Recruiting Forum: Football Talk XII

[The Breakerboy]

Compare AJ to Luke Kuechly at BC,

AJ's Star starts to dim when you look at the two having basically same talent around (actually BC far less) and yet Luke made play after play after play after play.

That's what a great Linebacker does.


AJ's pretty good.

Patrick Willis at Ole Miss come to mind also.

My biggest problem with AJ Johnson is this. He's 245-250 I want him to sink his hips and drive through some tackles. He did it a few times last year. The Oregon Game he caught D.Thomas on the sideline early and punished him. I need him to do that to the Gurleys of this league. No RB should be safe when he gets close to them at that size.

 

[Ashevillevol]

Compare AJ to Luke Kuechly at BC,

AJ's Star starts to dim when you look at the two having basically same talent around (actually BC far less) and yet Luke made play after play after play after play.

That's what a great Linebacker does.


AJ's pretty good.

The talent they played against is not equal though. About the worst thing you might say about AJ is he has a tendency to arm tackle and sling people to the ground as opposed to getting his shoulder and body into them.

 

[govols09]

The talent they played against is not equal though. About the worst thing you might say about AJ is he has a tendency to arm tackle and sling people to the ground as opposed to getting his shoulder and body into them.

Then according to your logic in games we play against south Alabama or Western Kentucky he should be all over the field and he isnt

 

[I4Jay]

.

 

[JAllen18]

Compare AJ to Luke Kuechly at BC,

AJ's Star starts to dim when you look at the two having basically same talent around (actually BC far less) and yet Luke made play after play after play after play.

That's what a great Linebacker does.


AJ's pretty good.

Kuechly is probably the best MLB in the NFL.

No doubt AJ should be getting more tackles for loss, but the lack of playmakers on defense hasn't helped.

 

[I4Jay]

*edit*
I'm bowing out of this discussion.

 

[vol2002]

Patrick Willis at Ole Miss come to mind also.

My biggest problem with AJ Johnson is this. He's 245-250 I want him to sink his hips and drive through some tackles. He did it a few times last year. The Oregon Game he caught D.Thomas on the sideline early and punished him. I need him to do that to the Gurleys of this league. No RB should be safe when he gets close to them at that size.

Seems fixable to me. Hopefully getting a mediocre nfl grade last offseason will motivate him to improve.

In terms of disruptive plays, he's come close a few times. I seem to recall he narrowly missed a sack or two last year, and he almost had an interception in one game. Hopefully he'll grab a few big plays this year.

I like AJ a lot - solid player, great team leader and representative for the program. Wish him the best and hope he has a big year.

 

[vol2002]

So explain why like did it at bc? That's my point. I'm not even talking nfl, I'm talking about what Luke did on the collegiate level with Zero help. Every team game planned for him, no team ever neutralized him. He made plays behind the LOS and in the passing game

Luke Kuechly was a rivals 3 star with an average offer list. Why would we want to watch him in college??



(Kidding)

 

[Ashevillevol]

Ridiculous.
Luke dominated FSU and Clemson. The two bell cows of their conference. Every game was the Luke show.
Evidenced by what he is doing at the next level too

Sometimes I wonder if you guys watch football other than Tennessee. There is talent everywhere. SEC has been dominant wining nat'l titles but other than that there is parity all over.

sorry, didn't mean to imply he was as good as Luke. Few if any are right now. But I don't think it's fair to sell AJ short either. He makes a ton of tackles. With the lines he has had in front of him, he has not had rhe chances to get a lot of TFL. He is always around the ball. He is a good LB and I am glad we have him.

 

[flowd82]

Compare AJ to Luke Kuechly at BC,

AJ's Star starts to dim when you look at the two having basically same talent around (actually BC far less) and yet Luke made play after play after play after play.

That's what a great Linebacker does.


AJ's pretty good.

Agreed. Patrick Willis at Ole Miss, EJ Henderson & D'Qwell Jackson at Maryland, Brian Urlacher at New Mexico, Aaron Curry at Wake Forest, Adam Archuletta at Arizona State, Kirk Morrison at San Diego State, Chad Greenway at Iowa, Mark Herzlich at Boston College, & Roosevelt Colvin at Purdue are some other recent examples of college LBs that consistently made some big plays even while playing on defenses that were generally not talented.

Of course most of these LBs played in entirely different base defense and/or schemes than AJ Johnson plays at TN. Also, some of these LBs (Urlacher, Archuleta, Curry) played hybrid positions (DE/OLB, OLB/SS) for their teams and were asked to primarily rush the passer or drop into coverage rather than be a full time MLB like Johnson.

The point is still taken though. There have been several LBs through the years who were surrounded by minimal talent and still showed out and produced on the field. It can be done. I believe AJ will have a great senior season this year.

 

[UTProf]

We are on the verge of something very special here. Far too long this once mighty and

proud program has been depleted. Those days are over. Butch Jones has delivered us

from the depths of misery. The mighty Vol will rise from the ashes like the Phoenix. Now

is the time VN. Prepare thyself for the smack talk again. SEC, your days are numbered.

I know I shouldn't get too excited but I'm freaking giddy. I haven't read practice reports this good in ages. I know it's just one day but dayum things are so different. We're are young and I have to remind myself we're still gonna take some lumps but that talent is real.

And the speed - omfg. It's like we're a real SEC team again.

 

[Vols4us]

Patrick Willis at Ole Miss come to mind also.

My biggest problem with AJ Johnson is this. He's 245-250 I want him to sink his hips and drive through some tackles. He did it a few times last year. The Oregon Game he caught D.Thomas on the sideline early and punished him. I need him to do that to the Gurleys of this league. No RB should be safe when he gets close to them at that size.

We are on the same page this. This is exactly what I want to see. When that happens consistently it lifts the whole D as well as sends a message to the opposing RBs. NOT IN MY HOUSE!

 

[Vols4us]

Luke Kuechly was a rivals 3 star with an average offer list. Why would we want to watch him in college??



(Kidding)

You just had to go there. lol. Loved it.

 

[TriedAndTrueVOL]

Update on Cody Blanc injury:

It's not yet 100% confirmed, but early indications are he tore his Achilles' tendon. Would obviously miss this season and will have surgery early next week.

He is scheduled for an MRI early tomorrow morning and we'll know for certain then.

Cody is a great kid that loves playing for his home-state TN Vols.

Let's pray for a quick, healthy recovery.

Cody bleeds orange. I pray he has a full, speedy recovery.

 

[Specs]

I haven't heard this much comraderie and positivity from the players in a long time.

It sounds they are truly bought in and are taking ownership of the team.

 

[volatil]

A torn Achilles leaves zero doubt that you have it. It pops like a firecracker and rolls up the back of the leg.

Hopefully Cody has a partial.

The only reason I bring this up is the recovery time may be somewhat lengthier for a complete tear.

 

[ACvol3]

Patrick Willis at Ole Miss come to mind also.

My biggest problem with AJ Johnson is this. He's 245-250 I want him to sink his hips and drive through some tackles. He did it a few times last year. The Oregon Game he caught D.Thomas on the sideline early and punished him. I need him to do that to the Gurleys of this league. No RB should be safe when he gets close to them at that size.

There's no way AJ is around 250 nowadays.. He looks like he's lost a lot of weight from his freshman/soph years.

 

[butchna]

AJ is on track to be leading tackler in TN history but apparently he is terrible and we have posters that can play better than him. I get that he maybe slightly overrated and does alot of arm tackling which leads to less turnovers forced. He has still improved each year IMO. He is durable and at the end of the day he gets the guy on the ground. The kids and coaches look up to him for a reason. So he must not suck too bad.

Amen! :yess:

 

[amazingGRACE]

@UTCoachJones: Starting a New Tradition with a Song of the Day for Training Camp: Today's Song is Fight Night by @MigosATL #VolsTrainingCamp2014



The hot sauce is strong with this one.

 

[OddFuture]

@UTCoachJones: Starting a New Tradition with a Song of the Day for Training Camp: Today's Song is Fight Night by @MigosATL #VolsTrainingCamp2014



The hot sauce is strong with this one.

That song>>>

A little old but who's counting

 

[Glitch]

I just made my reservations with my aunt to use her tickets for the Utah State game. I usually only get to one game but I am so excited about this season I gotsta go for two. Utah State and later for the Gators!

#pumpedup

 

[Ertel]

sorry, didn't mean to imply he was as good as Luke. Few if any are right now. But I don't think it's fair to sell AJ short either. He makes a ton of tackles. With the lines he has had in front of him, he has not had rhe chances to get a lot of TFL. He is always around the ball. He is a good LB and I am glad we have him.

Yeah i would hate to see what our points allowed per game would be over the last few years if we didnt have aj and randolph. those guys have been as solid as they come. they arent human highlight reels but they make the stops weve needed and have prevented alot of scores. i think both will benefit greatly from having more talent around them. its hard to play balls to the wall and make risky plays when you know that if you miss then theres nobody else there to clean it up.

 

[NashVOL93]

 

[UTProf]

Who is that?? Too small for me to tell.

 

[TriCitiesVol]

DY