DiderotsGhost
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Over the weekend, I did a write-up on the potential 2015 roster with my own positions ratings. Now I'm curious to see how everyone would rate the 2014 roster.
I got accused of having "orange-colored glasses" for the 2015 roster ratings, but I think when you look at our potential roster versus other SEC schools, we stack up pretty well for '15, so long as you assume Butch & Co do a better job of evaluating, retaining, and developing talent than Dooley & Co. It's 2014 that I would be more concerned about.
Here's how I would break down the 2014 roster. How would you all rate it?
Quarterbacks: 6 / 10
Justin Worley is underrated as a QB. He's not Johnny Manziel or even Zach Mettenberger, but he got us a win versus South Carolina, and put us in position to win versus Georgia last season. If Worley were surrounded by top-caliber talent, I think he could lead a team to an SEC title. And he's certainly not "the worst starting QB in the SEC", as MSN/Fox suggests. Unfortunately, theres still not enough talent or depth around him to be competitive. The other issue here is that we don't have much depth at QB; if Worley gets injured this season, are things going to turn ugly again? Say what you will about Worley, but the Vols quickly became less competitive once he was out for the season. I definitely think we wouldve been in a bowl game last year if Worley had stayed healthy (and we would've beaten Vandy).
Running Backs: 7 / 10
This one is highly debatable. This was our strength last year, but losing Neal is big. Now, Marlin Lane is our main option. We do bring on two highly-toued recruits in Jalen Hurd and Derrell Scott, but both are unproven, and I'm not expecting miracles from Freshman backs. The two wild cards here: Devrin Young and Justus Pickett. Young was injured early in the season last year and Pickett sat out last year after transferring from Maryland. One or both of these guys could end up being much better than expected. If some of these guys step up, this could potentially be much better than a "7", but we'll have to wait and see.
Wide Receivers: 8.5 / 10
Our wide receiver group started to emerge late in the season last year. It's likely we'll see more progress this year. We bring back Marquez North, and we'll likely see improvement from the supporting cast as well (Croom, Howard, Smith, etc). Add Von Pearson, Josh Malone, and Vic Wharton to the mix, and we have the potential to have a really good WR corps. This group has the potential to be a "9" or "10", but we still need to see how some of the new guys perform.
Offensive Line: 5 / 10
This is BY FAR the biggest question mark this season. We're replacing the entire O-line from last year. Hopefully, bringing in Dontavius Blair will help, but much of our line will be inexperienced. It's possible this group is better than expected, but the presumption is that they will struggle mightily in the early season. A weak O-line could really hold back the offense this year, and make life much more difficult on Justin Worley and our new RBs.
Special Teams: 7.5 / 10
Not sure what to think of special teams this year. Aaron Medley was a highly-touted recruit at Kicker, but he'll only be a Freshman. For now, I'll go with "7.5", but admittedly, I have difficulty rating this.
Defensive Line: 6.5 / 10
We're starting to pile up some top-notch recruits on the D-line, but I do think this could be one of the weaker spots on the defense early in the season. Butch Jones also seems to be getting a bit experimental, shifting LBs to the D-line, with Curt Maggitt and Jakob Johnson both officially listed as D-linemen on the roster. Not sure how big of an impact some of our Freshman will have either. Let's say that the D-line has potential to be good, but has to be considered a question mark until proven otherwise.
Linebackers: 8 / 10
Bringing back AJ Johnson is big. Jalen Reeves-Maybin will also be shifted to LB this year. Freshmen Gavin Bryand and Dillon Bates provide a few more options. Overall, I'd label this the strength of our defense right now, with a combination of proven contributors and young talent with good potential.
Secondary: 7.5 / 10
Cam Sutton was good last year. We also bring back Brian Randolph and LeDarrell McNeil. Let's hope a few of the Freshman (Todd Kelly, Emmanuel Moseley, Cortez McDowell, etc) can also step up and contribute. Similar to LBs, we have a few proven contributors and some young talent with good potential in the secondary.
Offense: 6 / 10
Overall on offense, I'm worried it will be a struggle. The inexperienced O-line is a huge concern. We're strong at the WR position. We have a group with good potential at RB but might take awhile for these guys to gel. Worley has experience, but is about average for an SEC QB. Overall, I think we're not the worst SEC offense, but we'll likely be below-average.
Defense: 7.5 / 10
Our prospects look better on defense this year. While there are question marks about the D-line and team speed could still be an issue, we *SHOULD* at least be better than last year. I wouldn't get too excited, though, because much of our talent is still young and inexperienced. I'm also terrified that we're going to have a few more ugly games like we did last year versus Auburn, Bama, Oregon, and Mizzou. Let's hope we have no more than 2 complete embarrassments, and hold up OK through the rest of our major competition.
Overall
There's a reason I did the 2015 roster write-up before the 2014 one. Definitely think we have more reasons for optimism in 2015 and 2016. 2014 is going to be a transitional year where Butch tries to put his stamp on the team, but is still working with a lack of depth resulting from the poor recruiting and player development of the previous staff. I'm just hoping we can get to six wins with the difficult schedule and can set up things for a more impressive run in 2015. If we manage to get to 7 or 8 wins by some miracle, Butch deserves major props.
Sources
Here are some sources to learn more about the 2014 roster.
Official Football Roster
Projected Depth Chart - Offense
Projected Depth Chart - Defense
2014 Recruiting Class - 247 Sports
I got accused of having "orange-colored glasses" for the 2015 roster ratings, but I think when you look at our potential roster versus other SEC schools, we stack up pretty well for '15, so long as you assume Butch & Co do a better job of evaluating, retaining, and developing talent than Dooley & Co. It's 2014 that I would be more concerned about.
Here's how I would break down the 2014 roster. How would you all rate it?
Quarterbacks: 6 / 10
Justin Worley is underrated as a QB. He's not Johnny Manziel or even Zach Mettenberger, but he got us a win versus South Carolina, and put us in position to win versus Georgia last season. If Worley were surrounded by top-caliber talent, I think he could lead a team to an SEC title. And he's certainly not "the worst starting QB in the SEC", as MSN/Fox suggests. Unfortunately, theres still not enough talent or depth around him to be competitive. The other issue here is that we don't have much depth at QB; if Worley gets injured this season, are things going to turn ugly again? Say what you will about Worley, but the Vols quickly became less competitive once he was out for the season. I definitely think we wouldve been in a bowl game last year if Worley had stayed healthy (and we would've beaten Vandy).
Running Backs: 7 / 10
This one is highly debatable. This was our strength last year, but losing Neal is big. Now, Marlin Lane is our main option. We do bring on two highly-toued recruits in Jalen Hurd and Derrell Scott, but both are unproven, and I'm not expecting miracles from Freshman backs. The two wild cards here: Devrin Young and Justus Pickett. Young was injured early in the season last year and Pickett sat out last year after transferring from Maryland. One or both of these guys could end up being much better than expected. If some of these guys step up, this could potentially be much better than a "7", but we'll have to wait and see.
Wide Receivers: 8.5 / 10
Our wide receiver group started to emerge late in the season last year. It's likely we'll see more progress this year. We bring back Marquez North, and we'll likely see improvement from the supporting cast as well (Croom, Howard, Smith, etc). Add Von Pearson, Josh Malone, and Vic Wharton to the mix, and we have the potential to have a really good WR corps. This group has the potential to be a "9" or "10", but we still need to see how some of the new guys perform.
Offensive Line: 5 / 10
This is BY FAR the biggest question mark this season. We're replacing the entire O-line from last year. Hopefully, bringing in Dontavius Blair will help, but much of our line will be inexperienced. It's possible this group is better than expected, but the presumption is that they will struggle mightily in the early season. A weak O-line could really hold back the offense this year, and make life much more difficult on Justin Worley and our new RBs.
Special Teams: 7.5 / 10
Not sure what to think of special teams this year. Aaron Medley was a highly-touted recruit at Kicker, but he'll only be a Freshman. For now, I'll go with "7.5", but admittedly, I have difficulty rating this.
Defensive Line: 6.5 / 10
We're starting to pile up some top-notch recruits on the D-line, but I do think this could be one of the weaker spots on the defense early in the season. Butch Jones also seems to be getting a bit experimental, shifting LBs to the D-line, with Curt Maggitt and Jakob Johnson both officially listed as D-linemen on the roster. Not sure how big of an impact some of our Freshman will have either. Let's say that the D-line has potential to be good, but has to be considered a question mark until proven otherwise.
Linebackers: 8 / 10
Bringing back AJ Johnson is big. Jalen Reeves-Maybin will also be shifted to LB this year. Freshmen Gavin Bryand and Dillon Bates provide a few more options. Overall, I'd label this the strength of our defense right now, with a combination of proven contributors and young talent with good potential.
Secondary: 7.5 / 10
Cam Sutton was good last year. We also bring back Brian Randolph and LeDarrell McNeil. Let's hope a few of the Freshman (Todd Kelly, Emmanuel Moseley, Cortez McDowell, etc) can also step up and contribute. Similar to LBs, we have a few proven contributors and some young talent with good potential in the secondary.
Offense: 6 / 10
Overall on offense, I'm worried it will be a struggle. The inexperienced O-line is a huge concern. We're strong at the WR position. We have a group with good potential at RB but might take awhile for these guys to gel. Worley has experience, but is about average for an SEC QB. Overall, I think we're not the worst SEC offense, but we'll likely be below-average.
Defense: 7.5 / 10
Our prospects look better on defense this year. While there are question marks about the D-line and team speed could still be an issue, we *SHOULD* at least be better than last year. I wouldn't get too excited, though, because much of our talent is still young and inexperienced. I'm also terrified that we're going to have a few more ugly games like we did last year versus Auburn, Bama, Oregon, and Mizzou. Let's hope we have no more than 2 complete embarrassments, and hold up OK through the rest of our major competition.
Overall
There's a reason I did the 2015 roster write-up before the 2014 one. Definitely think we have more reasons for optimism in 2015 and 2016. 2014 is going to be a transitional year where Butch tries to put his stamp on the team, but is still working with a lack of depth resulting from the poor recruiting and player development of the previous staff. I'm just hoping we can get to six wins with the difficult schedule and can set up things for a more impressive run in 2015. If we manage to get to 7 or 8 wins by some miracle, Butch deserves major props.
Sources
Here are some sources to learn more about the 2014 roster.
Official Football Roster
Projected Depth Chart - Offense
Projected Depth Chart - Defense
2014 Recruiting Class - 247 Sports
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