Nico. That's a bit of a lost cause at this point though, as we only have 1 game on our schedule left that we won't be favored in. Maybe we'll be a dog at Mizzou but we'll see.
 
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#810
#810
matt_mccoy19 said:
He didn’t have a spring and apparently missed the first week or two of fall camp because he had covid as well, so it’s really hard to say one way or another
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He's on his third team now -- Louisville. He couldn't win the job at UNLV and he's not starting at Louisville. I don't believe he was as good as advertised.
 
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#811
#811
bigl3327 said:
You're playing with fire if you try to only have 2 scholarship QBs year after year. I agree that it will be hard to find a portal QB worth a scholarship that's willing to come into our situation, but it's not impossible. It may just have to be someone who has done really well at the FCS level and is willing to come in as the back up in the SEC.
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Well we will have Gaston Moore back next year. He is a D1 level QB.

In 2025 we will likely have Nico, Jake and a freshman

But as it stands, we don't need to get another out of the portal.
 
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#812
#812
Vol423 said:
This is a myth. There are true freshmen QB's around the nation starting behind offensive lines far worse than ours.
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From things I have heard Nico just wasn't mentally ready. He ran a very simple offense in high school and heavily relied on his talent and athleticism.

No one in their right mind benches Joe NOW.

He is the main reason we were up 20-7. That Joe Milton gets us to 9-3 at least.

You don't suddenly bring in a true freshman for road games at UK, Mizzou and home against UGA.
 
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#813
#813
PlanetVolunteer said:
Well we will have Gaston Moore back next year. He is a D1 level QB.

In 2025 we will likely have Nico, Jake and a freshman

But as it stands, we don't need to get another out of the portal.
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Moore looked good in the Spring game, but there's a reason that he's still not on scholarship. If something happened to Nico early next season, you're looking at a true freshman(Merklinger), Moore(walk-on), or Shuler(walk-on) to try and keep the season from falling apart. The "fire Heupel" crowd would be out in full force. I think Moore could possibly be a game manager, but that's about the most we could expect from him. Not sure he could even do that against most of our schedule. You might be forgetting that he was a walk-on at UCF and followed Heupel here.
 
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#814
#814
bigl3327 said:
Moore looked good in the Spring game, but there's a reason that he's still not on scholarship. If something happened to Nico early next season, you're looking at a true freshman(Merklinger), Moore(walk-on), or Shuler(walk-on) to try and keep the season from falling apart. The "fire Heupel" crowd would be out in full force. I think Moore could possibly be a game manager, but that's about the most we could expect from him. Not sure he could even do that against most of our schedule. You might be forgetting that he was a walk-on at UCF and followed Heupel here.
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I dont know how good he actually is, but I do think it's a fact that he has D1 arm talent. He had some throws in game action against Ball State where you can sew that. Doesn't look stiff out there. Decent size at 6'2.

I probably trust him over most any potential low level QB transfers unless that QB had lit it up at the FCS level.

Otherwise you got 6'2 strong armed Gaston Moore in his 5th year in the offense in 2024.

I'm fine with that. I also argue that, if you are ever on your 3rd string QB then you're screwed regardless.

The fire Heupel crowd can kick rocks if they expect any coach to do well in the SEC with a third string QB.
 
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#815
#815
ksgovols said:
I want to see that list too.
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You're not going to see it because as usual, that poster is just blowing smoke hoping no one calls them out on it. Then they'll disappear like a fart in the wind to go start another argument in a different thread with more condescension and chest-thumping.
 
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#816
#816
Vol423 said:
I am aware of what happened. I was at that game against UCLA in Pasadena. The point remains that there was a plan for Peyton to redshirt his freshman year. There is supposedly no such plan for Nico, and Milton is holding the team back.
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No such plan to redshirt.
A plan for him to NOT PLAY there is.
It’s been said He, his Parents, Huepel all agreed on the plan.


If that’s too hard for the dummies on here to understand, let me splain it.

They didn’t want to just throw him out there.
Let him grow in mind and body another year,
Best case scenario is we have him starting for 3 years before he’s a first round NFL pick.
Could be gone after 2.
No chance he’s here 5 so the redshirt question is no factor.
 
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#817
#817
PlanetVolunteer said:
I dont know how good he actually is, but I do think it's a fact that he has D1 arm talent. He had some throws in game action against Ball State where you can sew that. Doesn't look stiff out there. Decent size at 6'2.

I probably trust him over most any potential low level QB transfers unless that QB had lit it up at the FCS level.

Otherwise you got 6'2 strong armed Gaston Moore in his 5th year in the offense in 2024.

I'm fine with that. I also argue that, if you are ever on your 3rd string QB then you're screwed regardless.

The fire Heupel crowd can kick rocks if they expect any coach to do well in the SEC with a third string QB.
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I'm saying that we need to bring in an experienced QB to be the back up. Not a third stringer. I realize that we have a slight scholarship reduction, but there's a reason that nearly every team has at least 3 scholarship QBs at all times. If nothing else, bring in an electric, running QB that needs some development passing.
 
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#818
#818
bigl3327 said:
I'm saying that we need to bring in an experienced QB to be the back up. Not a third stringer. I realize that we have a slight scholarship reduction, but there's a reason that nearly every team has at least 3 scholarship QBs at all times. If nothing else, bring in an electric, running QB that needs some development passing.
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Again how do you convince someone in the portal to come here and likely be a bench warmer?
 
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#820
#820
bigl3327 said:
Back to my earlier comment about a FCS QB that has done really well and just wants a chance on the big stage. There are lots of those guys every year that still aren't considered NFL draft picks.
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It will be interesting to see what happens. Will we have the room? We need portal help on the OL and WR really bad.
 
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#822
#822
Mike4Vols said:
He's on his third team now -- Louisville. He couldn't win the job at UNLV and he's not starting at Louisville. I don't believe he was as good as advertised.
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HB is pretty accurate and can make all the throws. He can master the film room as well. He just can’t make his reads and decisions fast enough. He also has a very long and slow release. He never improved on all that. I had high hopes for him because you can typically fix some of these things. He never developed.
 
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#823
#823
Franklin_Vol09 said:
HB is pretty accurate and can make all the throws. He can master the film room as well. He just can’t make his reads and decisions fast enough. He also has a very long and slow release. He never improved on all that. I had high hopes for him because you can typically fix some of these things. He never developed.
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Those are things fixable in the right situation though, Pruitt/Weinke/Chaney was not the right situation and he never molded in with the qb skill set that Heupel wants
 
#824
#824
Franklin_Vol09 said:
HB is pretty accurate and can make all the throws. He can master the film room as well. He just can’t make his reads and decisions fast enough. He also has a very long and slow release. He never improved on all that. I had high hopes for him because you can typically fix some of these things. He never developed.
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Scouts were very wrong about him

Dude is an FCS QB.
 
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#825
#825
PlanetVolunteer said:
Scouts were very wrong about him

Dude is an FCS QB.
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Hell so was JG, Shrout, Dormandy and Brian Maurer pretty much.

Good God did we have serious QB issues after Dobbs

Jeremy Pruitt looks at all those QB's and says 💋 and looks at Michael Penix Jr and immediately shows him the 🚪

GOD I HATE HIM

Glad he stuck with those crap QB's to make sure he got fired. Seriously though...it took him three seasons to FINALLY give up on JG and got Hendon...but it was too late! I still cannot believe he stuck with that lot for years. How f'n dumb can you be.
 
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