Pig Howard's role next season

[ImportedVoL]

Howard was a huge bright spot for us this year... one of the few we had with play making ability..


Mark my words. He will get better and he will play

 

[Rockytoptalker]

So far in Howard's career he has 57 receptions, and that was with him playing sparingly his freshman year. If the qb play can improve I wouldn't be surprised for him to be in the top 5 in school history for receptions in a career by the end of his time here at UT.

 

[KBVol]

Howard was a huge bright spot for us this year... one of the few we had with play making ability..


Mark my words. He will get better and he will play

4 catches and 35 yds receiving per game. Bright spot on a 5-7 team with virtually no playmakers? Yes. Huge bright spot? Meh.

 

[MikeVol44]

I'm not trying to sound snooty, but besides Malone/Pearson playing some a lot, I don't see any of this happening.

The staff won't line Pig up in the backfield unless it's a wildcat look. Especially with the talet we're bringing in at RB next season.

Croom won't be lined up at TE. Sure, he could probably beat LBs in coverage, but if we lined him up at TE, everybody would know we were going to throw the ball. He's not a guy who can block LBs or DEs. As a TE, he would be very much in the Jared Cook mold and wouldn't fit our offense. We had a serious deficit of talent at TE last year and the staff still wouldn't move him to TE. What makes you think they'd do it this year after we've brought in talent at TE?

Didn't take you as being snooty....Croom DOESN'T have to line up next to the tackle to play the TE position in passing situations--he can flex out about 3-5 steps--Dallas uses Witten that way sometimes...

Also--you want your slot guy to be a game-changing guy, and Pig ain't it. And it's just that simple--Pig at his best is a possession receiver who isn't fast or explosive enough to draw double teams--and please don't quote me 40 times--I know what I saw this year on the field.

Malone and Pearson have game-changing speed and would present more match-up problems with SEC defenses in the slot position than Pig....

So the problem--as I see it--is how will our OC get Pig on the field to be utilized? One option is 3rd down package as a RB--another is to line him up as an inside receiver in a 4 receiver formation.

Now I'm not trying to be snooty--but we are not recruiting 6'2" - 6'3" receivers with speed to burn just so we can throw 100 passes to a shorter and slower player in the slot.... You savvy??? :salute:

 

[hightower52]

pig is more of a slot wr where north pearson and molone or on the outside

 

[KBVol]

Didn't take you as being snooty....Croom DOESN'T have to line up next to the tackle to play the TE position in passing situations--he can flex out about 3-5 steps--Dallas uses Witten that way sometimes...

Also--you want your slot guy to be a game-changing guy, and Pig ain't it. And it's just that simple--Pig at his best is a possession receiver who isn't fast or explosive enough to draw double teams--and please don't quote me 40 times--I know what I saw this year on the field.

Malone and Pearson have game-changing speed and would present more match-up problems with SEC defenses in the slot position than Pig....

So the problem--as I see it--is how will our OC get Pig on the field to be utilized? One option is 3rd down package as a RB--another is to line him up as an inside receiver in a 4 receiver formation.

Now I'm not trying to be snooty--but we are not recruiting 6'2" - 6'3" receivers with speed to burn just so we can throw 100 passes to a shorter and slower player in the slot.... You savvy??? :salute:

Couldn't agree more....other than the Croom at TE idea. You're right about the formations but don't see Croom being able to play that position.

 

[rocktopper16]

Didn't take you as being snooty....Croom DOESN'T have to line up next to the tackle to play the TE position in passing situations--he can flex out about 3-5 steps--Dallas uses Witten that way sometimes...

Also--you want your slot guy to be a game-changing guy, and Pig ain't it. And it's just that simple--Pig at his best is a possession receiver who isn't fast or explosive enough to draw double teams--and please don't quote me 40 times--I know what I saw this year on the field.

Malone and Pearson have game-changing speed and would present more match-up problems with SEC defenses in the slot position than Pig....

So the problem--as I see it--is how will our OC get Pig on the field to be utilized? One option is 3rd down package as a RB--another is to line him up as an inside receiver in a 4 receiver formation.

Now I'm not trying to be snooty--but we are not recruiting 6'2" - 6'3" receivers with speed to burn just so we can throw 100 passes to a shorter and slower player in the slot.... You savvy??? :salute:

Pig will beat Lbs in coverage which will get more balls thrown his way. Big guys are redzone threats as smaller guys are poss receivers. I won't judge this year for wideouts because of the Qb play and having to adapt to three different Qbs during the season.

 

[rocktopper16]

4 catches and 35 yds receiving per game. Bright spot on a 5-7 team with virtually no playmakers? Yes. Huge bright spot? Meh.

Crooms td catch against Oregon. Norths Catch against Uscjr. We have playmakers. Qb play wasn't that great.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Didn't take you as being snooty....Croom DOESN'T have to line up next to the tackle to play the TE position in passing situations--he can flex out about 3-5 steps--Dallas uses Witten that way sometimes...

Also--you want your slot guy to be a game-changing guy, and Pig ain't it. And it's just that simple--Pig at his best is a possession receiver who isn't fast or explosive enough to draw double teams--and please don't quote me 40 times--I know what I saw this year on the field.

Malone and Pearson have game-changing speed and would present more match-up problems with SEC defenses in the slot position than Pig....

So the problem--as I see it--is how will our OC get Pig on the field to be utilized? One option is 3rd down package as a RB--another is to line him up as an inside receiver in a 4 receiver formation.

Now I'm not trying to be snooty--but we are not recruiting 6'2" - 6'3" receivers with speed to burn just so we can throw 100 passes to a shorter and slower player in the slot.... You savvy??? :salute:

The problem with that is that our offense doesn't use TEs the way Dallas does. Our TE rarely lined up next to a tackle on the line if scrimmage all season. Most often, they lined up behind the OL or a step back from the LOS. In that sense, we almost use our TEs in an H-back type role sometimes. Croom just doesn't fit that position. For many teams he would be a TE and be used they way you're talking about, but we're not one of those teams. He's just not a TE in out system.

And I agree that guys like Pearson and Malone will take touches from Pig. But I think using him as a RB would be a bad idea and we won't see it (though him in some wildcat looks might be an interesting wrinkle in the offens). Why make him learn 2 positions that he doesn't truly fit when he could just focus on improving his craft and making an impact where he has experience.

And I think you're underselling his ability. Pig may not have had an exceptionally explosive season, but he is a good athlete and he is still young (19 years old!). He still has a lot f time to improve his game and increase his production.

I think he'll definitely see his touches decrease with the new talent we're bringing in, but at the same time I expect that we'll see him make more out of his touches (especially since defenses will have to focus more attention to guys like North/Pearson/Malone/Hurd).

 

[KBVol]

Crooms td catch against Oregon. Norths Catch against Uscjr. We have playmakers. Qb play wasn't that great.

That's it? 2 catches? Croom runs a drag route across the back of the end zone and catches a perfectly thrown ball that hits him in the chest and he's a playmaker? I personally gotta see more. Pig looked like a playmaker vs Georgia and North vs SCar and that was about it.

IMO, a WR playmaker would've shown up in the Vandy game. Jordan Matthews, as much as I hate to admit it, was a playmaker in that game, turning WR screens into 10-11 yd gains after making a UT player or 2 miss. Didn't see Croom or Pig or Smith or Johnson or North (who went out of the game injured after allowing a Vandy player to wrap him up and drop him like a bag of dirt for no gain in the open field) do anything to make a play the entire game.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

That's it? 2 catches? Croom runs a drag route across the back of the end zone and catches a perfectly thrown ball that hits him in the chest and he's a playmaker? I personally gotta see more. Pig looked like a playmaker vs Georgia and North vs SCar and that was about it.

IMO, a WR playmaker would've shown up in the Vandy game. Jordan Matthews, as much as I hate to admit it, was a playmaker in that game, turning WR screens into 10-11 yd gains after making a UT player or 2 miss. Didn't see Croom or Pig or Smith or Johnson or North (who went out of the game injured after allowing a Vandy player to wrap him up and drop him like a bag of dirt for no gain in the open field) do anything to make a play the entire game.

Cheesus Crust that is a negative post. All of our talent is young and inexperienced. Glimpses are often all you see from freshmen (if you see anything at all from them). They'll continue to improve with experience and the influx of talent we have will help supplement the slower learners.

If our OL can keep our QB on his feet next season we should have some WRs that can really help our QBs.

Last season wasn't up to par, but our too returning receiver had 13 receptions going into the season. Now some of our guys have been seasoned a bit. Improvement will come.

 

[KBVol]

Cheesus Crust that is a negative post. All of our talent is young and inexperienced. Glimpses are often all you see from freshmen (if you see anything at all from them). They'll continue to improve with experience and the influx of talent we have will help supplement the slower learners.

If our OL can keep our QB on his feet next season we should have some WRs that can really help our QBs.

Last season wasn't up to par, but our too returning receiver had 13 receptions going into the season. Now some of our guys have been seasoned a bit. Improvement will come.

Honestly didn't mean it to come across so negative. However, upon re-reading it you're right, it was. My apologies. Little over the top.

However, I'll stand by the substance of it if not the tone. Of all the positions that I was disappointed in this past season, which were many, WR was arguably the most disappointing for me. Really expected a lot more from Coach Z and the boys. They desperately need Pearson and Malone to come in opposite North IMO.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Honestly didn't mean it to come across so negative. However, upon re-reading it you're right, it was. My apologies. Little over the top.

However, I'll stand by the substance of it if not the tone. Of all the positions that I was disappointed in this past season, which were many, WR was arguably the most disappointing for me. Really expected a lot more from Coach Z and the boys. They desperately need Pearson and Malone to come in opposite North IMO.

I agree that the WR production was disappointing. I think we stand to see a lot of improvement next season though. Azzani has said that for his unit to go full tilt he needs 4 guys he knows he can depend on to sub in and out. Last year he MAYBE had 2. And that varied game to game.

I think we'll see more consistency from
North, Croom, and Pig next season. Pearson and Malone won't have had a year in the system to hone their game, but both are immensely talented and should benefit greatly from being early enrollees.

That's still a top five with a lot of inexperience, but no one can question the talent of those 5 as a unit.

If we get consistent QB play, I'd expect that WR corps to really start clicking by the midway point of the season. There are some game changers in that unit.

 

[bpalmer28]

That's it? 2 catches? Croom runs a drag route across the back of the end zone and catches a perfectly thrown ball that hits him in the chest and he's a playmaker? I personally gotta see more. Pig looked like a playmaker vs Georgia and North vs SCar and that was about it.

IMO, a WR playmaker would've shown up in the Vandy game. Jordan Matthews, as much as I hate to admit it, was a playmaker in that game, turning WR screens into 10-11 yd gains after making a UT player or 2 miss. Didn't see Croom or Pig or Smith or Johnson or North (who went out of the game injured after allowing a Vandy player to wrap him up and drop him like a bag of dirt for no gain in the open field) do anything to make a play the entire game.

whoa whoa whoa... are you suggesting that Marquez North is not a playmaker?

 

[bpalmer28]

I was disappointed in Pig. I thought he'd make some big plays on short passes. I didn't expect much from Croom... just don't think he has an All-SEC skill set unless he bulks up and moves to TE and learns how to block.

Pearson and North should be an unstoppable combination. I expect Ryan Jenkins to be a great possession receiver for us. Great hands, and probably the best route runner on the team.

 

[rocktopper16]

Pearson will have a immediate impact. His Juco team used him like we will. This was Crooms first year starting, I expect big things from him this year. I'm glad we finally are adding depth and can have this discussion now.

 

[KBVol]

whoa whoa whoa... are you suggesting that Marquez North is not a playmaker?

I think North was by far the most talented WR on last years team as a true freshman and that I, along with everybody else, see the great playmaking potential he has. He flashed big time during the Georgia and So Carolina games. But, I didn't see, as a freshman, him piling up yards after catch, taking screens to the house, etc. With him being a true freshman I didn't expect it...but I also didn't see it.

I think he definitely will be the playmaker we need, along with Pearson and Malone as he gets more experience, more strength, more comfort at UT. But my original post, although more negative than I intended, is still valid.... we just didn't have consistent playmakers at WR this year and I expected more from that group late in the season, especially vs Vandy

 

[LionPride]

He will have to beat out Adoree J.....

Or Vic Wharton.......

 

[MikeVol44]

The problem with that is that our offense doesn't use TEs the way Dallas does. Our TE rarely lined up next to a tackle on the line if scrimmage all season. Most often, they lined up behind the OL or a step back from the LOS. In that sense, we almost use our TEs in an H-back type role sometimes. Croom just doesn't fit that position. For many teams he would be a TE and be used they way you're talking about, but we're not one of those teams. He's just not a TE in out system.

And I agree that guys like Pearson and Malone will take touches from Pig. But I think using him as a RB would be a bad idea and we won't see it (though him in some wildcat looks might be an interesting wrinkle in the offens). Why make him learn 2 positions that he doesn't truly fit when he could just focus on improving his craft and making an impact where he has experience.

And I think you're underselling his ability. Pig may not have had an exceptionally explosive season, but he is a good athlete and he is still young (19 years old!). He still has a lot f time to improve his game and increase his production.

I think he'll definitely see his touches decrease with the new talent we're bringing in, but at the same time I expect that we'll see him make more out of his touches (especially since defenses will have to focus more attention to guys like North/Pearson/Malone/Hurd).

Well, that's a good post. Please let me identify and clarify some things that I didn't make clear.

1. CBJ has REPEATEDLY said that our offense is FLUID, and not fixed. He will adapt it to our talent. And I've never said that we have to run Dallas' offense (used that example as an illustration of what I was trying to communicate). But it's not rocket science to "flex" a TE out 3-5 steps wide of the OT--it stretches the D, creates some problems in run support, and pulls the safety wider than normal. We don't have to run Dallas' offense to get the ball to Croom in that set--and Croom doesn't have to convert to a full-time TE to line up in the flex position for certain offensive packages.

2. Our TE did line up MOST plays in the traditional TE set beside the tackle. He went in motion some, he flipped sides, and he did indeed line up as an H-back. All of this PROVES my point of just adding the "flex" to this fluid position to get Croom some opportunities--or use him down the middle to draw the safeties away from providing over the top outside help.

3. I NEVER insinuated that Pig would be converted to a RB and have to learn two positions. Offensive "packages" is the term. It's just good scheming to have a package where you take WR (Pig) and line him up as a RB to create coverage mismatches against LBs--especially when teams are running press man coverage and blitzing. We'll see A LOT of that next year without a doubt!

The mismatch in those situations will always be having a RB who can flare out or who can run those little plays in-between the LBs and catch the ball in space to make a play and extend a possession. Pig should be able to shine in those situations.

4. I'm not underselling Pig's abilities at all. But it's clear that he doesn't have the speed or moves to consistently beat SEC CBs in man coverage. I'm actually just sharing my opinion of how Pig's skills could be MAXIMIZED for the benefit of the TEAM.

Also, our recruiting of the larger, faster receivers HIGHLIGHTS our coaches' desires for their offensive system. Pig isn't a threat at the slot or WR position--it's just plain to see. Pearson/Malone will be.

My observations from our WR recruiting targets are that CBJ and Bajakian desire to line up 6'2"+ receivers at every position and create both size and speed mismatches on the field--and that certainly will decrease Pig's opportunities.

Of course, all of this discussion is ACADEMIC if we don't get better QB play next year. :salute:eace2:

 

[LionPride]

Cheesus Crust that is a negative post. All of our talent is young and inexperienced. Glimpses are often all you see from freshmen (if you see anything at all from them). They'll continue to improve with experience and the influx of talent we have will help supplement the slower learners.

If our OL can keep our QB on his feet next season we should have some WRs that can really help our QBs.

Last season wasn't up to par, but our too returning receiver had 13 receptions going into the season. Now some of our guys have been seasoned a bit. Improvement will come.

Negative post?????? It's the truth!

 

[Vol865]

I dont think yall realize how abysmal our QB play was all year

 

[thebjd]

Pig will be on the field a lot. He is a match-up problem in space. He will continue to play in the slot and do what he did this year. His touches will be about the same in my opinion.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

Well, that's a good post. Please let me identify and clarify some things that I didn't make clear.



2. Our TE did line up MOST plays in the traditional TE set beside the tackle. He went in motion some, he flipped sides, and he did indeed line up as an H-back. All of this PROVES my point of just adding the "flex" to this fluid position to get Croom some opportunities--or use him down the middle to draw the safeties away from providing over the top outside help.

That's just not true. Most plays, our TE lined up a yard or so off the line somewhat behind and to the left/right of the tackle like Downs did in the plays in the video below. Did you watch all of our games? Our TEs almost only lined up in a traditional, next to the tackle manner in short yardage and goal line situations.11/30/2013 Tennessee vs Kentucky Football Highlights - YouTube

 

[btate]

Pig being as quick as he is, he could be a Wes Welker. Just needs great coaching and hard work on his part.

 

[perico]

but what about his role?

I see the roll/role, but less opportunities catching opens up more opportunities elsewhere to utilise his talents. We could see Pig actually take handoffs out of the backfield or in more of the read triple option formation out of the shotgun, and he is probably the most elusive player we have atm, so whose to say he wouldn't at least get a shot on punt returns?