Nico is what he is THIS year......

#76
#76
What we’re reading here imo is the typical take a shot at Nico because of jealousy over $s. It’s the same mentality that comes out when one of our teams lose a game and the $s paid to coaches gets a mention. Nico is having a great year so far, especially when in some of our toughest games both offensive tackles are grading out in the 50s. It’s usually followed up that they have a second cousin, Bobby Joe, who’s coached the UnicoI County peewee team to 5 championships, that could run the UT program for $100K per year. We have the high brows like the Haslams and the Bobby Joes all supporting Rocky Top which is one of the kewl things to me about our program.
 
  • Like
Reactions: #1HomeGrownUTVOL
#77
#77
C-south said:
Perfectly thrown? 🤣 Nobody is holding the one where he hung the guy out. The diving catch in the end zone was tough but catchable. If it was perfect he wouldn’t have had to dive. The nimrod pass should’ve been caught but it wasn’t easy. A ball obscured coming between two guys at hip level while running full speed isn’t easy but should have been caught.
[/QUOT

I always heard if you put 2 hands on the ball you should catch it . Pretty simple analysis really.
Click to expand...
 
#78
#78
Volteacher said:
I have not been following the boards as closely this year so not sure if someone posted this earlier in the year if they have I am sorry.

Nico is NOT going to have a 400 yard game. Nico is NOT going to have a 3-4 TD game this year. He is NOT going to go 28/38. He is NOT going to "breakout" in the post season or anytime else this season. We are not going to score more than 35 points (not counting UTEP) on anyone this year with Nico. I LOVE Nico and what he brings to the table and he has a SUPER HIGH ceiling and can lead this team to a great season NEXT year or the year afterwards, but just not now. He has some growth to do he has put the ball on a frozen rope and has had flashes of greatness in him. Most football players see the most growth between their freshman and sophomore year (or 1st and 2nd year in the system/coach). I think he will make great improvements during spring/summer workouts and then fall camp. He has the talent we all saw it at Oklahoma, NC State, and flashes of it (Some of it was NOT his fault TWO TD's dropped one by a hit and one by the ground). He will only get better as he plays in this system his 2nd year. IF......IF he is doing the same things next year of overthrown balls, not throwing to his checkdown passes or missing open recievers THEN we can start having conversations about his future with the team, but that is a LOOOOOOOOONNNNGGG way away from today.
Click to expand...
What's wild is he was 3 drops away from 400+ and 4tds. He literally went 28/38.
 
#79
#79
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston both won the Heisman as a redshirt freshman. Winston went undefeated and won a national championship. Tua Tagovailoa was a Heisman runner up and played in the national championship.

As true freshmen, Jalen Hurts was SEC player of the year and made it to the championship game. Trevor Lawrence won a national championship as a true freshman. Nico isn’t having a year anywhere close to what any of those guys had.
Click to expand...
Manziel had Mike Evans
JW had 3 top 100 WR and a 5* TE
Tua had Davonta Smith
The top like 7 receivers for Hurts went to the NFL.
Lawrence had Etienne, Tee Higgins, Amari Rodgers, Hunter Renfrow....top 5 or 6 went to the NFL.

It takes a village. Right now, WR don't wanna participate. How many guys in our receiving corps are playing at a high level right now?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1986sugarvols
#80
#80
Jpcisco said:
Nico SHOULD have had 400+ against Kentucky. Nico SHOULD have had 4 td's vs Kentucky. Nico DID go 28/38 against Kentucky. Tennessee will score 35+ this week. Nico can only give the WR'S a catchable ball then it's on them to make the play which he did against Kentucky and the WR's let him down. That's all you can ask for from the QB. It was dang close to a true breakout game. My prediction, Nico does breakout and cement his legacy November 16th in Athens. He has already beat Florida and Bama and the kid is getting better every single play. He made some monumental throws against Bama in the 2nd half and carried it over the next game against Kentucky.
Click to expand...
Don't forget the defense.
 
#81
#81
BigOrangeTrain said:
A QBs starting record is the dumbest stat to lead with. Do you honestly think he is responsible for those 8 wins?
Click to expand...

Not totally. It’s a team effort, but he’s managed the games pretty well. A 158 passing rate is perfect. Nico is at 143 (144 this season) for his career. He hasn’t made a ton of splash plays but he’s a solid qb, and he’s improving. Not sure what more we can ask for.

I don’t blame Kits for the drop Saturday because that was a great defensive play, but the other two drops were dots.

Furthermore, I’d argue that a QBs record as a starter is pretty important considering that’s the most important stat. Who was the last good QB who had a crap record?
 
#84
#84
When you have a running game and defense like Tennessee has this year, you don't need (or really want) a 400 yard passing game.

After all, when a pass is thrown only 3 things can happen and 2 of those are bad.
 
#85
#85
Jpcisco said:
Nico SHOULD have had 400+ against Kentucky. Nico SHOULD have had 4 td's vs Kentucky. Nico DID go 28/38 against Kentucky. Tennessee will score 35+ this week. Nico can only give the WR'S a catchable ball then it's on them to make the play which he did against Kentucky and the WR's let him down. That's all you can ask for from the QB. It was dang close to a true breakout game. My prediction, Nico does breakout and cement his legacy November 16th in Athens. He has already beat Florida and Bama and the kid is getting better every single play. He made some monumental throws against Bama in the 2nd half and carried it over the next game against Kentucky.
Click to expand...
Body language speaks volumes. After one of the easy drops, the camera back to him after the throw showed him just dropping his head. But, it's not just the KY game. Sometimes all it takes to get a QB on point is to make plays for him. Been alot of drops this year. And a lot of unopen receivers that should be getting open. In the grand scheme of things, seems more times than not Thornton, McCoy, and White are not getting needed separation. From my point of view, the season has been far too quiet for those three. And so much of that seems to be not getting open.
 
#88
#88
Shirleyudontmeanthat said:
if Nico plays as well as he did bs UK he will have a great year. Uber talented and is obviously working his tail off to get better. Will be one of best country by our first playoff game
Click to expand...
This team could be a poster child for the expanded playoff. This is the type of team that might have been left out of the 4-team playoff, but could peak at the right time and have a shot at winning it all.

Of course, we could slip up and miss the playoff on the one hand, or we could beat UGA and be a top 4 team. Time will tell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77 and VFL-82-JP
#90
#90
The premise of this thread is flawed.

It assumes Nico doesn't change. It assumes that he is "this year" what he is "this year." That assumes he doesn't grow and learn and evolve as the year goes on.

Me, I'm gonna make the opposite assumption. I'm going to assume that December 2024 Nico will be significantly different than August or September 2024 Nico was. And I'm further going to assume that the change is in the direction of growth and improvement.

Really bad premise, OP.

Go Vols!
 
  • Like
Reactions: EZE and B81
#91
#91
C-south said:
He literally ran out of bounds on the last play of the game against Arkansas to seal any chance of winning. Saturday night he slid down in bounds instead of throwing the ball away right before the half to prevent any chance at points. You can tout being 8-1 and then blame all the blunders on being a freshman. Hopefully he gets a lot better very quickly.
Click to expand...
He is 19 years old … 19
 
#95
#95
Nico is improving every week, which He will continue to do as long as he is here. Not sure he is championship caliber just yet, but I haven't seen anyone that much better
 
#96
#96
Volteacher said:
I have not been following the boards as closely this year so not sure if someone posted this earlier in the year if they have I am sorry.

Nico is NOT going to have a 400 yard game. Nico is NOT going to have a 3-4 TD game this year. He is NOT going to go 28/38. He is NOT going to "breakout" in the post season or anytime else this season. We are not going to score more than 35 points (not counting UTEP) on anyone this year with Nico. I LOVE Nico and what he brings to the table and he has a SUPER HIGH ceiling and can lead this team to a great season NEXT year or the year afterwards, but just not now. He has some growth to do he has put the ball on a frozen rope and has had flashes of greatness in him. Most football players see the most growth between their freshman and sophomore year (or 1st and 2nd year in the system/coach). I think he will make great improvements during spring/summer workouts and then fall camp. He has the talent we all saw it at Oklahoma, NC State, and flashes of it (Some of it was NOT his fault TWO TD's dropped one by a hit and one by the ground). He will only get better as he plays in this system his 2nd year. IF......IF he is doing the same things next year of overthrown balls, not throwing to his checkdown passes or missing open recievers THEN we can start having conversations about his future with the team, but that is a LOOOOOOOOONNNNGGG way away from today.
Click to expand...
We are 7-1. Enjoy it, it wasn’t that long ago that we had Jarret Guarantano, and couldn’t get bowl eligible.. Nico doesn’t have to light up the scoreboard with the defense we have. Look at the 1998 team, Tee Martin was average at best, but he did enough to win it all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77 and BigALWiLson
#97
#97
jwells said:
Manziel had Mike Evans
JW had 3 top 100 WR and a 5* TE
Tua had Davonta Smith
The top like 7 receivers for Hurts went to the NFL.
Lawrence had Etienne, Tee Higgins, Amari Rodgers, Hunter Renfrow....top 5 or 6 went to the NFL.

It takes a village. Right now, WR don't wanna participate. How many guys in our receiving corps are playing at a high level right now?
Click to expand...
I got Bru and Thornton right now. Brazzell actually has been getting open a lot lately and making some catches. I think his drop was an anomaly. I think Squirrel would be playing much better if his shoulder wasn’t messed up. Nimrod needs to take a backseat to someone on the slot. Matthew’s is gonna have to learn that position quick or Staley is gonna have to get healthy.
 
#98
#98
Teezy said:
I got Bru and Thornton right now. Brazzell actually has been getting open a lot lately and making some catches. I think his drop was an anomaly. I think Squirrel would be playing much better if his shoulder wasn’t messed up. Nimrod needs to take a backseat to someone on the slot. Matthew’s is gonna have to learn that position quick or Staley is gonna have to get healthy.
Click to expand...
Honestly I think we’re better off with squirrel out. He’s 5ft 6 at best, his catch radius is tiny compared Thornton or Brazzell. Think about all the deep balls we tried to throw to squirrel at the 1st of the year, and missed. In comparison throwing deep to brazzell or thorton is like throwing to an nba small forward, and doesn’t have to be nearly as accurate as they are both 6-5 with huge wing spans. Throwing a deep ball to squirrel is like throwing one to a really fast 12 year old, it has to be perfect because he has such a small catch radius. Not to mention Squirrel hasn’t been able to stand up for two season, he slips before contact 75% of the time.
 
#100
#100
jarnol32 said:
We are 7-1. Enjoy it, it wasn’t that long ago that we had Jarret Guarantano, and couldn’t get bowl eligible.. Nico doesn’t have to light up the scoreboard with the defense we have. Look at the 1998 team, Tee Martin was average at best, but he did enough to win it all.
Click to expand...
Tee Martin was not average statistically nor when the game was on the line.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top