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Spring Review: The Defensive Ends
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Brent Hubbs and Rob Lewis
VolQuest.com Associate Editor
With spring practice in the books, Rob Lewis and I will look back at spring practice the way we did a year ago with a position by position breakdown of things.
Over the course of the next week or so, we will evaluate each position as follows. Individually we will select a "top dog". The guy who we think is the best at the position. Then we will select the guy to watch and give an overall breakdown of the position. We will differ in our selections some and we will certainly make our case as to why w e selected the player we selected.
The Top Dog
Brent's take
A two time captain, you have to take Parys Haralson. Haralson is the most experienced and the most dynamic defensive end that the Vols have. Haralson*s tackle numbers from his sophomore year to his junior year were not dramatically different, but Haralson was a better playmaker a year ago. Last fall, Haralson had seven sacks compared to 4.5 the year before. Last year he also had two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Haralson was fifth in the SEC in sacks and tackles-for-loss in 2004.
The bottom line is that Haralson took a step in becoming a better playmaker from the defensive end spot. His challenge for this year is to improve on those numbers even more. Haralson still has to learn to play under control and not have the personal foul penalties, but he has to keep making more and more plays. His ability to get to the quarterback and create plays only gives Chavis more options in what he wants to do scheme wise.
Rob's Take
Not to sound like a parrot here, but duh, who else are you going to pick? Haralson's a two-time captain coming off a second-team All-SEC selection as a junior, and a player who's played a whole lot of football for this team. And despite the more than solid career he's had to this point, he look like a guy who hasn't yet hit his ceiling as a player.
Along with Jesse Mahelona, Haralson gives the Vols an experienced and proven playmaker on the front line, and the tandem should be able to create plenty of problems for opposing offenses. Haralson shows up in the backfield all the time and finished fifth in the league in both sacks (with seven) and tackles for a loss (13.5) as a junior. Nice numbers no question, but also numbers that Haralson should be able to improve on in 2005.
Tennessee has some young players (Robert Ayers, Antonio Reynolds to name a couple) that look to fit the mold of that speed rusher that is so important to putting pressure on an offense, but Haralson is the only guy who has proven that he can do it to this point, and much of the pressure for getting that much-needed heat off the edge, without blitzing people, will fall on his shoulders until the youngsters earn their stripes as pass rushers.
Haralson will bear a lot of the responsibility this season, for making those typ e of momentum-changing plays that a defense thrives on, and if he plays up to his potential, he should be able to bear that burden.
The One to Watch
You could go a lot of different directions here. But the guy who I saw this spring that could change the game from the end spot was Robert Ayers. Ayers was having an ok spring till the switched him from the right side to the left side and he put his other hand on the ground. The change in stance helped Ayers with his balance and ability to get off the ball.
He has to get stronger as he missed last year with the shoulder surgery and his technique will have to continue to improve, but in terms of that raw speed guy coming off the edge, he fits the bill as well as any I have seen in a while. It is not time nor is it fair to make any kind of comparisons, but Ayers showed enough this spring that he can line up and help some at the end spot. He can get in the rotation assuming he gets his off -the field issue resolved.
Rob's Take
I'm probably straying a bit from the true intent of this spot, which would normally call for a young up-and-comer to be singled out, and I would have picked Ayers for that. But since Brent covered that already, I'm going to take the opportunity here to put in a word for Jason Hall, a guy doesn't get as much attention as some others, but one I like because of how hard he works and how he plays the game.
Hall is a player who draws high praise from his coaches for getting the most out of his ability, and is hailed as a excellent technician at his position. He's had some success as a contributing member of the rotation, most notably last year at Georgia when he nabbed SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his seven tackle, two sack and three tackles for a loss performance.
This year will be different for him however. Along with Haralson, and since Turk McBride slid inside, Hall represents pretty much all the Vols have in the way of proven veterans at defensive end. He'll be relied on more heavily than at any point in his career, and the guess is here that the steady Hall will hold up pretty well.
He's always been a player that you could count on to be in the right place at the right time and to know his assignments cold. But he's also been a player who's gotten noticeably better each and every year in the program. Because of that, it seems reasonable to expect him to take another step this year.
The Bottom Line
Like the defensive tackle spot, this group of ends has a lot of experience with Haralson, and Jason Hall. They also could slide Turk McBride out there some if need be and they have two younger players who have been on the field in Xavier Mitchell and Antonio Reynolds. Then you throw in Ayers and they could get even more aggressive with speed by lining Daniel Brooks or Marvin Mitchell up there some. The fact is they have two savvy v eterans whose job this summer and in August is to get a group of talented yet somewhat raw guys ready so that they will have the depth that they need and the flexibility they need.
The good news is that they can really alter their lineup and change how they want to play off the edge considering who they are playing and what the game situation is. This group of defensive ends is pretty diverse.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brent Hubbs and Rob Lewis
VolQuest.com Associate Editor
With spring practice in the books, Rob Lewis and I will look back at spring practice the way we did a year ago with a position by position breakdown of things.
Over the course of the next week or so, we will evaluate each position as follows. Individually we will select a "top dog". The guy who we think is the best at the position. Then we will select the guy to watch and give an overall breakdown of the position. We will differ in our selections some and we will certainly make our case as to why w e selected the player we selected.
The Top Dog
Brent's take
A two time captain, you have to take Parys Haralson. Haralson is the most experienced and the most dynamic defensive end that the Vols have. Haralson*s tackle numbers from his sophomore year to his junior year were not dramatically different, but Haralson was a better playmaker a year ago. Last fall, Haralson had seven sacks compared to 4.5 the year before. Last year he also had two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Haralson was fifth in the SEC in sacks and tackles-for-loss in 2004.
The bottom line is that Haralson took a step in becoming a better playmaker from the defensive end spot. His challenge for this year is to improve on those numbers even more. Haralson still has to learn to play under control and not have the personal foul penalties, but he has to keep making more and more plays. His ability to get to the quarterback and create plays only gives Chavis more options in what he wants to do scheme wise.
Rob's Take
Not to sound like a parrot here, but duh, who else are you going to pick? Haralson's a two-time captain coming off a second-team All-SEC selection as a junior, and a player who's played a whole lot of football for this team. And despite the more than solid career he's had to this point, he look like a guy who hasn't yet hit his ceiling as a player.
Along with Jesse Mahelona, Haralson gives the Vols an experienced and proven playmaker on the front line, and the tandem should be able to create plenty of problems for opposing offenses. Haralson shows up in the backfield all the time and finished fifth in the league in both sacks (with seven) and tackles for a loss (13.5) as a junior. Nice numbers no question, but also numbers that Haralson should be able to improve on in 2005.
Tennessee has some young players (Robert Ayers, Antonio Reynolds to name a couple) that look to fit the mold of that speed rusher that is so important to putting pressure on an offense, but Haralson is the only guy who has proven that he can do it to this point, and much of the pressure for getting that much-needed heat off the edge, without blitzing people, will fall on his shoulders until the youngsters earn their stripes as pass rushers.
Haralson will bear a lot of the responsibility this season, for making those typ e of momentum-changing plays that a defense thrives on, and if he plays up to his potential, he should be able to bear that burden.
The One to Watch
You could go a lot of different directions here. But the guy who I saw this spring that could change the game from the end spot was Robert Ayers. Ayers was having an ok spring till the switched him from the right side to the left side and he put his other hand on the ground. The change in stance helped Ayers with his balance and ability to get off the ball.
He has to get stronger as he missed last year with the shoulder surgery and his technique will have to continue to improve, but in terms of that raw speed guy coming off the edge, he fits the bill as well as any I have seen in a while. It is not time nor is it fair to make any kind of comparisons, but Ayers showed enough this spring that he can line up and help some at the end spot. He can get in the rotation assuming he gets his off -the field issue resolved.
Rob's Take
I'm probably straying a bit from the true intent of this spot, which would normally call for a young up-and-comer to be singled out, and I would have picked Ayers for that. But since Brent covered that already, I'm going to take the opportunity here to put in a word for Jason Hall, a guy doesn't get as much attention as some others, but one I like because of how hard he works and how he plays the game.
Hall is a player who draws high praise from his coaches for getting the most out of his ability, and is hailed as a excellent technician at his position. He's had some success as a contributing member of the rotation, most notably last year at Georgia when he nabbed SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his seven tackle, two sack and three tackles for a loss performance.
This year will be different for him however. Along with Haralson, and since Turk McBride slid inside, Hall represents pretty much all the Vols have in the way of proven veterans at defensive end. He'll be relied on more heavily than at any point in his career, and the guess is here that the steady Hall will hold up pretty well.
He's always been a player that you could count on to be in the right place at the right time and to know his assignments cold. But he's also been a player who's gotten noticeably better each and every year in the program. Because of that, it seems reasonable to expect him to take another step this year.
The Bottom Line
Like the defensive tackle spot, this group of ends has a lot of experience with Haralson, and Jason Hall. They also could slide Turk McBride out there some if need be and they have two younger players who have been on the field in Xavier Mitchell and Antonio Reynolds. Then you throw in Ayers and they could get even more aggressive with speed by lining Daniel Brooks or Marvin Mitchell up there some. The fact is they have two savvy v eterans whose job this summer and in August is to get a group of talented yet somewhat raw guys ready so that they will have the depth that they need and the flexibility they need.
The good news is that they can really alter their lineup and change how they want to play off the edge considering who they are playing and what the game situation is. This group of defensive ends is pretty diverse.
