This class comes down to one thing...

[thunder5]

This is the mindset we have to get away from and is "apparently" the exact same mindset that got us into trouble this past year with Hurd. ONE Player does not define a class and ONE Player does not define a team. The minute you start having the mentality that the team or class is defined by one player your whole stock is in that person and you start catering to them no matter how it affects the other ten men on the field.

11 players all have to execute for a play to be successful its tough to get that when your focus is on one.

I agree with this...I certainly don't want to marginalize the importance of the team being one cohesive unit...it would be more accurate for me to say that I don't consider this class a failure but I am disappointed and one player would have changed that...and I believe the perception of this class would be universally higher if that one player was a part of it

 

[fade route]

So when 6 vols are drafted in April he did not develop any of them?

How many 1st and 2nd rounders?

 

[fade route]

Y'all a bunch of star gazers. Jordan Matthews was 3 star going to Vandy. Where is he now? A pro player. Stars mean crap tbh.

That settles it. Thank you, I hope and pray Butch reads this and will only recruits 3 star athletes. Those guys at Bama with all their 4-5 star recruits are morons.

 

[Dudleys87]

Really there are 27 signed yesterday that beg to differ. Also see Barnett, Sutton, Dobbs etc... all of who were 3* coming out!

Bye Felicia!

:thud:

Tennesseeduke

Barnett was a high 4/5 guy
Dobbs was a 4
Sutton was the only 3

 

[Dudleys87]

Both Barnett and Dobbs were 4 stars.

Pretty sure he was a 4 on some and a 5 on the othe r

 

[LynxVol]

One player typically does not make or break a class. Higgins was a big loss; however, I don't think he "breaks" this class.

We also have WR talent. Jennings and Byrd will have to play bigger roles. Someone like Callaway needs to step up.

 

[wesleydmartin]

How many 1st and 2nd rounders?

ur rite, and honeslty with a guy like Kamara who was at bama then Juco, im not sure how much development we offered him, he was going to the league regardless.

Cam over acheived as a 3 star, not sure dobbs gets drafted but perhaps late, Barnett will go in first but alot of scouts are down playing his explosiveness off the ball and worry it wont translate to NFL, hopefully thats just hog wash to make him to drop to a contender in the draft.

Malone will go fairly early maybe by 3rd round?
then who am i missing ?

 

[FiremedicVOL127]

Tee made SUCH a mistake going to a REAL Championship Program...

Passing up a possibility at a "Life Championship"!

They're still loading that bandwagon with fans, you still have a spot so why don't you go jump on it and gtfo..........

 

[fade route]

ur rite, and honeslty with a guy like Kamara who was at bama then Juco, im not sure how much development we offered him, he was going to the league regardless.

Cam over acheived as a 3 star, not sure dobbs gets drafted but perhaps late, Barnett will go in first but alot of scouts are down playing his explosiveness off the ball and worry it wont translate to NFL, hopefully thats just hog wash to make him to drop to a contender in the draft.

Malone will go fairly early maybe by 3rd round?
then who am i missing ?

Dobbs will get drafted, but probably late. Barnett should be a top 10 pick

 

[sjt18]

It never comes down to one player. The rankings when it comes to specific players simply aren't that accurate and never have been. The most 5* players I've seen in a single class was Fulmer's next to last. He landed five of them. Do you remember any of these great contributors to UT football? Chris Donald, Kenny O'Neal, Brent Vinson, Ben Martin.

Martin of course played through injuries but was never a 5* level contributor. The others were busts. Only Berry lived up to the hype.


HOWEVER.... when you look at the quality of classes being signed by their "star average" or some other consistent factor like that then there is a pretty obvious correlation almost all of the time between talent and wins. So this class is defined by 3.29... 3.29 stars on average.

"Average" is a pretty good way of labeling it. Not top tier. Not even 2nd tier. Just "average". An average of the average stars of SEC recruiting classes this year is 3.31.... average. UT was 7th out of 14 teams. Average. The average SEC team this year signed 9.2 4/5* players. UT signed 9... Average.

The problem is that average talent won't win championships. Average talent lands you in the bottom tier with occasional "up" years when you win 9 to break into the 2nd tier. Worse yet, Jones has yet to prove he's even an average coach when it comes to player development, team management, and game day.

The main difference between Jones and Les Miles right now is that Miles always loaded his team with talent and a good S&C program.

 

[ArmchairQB]

Hey let's go to the Super Bowl. Again. I know, it's getting a little boring watching us do it over and over again. So let's throw a wrinkle in there. This year, let's do it with a bunch of short white boys at wide receiver. Let's say from Texas Tech, Kent State, and... let's see, just to make sure everyone knows we can do whatever the heck we want and still win? Let's say Monmouth.
Sincerely,
The New England Patriots

Danny Amendola (3 star, 5'11", Texas Tech)
Julian Edelman (2 star, 6'0", Kent State)
Chris Hogan (Penn State lacrosse player, one year playing football at Monmouth, 6'1")

The way I see it, either:

1) Recruiting evaluations are an inexact science, and those three were far better than anyone thought.
2) The evaluations were right about talent and potential but if you coach someone and put them in a system that suits them they can succeed, and punch far above their weight.

Either way, I'll know a lot more how I feel about this class around, say, 2020. For now, I'll stick with welcoming them to the Vols!

 

[wildorange]

People just can't get it into their head that almost half our class is ranked a 4 star by one service or the other. Yes talent is important, but some of you all obsess over their star ranking by every service. The services aren't always right and very subjective overall, and coaches and staff no more about the players that all the board posters will ever know. I fell good about the class, in a couple of years we will see how good it is. GBO!!!!!

 

[sjt18]

This is the mindset we have to get away from and is "apparently" the exact same mindset that got us into trouble this past year with Hurd. ONE Player does not define a class and ONE Player does not define a team. The minute you start having the mentality that the team or class is defined by one player your whole stock is in that person and you start catering to them no matter how it affects the other ten men on the field.

11 players all have to execute for a play to be successful its tough to get that when your focus is on one.

Your post has merit.... except that it wasn't just one player and the "average" of the talent Jones is now getting isn't good enough.

 

[Volinnooga]

I just don't understand why anyone lets a guy who goes elsewhere define our class. For me, this class is defined by Trey, Ty, and Maliek

 

[wesleydmartin]

Dobbs will get drafted, but probably late. Barnett should be a top 10 pick

u think top ten, everywhere i see has him at like 20 to broncos.....

i would be elated and want him to go as high as possible, just hadnt seen him going 10 since before bowl practice

 

[KBVol]

Trey Smith is the number one player on ESPN, yet let's all focus on what the 247 Composite ranking is and shout it from the rooftops. When was the last time UT got the number one commit on any ranking system? Bryce Brown? Before him, too far back to even keep track of and he did next to nothing. It's a risk no matter who you follow and no one will know until 2-3 years from now for most players.

247 is much more the industry gold standard in recruiting, certainly much more respected than ESPN. They had Trey as the #14 player in the country which is still outstanding and probably very fair.

Very few give Rivals much credence anymore, certainly not the respect they had even 2-3 years ago, and I think they had Trey as a 4star, the 45th player in the country or so, and their rating is what skewed the 247 Composite rating.

All that said, I still think the 247 composite is still a very good and valuable tool and it's easy to tease out Rivals' poor, imo erroneous rating for any individual player out.

 

[RPAV]

How many 1st and 2nd rounders?

two I would say. Now what round you get drafted in matters to you. Some people will never be pleased because of what Nick has done at Bama.

 

[EricFreakingBerry]

I completely understand that we want to see 4-5 stars instead of 3. But just going back over the last few classes, would anyone argue that:

Justin Martin has played like a 4-star?
Kyle Phillips has played like a 4-star?
Evan Berry has played like a 4-star "DB?" (he's obviously a 5-star return man)
How about Charles Mosley?
Dillon Bates?

I'd even argue that Micah Abernathy and Drew Richmond have played more like 3-stars so far. They obviously still have time to improve, but they have not cemented themselves into our starting lineup as all-conference players "yet."

Sheriron Jones doesn't even sound like he's in the equation when it comes to QBs next year. Part of me thinks taking McBride was more to cover us in the event he's not here next fall.

Quart'e Sapp, Darrell Taylor, and Andrew Butcher are still unknowns.

Preston Williams is gone.

Carlin Fils-Aime could still be a nice back, but I think we took Ty Chandler to be our #2 back next year behind JK. If that's the case, then we can't really crown him as worthy of 4-star play for us anyway.

Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle still have a lot to prove when it comes to just staying on the field, but I think what we've seen from them has given us enough to justify at least 4-star play.

It's just a process, and this class did fill a lot of our needs. We need to buckle down and really work on player development now. If we don't develop these kids, especially on the lines and secondary, then we're in trouble. And if we don't get into the Top 10 next year in recruiting, I would truly feel that's a bad sign for the culture of the program.

But this class should be a wait & see.

 

[RPAV]

247 is much more the industry gold standard in recruiting, certainly much more respected than ESPN. They had Trey as the #14 player in the country which is still outstanding and probably very fair.

Very few give Rivals much credence anymore, certainly not the respect they had even 2-3 years ago, and I think they had Trey as a 4star, the 45th player in the country or so, and their rating is what skewed the 247 Composite rating.

All that said, I still think the 247 composure is still a very good and valuable tool and it's easy to tease out Rivals' poor, imo erroneous rating for any individual player out.

247 alone had Tn with 11th rated class. Baton loves this class said it is one of the fastest classes signed. He is doing an article on this very thing. Each service does have their own staff that evaluates players and many disagree on some players some agree on some as well. Example. The coaches took commitment from Bembry and Page early because thy see big time players because they have tremendous speed and explosive hips. Ga signed several LB that are higher ranked but Tn would not swap their two for Ga two. Only time will tell.

 

[RPAV]

I completely understand that we want to see 4-5 stars instead of 3. But just going back over the last few classes, would anyone argue that:

Justin Martin has played like a 4-star?
Kyle Phillips has played like a 4-star?
Evan Berry has played like a 4-star "DB?" (he's obviously a 5-star return man)
How about Charles Mosley?
Dillon Bates?

I'd even argue that Micah Abernathy and Drew Richmond have played more like 3-stars so far. They obviously still have time to improve, but they have not cemented themselves into our starting lineup as all-conference players "yet."

Sheriron Jones doesn't even sound like he's in the equation when it comes to QBs next year. Part of me thinks taking McBride was more to cover us in the event he's not here next fall.

Quart'e Sapp, Darrell Taylor, and Andrew Butcher are still unknowns.

Preston Williams is gone.

Carlin Fils-Aime could still be a nice back, but I think we took Ty Chandler to be our #2 back next year behind JK. If that's the case, then we can't really crown him as worthy of 4-star play for us anyway.

Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle still have a lot to prove when it comes to just staying on the field, but I think what we've seen from them has given us enough to justify at least 4-star play.

It's just a process, and this class did fill a lot of our needs. We need to buckle down and really work on player development now. If we don't develop these kids, especially on the lines and secondary, then we're in trouble. And if we don't get into the Top 10 next year in recruiting, I would truly feel that's a bad sign for the culture of the program.

But this class should be a wait & see.

Nice read. That to me is why Rock's hire is the most important hire in Butch tenure. He is a 6 star recruit.

 

[sjt18]

People just can't get it into their head that almost half our class is ranked a 4 star by one service or the other. Yes talent is important, but some of you all obsess over their star ranking by every service. The services aren't always right and very subjective overall, and coaches and staff no more about the players that all the board posters will ever know. I fell good about the class, in a couple of years we will see how good it is. GBO!!!!!

According to Rivals, 9 of UT's 28 signees were given 4*. Scout has UT with 1 five stare and four 4 star signees. 247 who many here seem to put the most stock agrees with Scout. So best case, UT is 9 of 28 are 4*. That is not half. It is less than 1/3.

 

[i2amavol]

This class will build quality depth and produce several high impact stars. Period. It's a solid class. No reason for disappointment.

I agree, except for the last sentence. For me, it is about being a "tweener" class. We no longer have immediate playing time to offer like we once did. Our coach no longer gets the "new guy" pass.

Also, this is about off-the-field issues. Too many guys showing up at the county jail for one reason or another, uncertainty with the AD, etc.

Yeah, it would have helped to be in the SEC Championship game, but the final score that we would likely have attain sort of offsets that. Also, this class was pretty much already made long before the season was over anyway.

So, hopefully we get our AD soon, we continue with the better off-the-field behavior (Jennings!?!), we get some new blood on the coaching staff, and maybe win the East next year.:clapping:

 

[sjt18]

247 alone had Tn with 11th rated class. Baton loves this class said it is one of the fastest classes signed. He is doing an article on this very thing. Each service does have their own staff that evaluates players and many disagree on some players some agree on some as well. Example. The coaches took commitment from Bembry and Page early because thy see big time players because they have tremendous speed and explosive hips. Ga signed several LB that are higher ranked but Tn would not swap their two for Ga two. Only time will tell.

That's odd considering 247 only shows UT with 1 5* and 4 4* signees. None of the teams ranked ahead of them has less than 9 4/5* players. The 87.14 avg score they gave UT signees is lower than all of the avg's of the teams above them and 21 of the 24 other programs in their top 25.

If 247 "loves" this class... they have a really, really odd way of expressing that love.

 

[sjt18]

This class will build quality depth and produce several high impact stars. Period. It's a solid class. No reason for disappointment.

Completely depends on your expectations for he program. If you are OK with 7-9 wins and a nice bowl game... then there's no reason for disappointment.

 

[volboy81]

Higgins chose to leave. If he sees greener pastures in SC, so be it. I wanted him to come to UT but he didn't want to...moving on...