Play in the Trenches (long?)

[TBtheGBwiththeTD]

After you post silly things about various meanings of the thread title, give me your thoughts on the following:

When anyone looks at Tennessee before this season they always point at having to replace both lines of scrimmage and assume we will be much worse off there. They then use that as justification for saying UT is a real long shot to be a factor in the East this season. That is fair as it is well documented that to win in this conference you have to at least hold your own with the big fellas up front.

Let me say this though. The D Line last year was underwhelming at best. They did well against the run mostly because they had a lot of big strong guys who could hold their spot. They were below average when chasing the passer though. This year's line will be much younger, but much more talented. Unleashing Vereen after actually going through fall camp, was injured last season, with more snaps will immediately boost the pass rush. Couple that with the addition of Maggit at D end and you immediately have a starting tandem of ends that seem to have all the tools to make life difficult for offenses.

Getting after the passer is important no matter how you look at it and the increased speed at LB, and DB, will further add weapons to the pass rush. The biggest issue is can the D stop the run like last season? There are a lot of good backs in this league and a lot of new QB's. Sounds like stopping the run will be as key as ever.

As far as the OL is concerned, I really thought the group last year was underwhelming. The talent was clearly there but i think as a unit they drastically under preformed. This years group is clearly less talented and will have to grow and learn together. that being said I'm not sold they can't at least be comparable to last years line as far as production is concerned. We should get better QB play regardless of who starts, will probably be Worley first, and RB has a chance to be a position of strength.

At every other position it is basically a consensus that we should be as good and likely better than last year.

My final thought: If we can match the OLine play from 2013, and the DL adds an element against the pass while holding its own against the run, AND we are better everywhere else...

WHY NOT MAKE A RUN AT A DOWN SEC EAST!

just saying. we very well may struggle on both lines. who knows.

Just my two cents amigos.

 

[KingtUT]

Im in

 

[Catbone]

The OL last year helped with over 5.5 per carry on the ground. Something that hasn't been done in over a decade. It'll be tough replacing them. Hope you're right though!

 

[DL916]

Everyone talks about "starts" I think it would be more accurate to talk about snaps.

I think this DLine will be just as good if not better than last year, which shouldn't be hard.

"they're young" last year we were old but not good.

Give me talent over experience any time.

But as long as they play as a team. A team beats talent when talent isn't a team.

 

[Orangedogsrule]

Snaps ... Fair enough
How many for who?

Who knows our experience and depth in the trenches vs. our opponents experience and depth for the upcoming year.

I just think we need to play each game as it comes and put the best players on the field we can for each games' situations. Injuries could be devastating.

That said, I am optomistic that bUTch & co. are getting the program turned around. Gads I hope we see some 2015 5*s OL & DL recruits soon.

 

[YorkVol]

Danny O needs to break out and show that "high motor" that the VN Poster named Country (a potential NFL lineman btw) said he has.

Saulsbury needs to stay healthy and play to his potential.

These two will make or break the defense this year, imo. They play well and everything else will follow.

 

[vol66]

1. The O-line and the D-Line have suffered over the past few years due to coaching changes, scheme changes and an over-all lack of continuity.

2. Last years O-line suffered from a lack of explosive plays in the run game because other teams loaded up to stop the run. This was because we didn't make them pay enough in the passing game, largely due to QB play and inexperience at the WR position. Despite that, as has been pointed out, the yds/carry was excellent. The fact that they were excellent pass protectors gets overlooked because that unit was exceptional over several years.

3. The defensive front seven will benefit from continuity of coaching/scheme more than any other group. In my opinion, this core group has also lacked senior leadership. I believe the defense over all will be the most improved group if some of the young talent can produce, providing AJ, Maggitt, and Randolph stay healthy.

4. Offensively, if we can improve the quick passing game and make more explosive plays over the top , this O-line might be okay. This will help the run game. If we can't make the defense pay, it will be a long year because I just don't think this group can be more physical than the last. I hope I'm proved wrong. If Hurd, or any of the other new backs, is more elusive once he gets to the second level and can make people miss, this too would be a huge help.

 

[thebjd]

Danny O needs to break out and show that "high motor" that the VN Poster named Country (a potential NFL lineman btw) said he has.

Saulsbury needs to stay healthy and play to his potential.

These two will make or break the defense this year, imo. They play well and everything else will follow.

Country Vol. Wasn't he the one that pretended he was Chad Clifton.

 

[KBVol]

After you post silly things about various meanings of the thread title, give me your thoughts on the following:

When anyone looks at Tennessee before this season they always point at having to replace both lines of scrimmage and assume we will be much worse off there. They then use that as justification for saying UT is a real long shot to be a factor in the East this season. That is fair as it is well documented that to win in this conference you have to at least hold your own with the big fellas up front.

Let me say this though. The D Line last year was underwhelming at best. They did well against the run mostly because they had a lot of big strong guys who could hold their spot. They were below average when chasing the passer though. This year's line will be much younger, but much more talented. Unleashing Vereen after actually going through fall camp, was injured last season, with more snaps will immediately boost the pass rush. Couple that with the addition of Maggit at D end and you immediately have a starting tandem of ends that seem to have all the tools to make life difficult for offenses.

Getting after the passer is important no matter how you look at it and the increased speed at LB, and DB, will further add weapons to the pass rush. The biggest issue is can the D stop the run like last season? There are a lot of good backs in this league and a lot of new QB's. Sounds like stopping the run will be as key as ever.

As far as the OL is concerned, I really thought the group last year was underwhelming. The talent was clearly there but i think as a unit they drastically under preformed. This years group is clearly less talented and will have to grow and learn together. that being said I'm not sold they can't at least be comparable to last years line as far as production is concerned. We should get better QB play regardless of who starts, will probably be Worley first, and RB has a chance to be a position of strength.

At every other position it is basically a consensus that we should be as good and likely better than last year.

My final thought: If we can match the OLine play from 2013, and the DL adds an element against the pass while holding its own against the run, AND we are better everywhere else...

WHY NOT MAKE A RUN AT A DOWN SEC EAST!

just saying. we very well may struggle on both lines. who knows.

Just my two cents amigos.

Very good post, well thought out. Only thing I can really question is your thought that we played good run defense last year. We were actually 13th in the SEC, gave up 25 rushing tds (3rd worst), 5.26 yds per rush (2nd worst), and 207 rushing yds per game (again, 2nd worst).

Didn't mean to nitpick. Otherwise, agreed with your overall thoughts about both lines of scrimmage.

 

[Biopsyman]

We must stunt and have gap control this year from our DT's Not enough size

 

[MightyOrange]

If our D can reduce the +25 yard rushes our rush defense stats get much better much faster.

 

[dxhman]

Very good post, well thought out. Only thing I can really question is your thought that we played good run defense last year. We were actually 13th in the SEC, gave up 25 rushing tds (3rd worst), 5.26 yds per rush (2nd worst), and 207 rushing yds per game (again, 2nd worst).

Didn't mean to nitpick. Otherwise, agreed with your overall thoughts about both lines of scrimmage.

We had 4 games last season that we were ground up in...Oregon, Auburn, Alabama and Mizzou......probably gave up 20 of those rushing TD's in those games...

 

[OrangeDog]

1. The O-line and the D-Line have suffered over the past few years due to coaching changes, scheme changes and an over-all lack of continuity.

2. Last years O-line suffered from a lack of explosive plays in the run game because other teams loaded up to stop the run. This was because we didn't make them pay enough in the passing game, largely due to QB play and inexperience at the WR position. Despite that, as has been pointed out, the yds/carry was excellent. The fact that they were excellent pass protectors gets overlooked because that unit was exceptional over several years.

3. The defensive front seven will benefit from continuity of coaching/scheme more than any other group. In my opinion, this core group has also lacked senior leadership. I believe the defense over all will be the most improved group if some of the young talent can produce, providing AJ, Maggitt, and Randolph stay healthy.

4. Offensively, if we can improve the quick passing game and make more explosive plays over the top , this O-line might be okay. This will help the run game. If we can't make the defense pay, it will be a long year because I just don't think this group can be more physical than the last. I hope I'm proved wrong. If Hurd, or any of the other new backs, is more elusive once he gets to the second level and can make people miss, this too would be a huge help.

This is why I am very Happy that Alton Howard has returned.


I agree that our lines underperformed last year, considering on the hype, especially our OL got, preseason.

 

[YorkVol]

Country Vol. Wasn't he the one that pretended he was Chad Clifton.

Thats the one. He raved about Danny's motor, this would be a good time for it to show up.

 

[NashVOL93]

HAHA PLAY IN THE TRENCHES HAHA

Okay, got that out of the way, so thoughts on the lines:

1. OL - Personally, I think that the talent differential between 2013 and 2014 is negligible. Yeah, there was some legit NFL talent, but overall I don't think the difference will be that big. But what those guys had that our new group doesn't yet is continuity and chemistry. Those guys all played together for basically 3 years straight. At that point, they're pretty much reading each others' minds. It elevates the play as a group above what any one individual could do by themselves. That's what our 2014 group probably doesn't have yet, but will hopefully develop by mid-season or so. Actually being able to move the ball through the air quickly and efficiently will also do wonders for the line's sack numbers and ability to establish the run.

2. DL - Will probably struggle against the run initially. We lost a lot of beef up front at the tackle spots. But we'll be much better at pass rushing.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

Very good post, well thought out. Only thing I can really question is your thought that we played good run defense last year. We were actually 13th in the SEC, gave up 25 rushing tds (3rd worst), 5.26 yds per rush (2nd worst), and 207 rushing yds per game (again, 2nd worst).
Didn't mean to nitpick. Otherwise, agreed with your overall thoughts about both lines of scrimmage.

I think our interior rush defense was ok but once the opposition got to the outside, we were screwed due to lack of team speed.

 

[kenrblan]

I think our interior rush defense was ok but once the opposition got to the outside, we were screwed due to lack of team speed.

This is spot on. That is also why I think our rush defense should be dramatically better. We should be faster or at least more disciplined on the ends and at outside linebacker. That should allow us to set the edge and prevent those devastating outside the tackle runs that showed up often last year. We might be a little weaker up the middle, but I'd rather give up half yard more there on average than watch teams reel off multiple 25+ runs on the edge.

One other note - I remember something CBJ mentioned during SEC Media days about not having a single player on the roster last year that could squat 600 pounds. He followed that by stating we now have 9 that can do that. If any of those are in our starting lines, we should be pretty physical at the point of attack.

 

[orangeluvr]

It's simple knock the man in front of you on his ass.

 

[Roustabout]

Butch said, today, that when they got here there were ZERO players squatting 600 pounds. Now there are 11.
Guess where the majority of those players come from? The trenches.

 

[Section KK]

Butch said, today, that when they got here there were ZERO players squatting 600 pounds. Now there are 11.
Guess where the majority of those players come from? The trenches.

In 7 minutes, 2 more players could squat 600...

Nooooice

 

[ATLVols]

"So you're saying there's a chance?"

Seriously, that's what we're all hoping for and why we stay on Volnation non-stop. We can't wait to see Tennessee back on top!

 

[NotoriousB-I-G]

In 7 minutes, 2 more players could squat 600...

Nooooice

At this rate, the whole team will be squatting 600lbs by the end of this week.

ardon:

 

[Spartacavolus]

The OL last year helped with over 5.5 per carry on the ground. Something that hasn't been done in over a decade. It'll be tough replacing them. Hope you're right though!

We also got a bit from the qb that could've skewed it as well. We haven't had a qb get yards with his feet since ?

I worry about a couple of OL positions but also think we are nastier in 2-3 spots. On DL, I don't worry a bit about replacing those 4 last year. Jones wasn't benching srs in his first year. He has had a bigger picture and building the locker room up from shambles was part of it. It was a transition and there needed to be peace in the locker room to not take even more steps backwards as a program.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

After you post silly things about various meanings of the thread title, give me your thoughts on the following:

When anyone looks at Tennessee before this season they always point at having to replace both lines of scrimmage and assume we will be much worse off there. They then use that as justification for saying UT is a real long shot to be a factor in the East this season. That is fair as it is well documented that to win in this conference you have to at least hold your own with the big fellas up front.

Let me say this though. The D Line last year was underwhelming at best. They did well against the run mostly because they had a lot of big strong guys who could hold their spot. They were below average when chasing the passer though. This year's line will be much younger, but much more talented. Unleashing Vereen after actually going through fall camp, was injured last season, with more snaps will immediately boost the pass rush. Couple that with the addition of Maggit at D end and you immediately have a starting tandem of ends that seem to have all the tools to make life difficult for offenses.

Getting after the passer is important no matter how you look at it and the increased speed at LB, and DB, will further add weapons to the pass rush. The biggest issue is can the D stop the run like last season? There are a lot of good backs in this league and a lot of new QB's. Sounds like stopping the run will be as key as ever.

As far as the OL is concerned, I really thought the group last year was underwhelming. The talent was clearly there but i think as a unit they drastically under preformed. This years group is clearly less talented and will have to grow and learn together. that being said I'm not sold they can't at least be comparable to last years line as far as production is concerned. We should get better QB play regardless of who starts, will probably be Worley first, and RB has a chance to be a position of strength.

At every other position it is basically a consensus that we should be as good and likely better than last year.

My final thought: If we can match the OLine play from 2013, and the DL adds an element against the pass while holding its own against the run, AND we are better everywhere else...

WHY NOT MAKE A RUN AT A DOWN SEC EAST!

just saying. we very well may struggle on both lines. who knows.

Just my two cents amigos.

It's already been said but our DL could "stop the run" up the middle but couldn't contain to save their life. I am willing to bet over 75% of the rushing yards against us came from the RB running to the outside. Once teams figured it out, that's all they did. Just go watch the Auburn game for proof. It was a great game until they figured out they could just run to the outside, then it was over.

Other than our awful contain I though the D-line was pretty solid last year.

 

[Roustabout]

In 7 minutes, 2 more players could squat 600...

Nooooice

It was 7 minutes between the post. It was over a week between the interviews. The other poster was referencing an earlier interview at SEC media days. My post referenced an interview that morning at the meet your seat event. And if you heard the interview, Butch even emphasized that the new figure had just been reached within the last day or two.
So, there.