Let’s talk about Will Brooks

#77
#77
Vfl2407 said:
The secondary situation still baffles me.
Why did we encourage so many mediocre players to leave but not spend some NIL money to get better replacements in the portal.
if our secondary is as bad as some fear, there’s plenty of blame to share for Martinez, Banks, & Heupel.
Hoping the front six are so good that it takes pressure off of our new back end five.
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So you do not believe that this years 5 are not more physically capable than the last couple of years! The staff is not hiding the fact that they do. Since you seem confident in your snarky analysis, compare and contrast the ceilings for all 5 positions last year to this. Otherwise sit back for a few games and bring some rational facts to defend your NEGA position in this very thread.

With a massive RETOOL we gotta expect some learning curves as individuals and units, but let’s see if these guys are in the same shot on TV CONSISTENTLY. How about 3rd down conversion rates.
 
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#78
#78
GUNTERSVOL said:
So you do not believe that this years 5 are not more physically capable than the last couple of years! The staff is not hiding the fact that they do. Since you seem confident in your snarky analysis, compare and contrast the ceilings for all 5 positions last year to this. Otherwise sit back for a few games and bring some rational facts to defend your NEGA position in this very thread.

With a massive RETOOL we gotta expect some learning curves as individuals and units, but let’s see if these guys are in the same shot on TV CONSISTENTLY. How about 3rd down conversion rates.
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We haven’t even announced our five starters yet.
i do expect good things from Turrentine and have high hopes for the others.
but it’s hard to argue that this position has the most question marks.
i really hope they overachieve all expectations but i just don’t have confidence in Banks and Martinez to coach them up. Hope im wrong.
 
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#80
#80
Oldvoldad said:
JJ and Jones never sniffed a natty. That is the goal.
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That was Johnny's fault. Both of those guys played on teams who were talented enough to compete for and win the national title. 85 team dominated the U who came to New Orleans to be crowned champion and the 89-92 teams were arguably the most talented teams in Tennessee history (especially 90-91). Any of those teams could have been undefeated if Johnny hadn't played scared in a couple of games per year.
 
#81
#81
Vfl2407 said:
We haven’t even announced our five starters yet.
i do expect good things from Turrentine and have high hopes for the others.
but it’s hard to argue that this position has the most question marks.
i really hope they overachieve all expectations but i just don’t have confidence in Banks and Martinez to coach them up. Hope im wrong.
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I like both starting CBs a lot. I like Turrentine at one Safety. If the other Safety spot can be resolved and Boo can be what we think he can be at Star, we'll have a good starting 5.
 
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#82
#82
Backwards K said:
That was Johnny's fault. Both of those guys played on teams who were talented enough to compete for and win the national title. 85 team dominated the U who came to New Orleans to be crowned champion and the 89-92 teams were arguably the most talented teams in Tennessee history (especially 90-91). Any of those teams could have been undefeated if Johnny hadn't played scared in a couple of games per year.
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Johnny's coaching job in 1985 was superb. That team had no business being on the same field as Miami. Florida and Auburn were both more talented. The talent level wasn't that high. Middle of the road SEC talent, especially once Robinson got hurt. That was just a true team.
 
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#83
#83
NighthawkVol said:
Johnny's coaching job in 1985 was superb. That team had no business being on the same field as Miami. Florida and Auburn were both more talented. The talent level wasn't that high. Middle of the road SEC talent, especially once Robinson got hurt. That was just a true team.
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I don't disagree with those games but they were up 16 on UCLA in the 4th quarter and Johnny tried to run out the clock before UCLA could catch up and they did (26-26 tie). At UF, he kept the offense too conservative until late and the Vols made a run but still came up a TD short. The Ga Tech game was a joke (6-6). Johnny played scared from the beginning and never got the offense in gear until the last drive when they let Dickey throw the ball and he moved the Vols into FG range for the tying points. They did the same thing the next week at Memphis and kept the Tigers in the game before pulling out a close win.

Johnny had a knack for winning games he shouldn't have and losing games he had no business losing.
 
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#84
#84
NighthawkVol said:
Johnny's coaching job in 1985 was superb. That team had no business being on the same field as Miami. Florida and Auburn were both more talented. The talent level wasn't that high. Middle of the road SEC talent, especially once Robinson got hurt. That was just a true team.
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Florida beat us that season. Only thing that kept them out of the Sugar Bowl was their probation.
 
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#85
#85
Go Fight Win said:
he's going to play a lot. he's a good football player. no one knows if he will start but pretty obviously he's going to be seriously in the discussion/getting big game minutes. if you watch the tape from the last two years he is consistently making plays. people give him crap on these forums because they have the disease where they can only see people based on stars they did or didn't get in high school.

not sure it deserves a thread considering the discussion in practice threads about this guy the past few weeks has been close to nonstop
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Ok, it's a stars thing. I was trying to figure out why people are b!tch!ng and moaning. Stars don't mean a thing once you put the pads on. Them stars won't help one bit.
 
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#86
#86
Godfatha said:
If we're starting a walkon in the defensive backfield then it's either a failure at recruiting/evaluation, failure of development, or some boneheaded determination to stick with seniority over talent. Either way it is a failure
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Why do people believe this?

CFB is littered with great walk-on stories every year about a guy who defied the odds and became a star at his position. We've had those type of players before as well(Jumper/Reveiz). Why can't Brooks be another one?

The evaluation of guys with more stars is irrelevant if Brooks is a legitimately good player.
 
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#88
#88
Godfatha said:
If we're starting a walkon in the defensive backfield then it's either a failure at recruiting/evaluation, failure of development, or some boneheaded determination to stick with seniority over talent. Either way it is a failure
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Just a reminder

Examining the Status of Tennessee’s Defensive Back Room Amidst Slew of Outgoing Transfers | Rocky Top Insider

Examining the current state of Tennessee football's defensive back room amidst the recent slew of outgoing transfers.
www.rockytopinsider.com www.rockytopinsider.com
 
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#89
#89
WillisWG said:
Filled in last year due to injuries and likely he would do the same this year. Had a nice game against Vandy but was over match by Georgia

Today's practice comments:

Based on what we saw, the first group of defensive backs through the drill had Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III at cornerback, Boo Carter at Star and Will Brooks and Andre Turrentine as the safeties. The second group had McMurray and Jordan Matthews as the cornerback, Christian Harrison at Star, Jakobe Thomas at one safety and Christian Charles and John Slaughter bracketed at the other safety spot (Slaughter was shadowing Charles). That could be the pecking order on the back line right now.
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Every secondary in the country was overmatched by UGA so what's your point. Last season EVERY secondary that played Georgia was outmatched with the Exception of Alabama. They put up at least 24 points in every game and averaged 40 points a game. Only 3 teams 'held' them under 30 points (24 Bama, 24 USCe, 27 Auburn) Thats like saying he couldn't beat Mike Tyson in his prime so he sucks and should retire from boxing.
 
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#91
#91
#93
#93
pimo1 said:
Every secondary in the country was overmatched by UGA so what's your point. Last season EVERY secondary that played Georgia was outmatched with the Exception of Alabama. They put up at least 24 points in every game and averaged 40 points a game. Only 3 teams 'held' them under 30 points (24 Bama, 24 USCe, 27 Auburn) Thats like saying he couldn't beat Mike Tyson in his prime so he sucks and should retire from boxing.
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Wasn't making a point just stating a fact...he didn't have a good Georgia game.

If I ever find myself in need a season recap of Georgia I'll reach out to you.
 
#94
#94
Carp said:
Why do people believe this?

CFB is littered with great walk-on stories every year about a guy who defied the odds and became a star at his position. We've had those type of players before as well(Jumper/Reveiz). Why can't Brooks be another one?

The evaluation of guys with more stars is irrelevant if Brooks is a legitimately good player.
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We'll see. I'll be happy to revisit this post halfway through the season if he turns out to be good and eat my crow.
 
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#95
#95
DaddyChad said:
Martinez basically said brooks is a coach on the field. I figure we probably rotate some guys in there eventually but like you said getting guys in the right position early on especially with the youth we have in the backfield is worth the trade off
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McCoy said this same thing a couple days ago. Every coach will play guys who know where to be over those that may have doubts. With 5 new starters, it’s more critical to have someone back there that knows where everyone should be. BTW, didn’t Brooks play “star” vs GA instead safety?

Banks took this job in 2021 when no other DC would consider it. Frankly, I didn’t think they’d be able to stop anyone that first year but they somehow did enough to keep them in most games. The defense has gotten better every year. Let the man do his job.
 
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#97
#97
titansvolsfaninga said:
What's your gripe then? Is it because he's white? I am trying to understand the issue. If the coaches trust him enough to play/start, who are we to 2nd guess. All the coaches have earned our trust.
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Where have I griped about him? I haven't posted anything negative about Brooks. So what's your problem?
 
#98
#98
orangebloodgmc said:
Well, it's the unit with the most new faces; which does not mean it's bad, necessarily, just more unknown than other sections such as our veteran DL unit.
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It’s a pretty safe bet the dline won’t be the weakest link on defense. DBs have been the issue in the past so it’s pretty safe for talk shows to speculate the secondary will be the issue. I think we’re going to be a pretty good defense, also think even with an improved secondary they probably will be the main issue on the defense.
 
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#100
#100
Godfatha said:
We'll see. I'll be happy to revisit this post halfway through the season if he turns out to be good and eat my crow.
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Always amazed at how many people need to have an opinion before the fact.

None of us know how good Brooks will be this year. We will get a chance to see. Then we can form an informed opinion.
 
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