Tennessee Volunteers Freshman Derek Barnett Working His Way Toward Greatness

[shoney]

Thanks for the reminder of yet another defensive lineman that Auburn lured away from of.

Those dusty remote plains of east Alabama sure are appealing to defensive linemen that we recruit and/or have committed.

Thank God Barnett ended up with us.

I think Lawson is out for the season, and you are right it would be nice if we had him.

 

[UTwick]

Everyone should calm down. On D, we're already seeing the effects of the talent upgrades. We will see it on O. When these young players begin to mature, UT will be just fine on both sides of the ball.

Agree totally.

 

[bboarding3]

I said it during the OU game, I'm quickly becoming a fan of Barnett. He plays hard.

 

[Vol_is_Lyfe18]

I seriously get excited thinking about how monsterous he's going to be.

 

[agent|orange]

I hear ya. Wonder where Cortez ends up at UT? Could he slide into the nickel spot? Cherry will be coming in, but I have not heard a thing about Gavin Bryant or where Creamer will fit in? Come to think of it, haven't heard anything on Creamer? He is a physical specimen but I think I remember there being talk of a red shirt?

He's already moved to OLB:

Cortez McDowell Bio - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics

 

[RollerVol]

Reading the article on Barnett made me think about something I have not before. On offense the tackle is usually the largest of the players on the line. On defense the largest players are usually at tackle which lines up over the center or guard depending on the defense. Why is the largest offensive player (tackle) on the smaller DE and the larger DT over the smaller OG or center. It would seem like your offensive tackle would be smaller and faster to keep up with the DE and the center & guards would be bigger to match the DT. What am I missing?

Not sure. Talk to Butch.

GO VOLS!

 

[PowerWookie]

Everyone should calm down. On D, we're already seeing the effects of the talent upgrades. We will see it on O. When these young players begin to mature, UT will be just fine on both sides of the ball.

Agreed ... D simply has more upper class man depth right now. With time Offense will have substantial positive growth

 

[PowerWookie]

Barnett is a stud. A mortor block type brick

 

[give_him 6]

A coach said on ESPN (take it for what its worth with that sensationalized channel) that defenses typically look better than the offense at the beginning of the season. Sounds like everyone should know that, but it really does make sense. I expect this offense to really be rolling by the Florida game. I expect to see some big plays.

 

[Ertel]

I've been on the Barnett train since before we started recruiting him. The kid is a special talent with a mentality that will make him great, along with others around him. Best pickup in the 2014 class without a doubt IMO.

From what ive seen so far hes on par with just about any freshman dline player in the country. if he keeps developing at this rate we may have a legend in the making.