Recruiting Forum Football Talk XVIII

Status
Not open for further replies.
#9,526
#9,526
Catbone said:
I love your optimistic approach (lol sure I do) but our OL was never close to good last year. Dobbs alone made it go from awful with Worley to mediocre at best.
Click to expand...

And that OL is still pretty young and inexperienced. This happens every year on VN. Expectations soar through the roof until we get humbled by a good team. Even though our schedule is favorable this year, I'm still looking at an 8 win season. I want 9-10, which I think is possible, but there are parts of this team that still have a lot to prove (OL and LB specifically).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#9,527
#9,527
LynxVol said:
And that OL is still pretty young and inexperienced. This happens every year on VN. Expectations soar through the roof until we get humbled by a good team. Even though our schedule is favorable this year, I'm still looking at an 8 win season. I want 9-10, which I think is possible, but there are parts of this team that still have a lot to prove (OL and LB specifically).
Click to expand...

8 wins means we either get some really unlucky bounces/injuries or a position unit will be a major weakness. Could definitely see the OL holding us back against teams with good pass rushes and strong DTs.

Dobbs has no time to pass, Hurd and Kamara get stuffed at the line, and the offense goes nowhere. As much as we think it's a win, that could certainly happen against Florida. I think our defense and a few gambles by Butch will have to win that one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#9,528
#9,528
govols09 said:
I still think we are a year away from having an average to good offensive line. Right now I'd put us slightly below average especially at tackle
Click to expand...

I agree with, but with one comment:

I think this line has the potential to over perform. Much like the D line did last year. I don't expect them to have anywhere near that much success, but I think they can take it from being a 5/10 to a 7/10 if they click.

Thats a few more "big push" first downs and pass blocks that can lead to another win or two. Giving the players another year in the weight room is a big deal.
 
#9,529
#9,529
LynxVol said:
And that OL is still pretty young and inexperienced. This happens every year on VN. Expectations soar through the roof until we get humbled by a good team. Even though our schedule is favorable this year, I'm still looking at an 8 win season. I want 9-10, which I think is possible, but there are parts of this team that still have a lot to prove (OL and LB specifically).
Click to expand...

The biggest thing, I think, is the physical development that the OL has to have. We have guys with the ability, just not the sustained strength and agility that comes from 2-3 years experience at a top level s&c program.

I think they can do better this year for sure. But, we're not going to be running it down people's throats over left tackle unless the blocking execution is perfect. Still gonna have to scheme up the run game instead of just toting the rock like UGA was able to do last year.

Edit: I guess this is the more pessimistic side of my thought process compared to my post above.
 
#9,532
#9,532
Aesius said:
8 wins means we either get some really unlucky bounces/injuries or a position unit will be a major weakness. Could definitely see the OL holding us back against teams with good pass rushes and strong DTs.

Dobbs has no time to pass, Hurd and Kamara get stuffed at the line, and the offense goes nowhere. As much as we think it's a win, that could certainly happen against Florida. I think our defense and a few gambles by Butch will have to win that one.
Click to expand...

8-10 wins, depending on injuries and "the breaks"
 
#9,533
#9,533
LynxVol said:
And that OL is still pretty young and inexperienced. This happens every year on VN. Expectations soar through the roof until we get humbled by a good team. Even though our schedule is favorable this year, I'm still looking at an 8 win season. I want 9-10, which I think is possible, but there are parts of this team that still have a lot to prove (OL and LB specifically).
Click to expand...
Our OL last year was mostly:
RS Jr (Kerbs) / RS Jr (Jackson) / RS Jr (Crowd) / Fr (J-Rob) / RS Sr (Gilliam)

Sure we sprinkled in Thomas and Kendrick who are younger like Jashon, Thomas being terrible and Kendrick being okay, but we were far from "young". That was 13 full years of experience not including that year for our whole line. We were not young on the OL, we were never good on the OL, we were inexperienced, lacking talent, and just overall bad.

And to say we're still young (with three RS Srs pencilled in as starters) is far from the truth.

I think this year we see a large increase in production from the OL if:
-Kerbs is starting but not at LT. RG, RT, just anywhere but LT.
-Whoever is at LT can play better than Kerby last year. Sounds simple but even a slight increase in pass pro would be huge.
-Someone steps up at C. Besides Thomas at OT when he was there, Crowder was by far our worst OL who was starting. I'm not saying bench Crowder, but if he's anything close to last years Mack, I hope we have a better option.
 
#9,534
#9,534
To add my ideal lineup would be:
LT: Kendrick/Blair/Richmond (whoever steps up)
LG: Jackson
C: Thomas
RG: Robertson
RT: Kerbyson

I also wouldn't mind seeing Robertson at C, Kerby at RG, and Kendrick at RT (pending Blair/Richmond win the LT job)
 
#9,535
#9,535
LynxVol said:
And that OL is still pretty young and inexperienced. This happens every year on VN. Expectations soar through the roof until we get humbled by a good team. Even though our schedule is favorable this year, I'm still looking at an 8 win season. I want 9-10, which I think is possible, but there are parts of this team that still have a lot to prove (OL and LB specifically).
Click to expand...

Call the losses out........ I want you to show me 3-4 teams better than us on the schedule and say why......
 
#9,536
#9,536
The Breakerboy said:
Call the losses out........ I want you to show me 3-4 teams better than us on the schedule and say why......
Click to expand...

You know.. I hit quote to start answering then couldn't find 3-4.

I can find losable games if we don't execute, but not 3-4 "chalk em up to an L" games.... Nice.
 
#9,538
#9,538
Looking at 247's position rankings, I decided to compile them for an overall ranking. DB rankings aren't out yet, so this is incomplete. But basically, I gave a team 14 points for a top ranked unit, 13 points for a second ranked unit etc. on down to 1 point for a lowest ranked unit.

Here's how it works out so far:

Overall Power Ranking
1- UGA (74)
2- Bama (71)
3- TX AM (67)
4- Barn (65)
5- UT (62)
6- LSU (60)
7- UF (49)
7- Ole Miss (49)
9- ARK (47)
9- Mizzou (47)
11- MS ST (46)
12- SCe (42)
13- UK (28)
13- Vandy (28)

Total Offense
1- TX AM (46)
2- ARK (42)
3- UGA (41)
4- Barn (38)
5- UT (37)
6- LSU (36)
7- Bama (35)
8- MS ST (26)
9- Ole Miss (25)
10- Mizzou (24)
11- UF (22)
12- SCe (21)
13- UK (19)
14- Vandy (8)

Total Defense
1- Bama (27)
2- Barn (22)
3- Mizzou (21)
4- UGA (19)
4- FL (19)
6- Ole Miss (18)
6- UT (18)
8- SCe (17)
9- LSU (11)
10- MS ST (10)
11- Vandy (9)
12- TX AM (9)
13- UK (6)
14- ARK (4)

Position Breakdowns

RB
1-UGA (14)
2-ARK (13)
3-Bama (12)
4-LSU (11)
5-UT (10)
6-Barn (9)
7-TX AM (8)
8-FL (7)
9-Mizzou (6)
10-UK (5)
11-SCe (4)
12-Vandy (3)
13-Ms ST (2)
14-Ole Miss (1)

QB
1- MS ST (14)
2- TX AM (13)
3- ARK (12)
4- UT (11)
5- Mizzou (10)
6- UK (9)
7- Barn (8)
8- UGA (7)
9- UF (6)
10- Ole Miss (5)
11- Bama (4)
12- SCe (3)
13- LSU (2)
14- Vandy (1)

WR
1- TX AM (14)
2- LSU (13)
3- UT (12)
4- Ole Miss (11)
5- Bama (10)
6- Barn (9)
7- SCe (8)
8- UGA (7)
9- UF (6)
10- MS ST (5)
11- UK (4)
12- ARK (3)
13- Vandy (2)
14- Mizzou (1)

OL
1- ARK (14)
2- UGA (13)
3-BARN (12)
4-TX AM (11)
5- LSU (10)
6- Bama (9)
7- Ole Miss (8)
8- Mizzou (7)
9- SCe (6)
10- MS ST (5)
11-UT (4)
12- UF (3)
13- Vandy (2)
14- UK (1)

ST
1- UGA (14)
2- LSU (13)
3-TX AM (12)
4- Vandy (11)
5- MS ST (10)
6- Bama (9)
7- UF (8)
8- UT (7)
9- Ole Miss (6)
10- Barn (5)
11- SCe (4)
12- UK (3)
13- Mizzou (2)
14- ARK (1)

DL
1- Bama (14)
2- UT (13)
3- Ole Miss (12)
4- Barn (11)
5- UF (10)
6- Mizzou (9)
7- TX AM (8)
8- SCe (7)
9- MS ST (6)
10- UGA (5)
11- LSU (4)
12- UK (3)
13- ARK (2)
14- Vandy (1)

LB
1-UGA (14)
2-Bama (13)
3-Mizzou (12)
4-Barn (11)
5-SCe (10)
6-UF (9)
7-Vandy (8)
8-LSU (7)
9-Ole Miss (6)
10-UT (5)
11-MS ST (4)
12-UK (3)
13-ARK (2)
14-TX AM (1)

Hopefully I didn't screw up any of the math (I don't think I did, but no promises). I was surprised to see Arkansas's D so low. I also think the special teams rankings on 247 are weird and probably skew this a little. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting. If there is interest and I have time, I'll update it when the DB rankings come out.

I actually stole this idea from someone on an Auburn board who did the same with some ESPN blogger rankings a while back. ESPN was surprisingly (to me at least) more bullish on us. Here are the rankings he came up with:

OVERALL
87 - Georgia
83 - Tennessee
80 - LSU
76 - Alabama
74 - Auburn
62 - Arkansas
61 - Missouri
61 - Mississippi State
59 - Texas A&M
54 - Ole Miss
49 - Florida
41 - South Carolina
27 - Kentucky
26 - Vanderbilt
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 people
#9,539
#9,539
Face said:
You know.. I hit quote to start answering then couldn't find 3-4.

I can find losable games if we don't execute, but not 3-4 "chalk em up to an L" games.... Nice.
Click to expand...

As bad as people are talking about that OL we got 190 yards rushing on mighty Bama before a late desperation sack. Oh and Saban wasn't surprised by Dobbs. If we knew he would play I can guarantee Saban did as well. That front seven is overrated. Gave up 281 yards rushing to Ohio State in the playoff game. He can't stop the spread running game. That's why he brought OSU old OC in to try and help him out this offseason.
 
#9,540
#9,540
The Breakerboy said:
As bad as people are talking about that OL we got 190 yards rushing on mighty Bama before a late desperation sack. Oh and Saban wasn't surprised by Dobbs. If we knew he would play I can guarantee Saban did as well. That front seven is overrated. Gave up 281 yards rushing to Ohio State in the playoff game. He can't stop the spread running game. That's why he brought OSU old OC in to try and help him out this offseason.
Click to expand...

I think we have the talent to win just about every game, but also the margin of error to lose some as well.

Games of concern for me:
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Georgia
Alabama

I think we handle the rest, and like our chances to take at least 2/4 of the above
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#9,541
#9,541
OddFuture said:
Our OL last year was mostly:
RS Jr (Kerbs) / RS Jr (Jackson) / RS Jr (Crowd) / Fr (J-Rob) / RS Sr (Gilliam)

Sure we sprinkled in Thomas and Kendrick who are younger like Jashon, Thomas being terrible and Kendrick being okay, but we were far from "young". That was 13 full years of experience not including that year for our whole line. We were not young on the OL, we were never good on the OL, we were inexperienced, lacking talent, and just overall bad.

And to say we're still young (with three RS Srs pencilled in as starters) is far from the truth.

I think this year we see a large increase in production from the OL if:
-Kerbs is starting but not at LT. RG, RT, just anywhere but LT.
-Whoever is at LT can play better than Kerby last year. Sounds simple but even a slight increase in pass pro would be huge.
-Someone steps up at C. Besides Thomas at OT when he was there, Crowder was by far our worst OL who was starting. I'm not saying bench Crowder, but if he's anything close to last years Mack, I hope we have a better option.
Click to expand...
I agree with some of what u said but to be fair, the worst stretch the OL had last yr was when Gilliam was out and Thomas was RT. So that lineup was, out of position Kerbs at LT and 2 true freshman at RG and RT. That is a young but more than that inexperienced line. I think if Gilliam didnt get hurt the whole line would have looked better last yr. Not great, but better.
 
#9,542
#9,542
The Breakerboy said:
Call the losses out........ I want you to show me 3-4 teams better than us on the schedule and say why......
Click to expand...

We "could" lose to 3-4 teams easily. This is football. We weren't supposed to beat USCe the past two years. This is more of a "need to see it to believe it" thing before I get overly optimistic like a lot of folks on this board. 8 wins is improvement again, and we will still return the core talent of the team for the following year. And again, I'm not saying I don't think we can win 9-10 games. Of course it is possible, I just don't think the chances are that high.
 
#9,543
#9,543
LynxVol said:
We "could" lose to 3-4 teams easily. This is football. We weren't supposed to beat USCe the past two years. This is more of a "need to see it to believe it" thing before I get overly optimistic like a lot of folks on this board. 8 wins is improvement again, and we will still return the core talent of the team for the following year. And again, I'm not saying I don't think we can win 9-10 games. Of course it is possible, I just don't think the chances are that high.
Click to expand...

Why???? Half the teams on our schedule don't even know who their QB is yet......
 
#9,544
#9,544
The Breakerboy said:
Why???? Half the teams on our schedule don't even know who their QB is yet......
Click to expand...

This gives me a confident edge over UGA. I think we get Arkansas as well. If pressed, I think we lose to Bama and Oklahoma. On paper, we lose 2, but I think 3 or 4 will be the reality. If forced, I say 3, with a trip to ATL
 
#9,548
#9,548
TaxSlayer Bowl Vols go 8-4 if they could replay the 2014 schedule.

Now take 90% of the contributors from that team, add a bunch of new playmakers to it plus another year of development for the great mix of youth and veteran leadership, and flip three away losses to home games (UGA, OU, Arkansas instead of Ole Miss) while also removing stud contributors/starting QBs from several teams on the schedule and you're looking at a 10 win season, IMO.

I think we have a fairly easy road this year. 10 wins seems lofty but friggin Mizzou won 11 last year. They would have won 12 had they not **** the bed against Indiana. I know it's hard not to equate 10 wins with having a juggernaut roster that has no weaknesses, but it's not at all unreasonable to think we can get there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
New posts
Status
Not open for further replies.

VN Store



Back
Top