No pundits mentioning Tennessee in early discussions

#1
K

kxtop

Junior Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
921
Likes
1,052
#1
Not sure why we are not being discussed, Heisman level quarterback, good running backs and good recruiting on defensive and offensive lines. What is our weakness?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Golf freak
#4
#4
BigOrangeTrain said:
Because it’s all potential and not really proven.
Click to expand...
Yeah the media puts a lot of stock in returning starters and experience wise, we rank something like 90th in the country. I was listening to Paul Finebaum yesterday and he talked about this. That's why so much of the media has us ranked around or outside of the top 25 and they have some teams like Iowa ranked so much higher than us. Personally I think that's being a tad short-sighted, considering how trash they looked against us in the bowl game, but no matter. It'll all work itself out by the end of the year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GreyhoundMan, TikiVol, 08Vol and 11 others
#5
#5
Unproven but talented Qb, unsettled and unproven left side of the OL, brand spanking new in the secondary. Rb room is one proven guy. 2 WRs with more than a handful of catches in the SEC. Im not sure how else it can be said.

This team may have the most talent Heup’s ever had, but also as a whole could be the least experienced.

Im not saying they’re gonna suck but pundits are gonna hang their hats on proven teams and players and the Vols are still unproven and inexperienced at several key positions. Im excited to see what happens with this team. But alot of people are going to have to step up to make a playoff run or better. From the outside looking in, not many can see a team that’s more than a darkhose with a lot of ifs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: norrislakevol, lefthander, 08Vol and 6 others
#8
#8
kxtop said:
Not sure why we are not being discussed, Heisman level quarterback, good running backs and good recruiting on defensive and offensive lines. What is our weakness?
Click to expand...
It's pretty simple IMO. There are around 8 teams in SEC that have top level talent nation wide. If one of those teams can mesh that talent with a QB with Heisman numbers they could win it all. UGA has their QB so their in top 12. Texas is in also IMO, Alabama could be its as stated how does their QB evolve to the new system. Miz could if Cook has great year, they lost their D coordinator and a lot on D & SEC leading rusher but have the easiest schedule which is still hard, its the SEC. If Nico has HH numbers or above UT is there. Joe had decent numbers but was the lowest of Hype QBs so I expect some good to great numbers from Nico. A&M has been recruiting great but not turning in to expected win totals and new coach but who knows. Oklahoma let a great QB go to Oregon to keep a 5 star future QB so we will see how that goes. The common denominator in all of these is SEC has the best players whom of these teams has a QB that shows out, that will be the difference IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ArdentVol
#10
#10
It also doesn't help that we laid an egg with that terrible Florida team last year and got whooped by Missouri. Flip one of those games and you have two ten win seasons in a row with added depth and talent which probably gets more consideration from the national media types.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Remy, 08Vol, Jimmyandjoes and 2 others
#12
#12
kxtop said:
Not sure why we are not being discussed, Heisman level quarterback, good running backs and good recruiting on defensive and offensive lines. What is our weakness?
Click to expand...
Only our fanbase is saying Nico has Heisman potential. We have 1 good proven running back in Sampson. and our Secondary is sus until proven otherwise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 08Vol, SpookyAction, RockyTop140 and 2 others
#14
#14
Agree with the posters on here, media folks just don't know what to think of this yrs team on paper so they take the easy way and not pick us very high. Proving it on the field is always the best way. Media picks are just meaningless opinions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: salsahound, KittenVol and volmanjr
#15
#15
VOLfrombama said:
Unproven but talented Qb, unsettled and unproven left side of the OL, brand spanking new in the secondary. Rb room is one proven guy. 2 WRs with more than a handful of catches in the SEC. Im not sure how else it can be said.

This team may have the most talent Heup’s ever had, but also as a whole could be the least experienced.

Im not saying they’re gonna suck but pundits are gonna hang their hats on proven teams and players and the Vols are still unproven and inexperienced at several key positions. Im excited to see what happens with this team. But alot of people are going to have to step up to make a playoff run or better. From the outside looking in, not many can see a team that’s more than a darkhose with a lot of ifs.
Click to expand...
Agree. To me, it's all about Nico efficiently running the system of a balanced JH attack, where WR/QB connection needs to be similar to when Hooker/Hyatt, etc were in 2022. Think our DL/LB will be a strength, which should, in theory put DBs less on an island, so may mitigate some of our inexperience w/ DBs. Understand luke warm ratings...we are generally unproven. We could legitimately be one of the best teams in SEC, or we could be a talented team w/ lack of high end execution on game day...and ultimately could be a top 10-12 playoff team or somewhere in top 25. Think upper classman leadership is imperative, which is probably why JH brought 3 seniors to media days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: adam.vol and VOLfrombama
#16
#16
I do think Heard will be a solid LT. Unfortunately there will be plenty of hand ringing over LG until probably after OK or FL, unless of course someone grabs it and takes it. I dont really care who either. Sham had a great offseason getting bigger and stronger. How does Karic look? Do we just plug and run with Davis?

More questions than answers here unfortunately. Not much longer now, but the dregs of summer are the worst part of the year iyam.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ArdentVol
#18
#18
aRmo said:
Only our fanbase is saying Nico has Heisman potential.
Click to expand...
Hmm. No.

Unless Vegas Insider, Bet MGM, DraftKings, and all the other Vegas bookies are all every one of them in the Tennessee fanbase, this is not true. At all.

1721137813487.png

1721137821649.png

1721137830911.png

Nico is a legit contender. Just because your favorite ESPN talking head isn't talking about him, that doesn't mean the folks who put their money where their mouths are aren't. They certainly are.

It ain't just us. Hooah.

Go Vols!
 
  • Like
Reactions: norrislakevol, SAPPER 5, Nationdom and 5 others
#19
#19
VFL-82-JP said:
Hmm. No.

Unless Vegas Insider, Bet MGM, DraftKings, and all the other Vegas bookies are all every one of them in the Tennessee fanbase, this is not true. At all.

View attachment 659300

View attachment 659301

View attachment 659302

Nico is a legit contender. Just because your favorite ESPN talking head isn't talking about him, that doesn't mean the folks who put their money where their mouths are aren't. They certainly are.

It ain't just us. Hooah.

Go Vols!
Click to expand...
Did you really just give me an Army "Hooah"? lmao.

Oorah!
 
  • Like
Reactions: SAPPER 5 and VFL-82-JP
#22
#22
VFL-82-JP said:
Hmm. No.

Unless Vegas Insider, Bet MGM, DraftKings, and all the other Vegas bookies are all every one of them in the Tennessee fanbase, this is not true. At all.

View attachment 659300

View attachment 659301

View attachment 659302

Nico is a legit contender. Just because your favorite ESPN talking head isn't talking about him, that doesn't mean the folks who put their money where their mouths are aren't. They certainly are.

It ain't just us. Hooah.

Go Vols!
Click to expand...
BTW these people "Putting their money where their mouths aren't" are the same ones who where betting Joe Milton to win the heisman before the season started. We all seen how that turned out. I dont think its a "Talent Bet" as much as it is a "System Bet" in terms of the scheme we run. That is my two cents. Thank you for showing me the bets tho, i had no clue Nico was even being bet on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 08Vol
#24
#24
kxtop said:
Not sure why we are not being discussed, Heisman level quarterback, good running backs and good recruiting on defensive and offensive lines. What is our weakness?
Click to expand...
I’ve got a theory! Coaches do not like us and not only is there dislike, they also fear us. They think the less said the more likely we will go away! And not embarrass them!
 
#25
#25
kxtop said:
Not sure why we are not being discussed, Heisman level quarterback, good running backs and good recruiting on defensive and offensive lines. What is our weakness?
Click to expand...
Nico has started 1 game how does he get Heisman level from that? We have 1 proven running back.

We have a good chance to be a great team this season but lets kinda be realistic we could also be not very good with a few injuries. What happens if Nico gets hurt or does not play well? What happens if Sampson cant carry the load as a feature back after being 3rd in a platoon and none of the other guys step up? In this offense if we can't run the ball we are boned. We have pretty much all new faces at secondary. There is a huge amount of potential on this team but its all unproven in SEC play. If you look at all the key players on this years team they are mostly either new or have a history of injuries. On offense lets look at proven quantities Sampson, Squirrel, Webb and Nimrod. On defense the line. Pretty much every other player falls into the aforementioned categories. On our side is we have the #52 SOS which is super low for us. But that's also a negative in the eyes of the pundits.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ArdentVol, 08Vol, Ernie McCracken and 1 other person
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top