UT Ranked No. 17 on Team Talent Composite for 2024

#26
#26
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I guess you misunderstood my point. I never said recruiting rankings don't matter. They're good for measuring talent when nobody has seen them play. But once guys are on campus it's their production that begins to take precedent over their stars. Most of the time a guys play coincides with his star ranking. Which is why as you astutely pointed out typically the teams at the top of this talent index tend to do the best. But there are times it doesn't coincide. And in those cases you would be better off judging players based on their production than still banking on star ratings.
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There is certainly room for nuance on both ends.
 
#27
#27
unfrozencvmanvol said:
The key is this staff actually gets the talent out of players. Tennessee has consistently had Top 15-25 talent this whole time but the clowns we had before Heupel were going 5-7 with it half the time.
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Talent matters enormously, it’s the Jimmies and Joes, etc., but there is no level of talent that can’t be screwed up by bad coaching.
 
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#28
#28
NighthawkVol said:
Huh? I didn’t say they were **** recruiters. They were 14th in blue chip ratio. Just like they were 14th in composite talent. Yet they won a NC and had an insane number of players drafted.

Any way you slice it, they were more talented than their recruiting rankings.
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Yea, the talent rankings are just the raw materials (and a bit subjective). Coaching and team chemistry (and some breaks) determine the final outcomes.
 
#29
#29
njvols said:
Definitely. Not sure where we were with Hooker but he definitely showed that high level QB is the equalizer. 2021-2022 we had one. 2023 we didn’t but it wasn’t a train wreck because of coaching and continuity. Appears we are in pretty good shape to elevate the next few years.
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More than any other position the QB can elevate the team’s play or suck the life out of them. Just compare Hooker to JG.
 
#30
#30
unfrozencvmanvol said:
I've been in the camp that we should handle them. The only way we don't is if Grayson McCall just really has an outstanding year and is truly a top shelf quarterback. It could get hairy then since QB play can elevate a team but I think we still win, I don't expect our guy to be too shabby either!
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Hollywood Smothers. Thats a very scary name... if he lives up to it we are in trouble him and Concepcion are X-factors.
 
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#31
#31
Oh God not this crap again….

“Blue chip percentage “
“Talent index “

Based off recruiting websites. Awesome 👍

Now if we could just get rid of
- Jermond McCoy
- Chris Brazzell
- Desean Bishop
I mean what the hell are they even doing for the team anyway???
Just bringing our “Blue Chip Percentage “ down…
 
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#33
#33
I’m not much into these type of rankings of any sort. They are fun to look at, an indication of what outsiders think about your teams potential, and they get the blood pumping leading up to the game but they don’t mean much when the game starts.

A few years back Georgia State didn’t have but a player or 2 that might have been ranked higher than the our Vols lowest ranked scholarship player and we all know how that played out. To me it’s our worst loss ever and a reminder to stay humble.
 
#35
#35
VolRage said:
I’m not much into these type of rankings of any sort. They are fun to look at, an indication of what outsiders think about your teams potential, and they get the blood pumping leading up to the game but they don’t mean much when the game starts.

A few years back Georgia State didn’t have but a player or 2 that might have been ranked higher than the our Vols lowest ranked scholarship player and we all know how that played out. To me it’s our worst loss ever and a reminder to stay humble.
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As somebody else said above, bad coaching can nullify nearly any advantage, and we sure had bad coaching back then.
 
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#36
#36
IMO, stacking talent doesn't necessarily guarantee being a top 10 team in all instances especially in the college game. In college on offense, it really boils down to QB play and the OL's ability to protect and move the line of scrimmage. In Huepel's offense, the receivers also play a critical role moreso than some offenses because of the need to a) create separation deep down the field and b) block on the edges in the screen game. This is why we were able to beat Bama two years ago even though they had more "talent".

And then on defense, it's really important to have talent across the board but will, determination, and heart are just as important. Less talented defenses can get more out of a much more talented defense if they have these traits.

Bottom line: Talent only tells part of the story. This team will go as far as Nico and the OL allow it. And I'm hopeful we've got some better depth on the OL than we had last year.
 
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#37
#37
unfrozencvmanvol said:
The 247 Team Talent Composite for 2024 is out. The 247 Team Talent Composite ranks teams overall talent based on recruiting rankings and includes both high school and transfer players. It also keeps track of roster attrition from year to year, which is why it usually only comes out a day or two before kickoff.

It has only existed since 2015. Historically during that time period, UT has usually underperformed its talent ranking. The only 2 times it hasn't underperformed were under Josh Heupel, where in 2022 we overperformed, and in 2023 where we essentially finished right on the nose, right on or with a space or so after our ranking, depending on the poll.

Last year, we were No. 16, the current recruiting class (for 2025), is not included in these rankings because they are not on campus yet, but if we hold where we are in those rankings, we can expect a bump up next year.

This year there are 4 teams on our schedule deemed to have more talent that UT:

Alabama, # 1 overall in team talent
Georgia, # 2 overall in team talent
Oklahoma, # 8 overall in team talent
Florida, # 12 overall in team talent

Tennessee has the 8th most talent in the conference, so top half in the new SEC. The SEC has an incredible 13 of 16 teams ranked in the Top 25. Needless to say, the SEC remains a tough neigborhood.

247sports.com

2024 College Football Team Talent Composite

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.
247sports.com 247sports.com
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Although this is interesting, it reminds me of the expression "Bet on the jockey, not the horse." As you point out in your post, coaching (or in Michigan's case, cheating) has more impact on a team's success than overall talent. For example in 2017, UT went 4-7, but ranked 12th in team talent. With Heupel and Co. in charge, we will get far more production out of a lower ranked team than we did under Jones or Pruitt.
 
#40
#40
By this measure... my dispute with the absolute accuracy of the rankings not withstanding... UT is not more talented than they were over the last several seasons. However that seems to be different than the message we've gotten from media and coaches.

Going to be interesting to watch it play out.
 
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#41
#41
Rockytop10nessee said:
The you disagree. He said we’d handle them. Meaning not competitive. At least that’s what that means to me.
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I've been in the camp that we should handle them. The only way we don't is if Grayson McCall just really has an outstanding year and is truly a top shelf quarterback. It could get hairy then since QB play can elevate a team but I think we still win,

Should handle them does not mean the game will not be competitive. We can win 31-20 which means we handled them and the game was competitive.
 
#42
#42
sjt18 said:
By this measure... my dispute with the absolute accuracy of the rankings not withstanding... UT is not more talented than they were over the last several seasons. However that seems to be different than the message we've gotten from media and coaches.

Going to be interesting to watch it play out.
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Alot of the chatter about more talent relates to the incoming recruiting class (2025) which is not on campus. It is unquestionably more talented than what we have brought in for probably a decade at least. As I said, we are used to coaches at UT underperforming with talent. In the 9 year existence of these rankings, Tennessee has only overperformed or performed consistent with it's ranking TWICE, and both times have been under Josh Heupel (2022 and 2023). We had coaches employed here who would take a No. 15ish roster and go 5-7 or 4-8, with it half the time. The difference in what Heupel pulls out of his players versus his predecessors is striking.
 
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#44
#44
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Alot of the chatter about more talent relates to the incoming recruiting class (2025) which is not on campus. It is unquestionably more talented than what we have brought in for probably a decade at least. As I said, we are used to coaches at UT underperforming with talent. In the 9 year existence of these rankings, Tennessee has only overperformed or performed consistent with it's ranking TWICE, and both times have been under Josh Heupel (2022 and 2023). We had coaches employed here who would take a No. 15ish roster and go 5-7 or 4-8, with it half the time. The difference in what Heupel pulls out of his players versus his predecessors is striking.
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Not disputing that but I've read those comments about the current roster and not just the incoming class.

I believe Heupel knows talent. I think he is good at developing and deploying talent. I trust his evaluation of 3* more than Jones' evaluation of 4*. Jones had A LOT of outright busts among his 4/5* signees. Some of that was development. A good bit however was guys being overranked.
 
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#45
#45
FBtime said:
I've been in the camp that we should handle them. The only way we don't is if Grayson McCall just really has an outstanding year and is truly a top shelf quarterback. It could get hairy then since QB play can elevate a team but I think we still win,

Should handle them does not mean the game will not be competitive. We can win 31-20 which means we handled them and the game was competitive.
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Regardless of the semantics, we should win by 3-4 touchdowns. They are not a good football team. Folks here last year were saying “we bettercome to play against Virginia or they could beat us.” This team is marginally better than Virginia, and we’re much better than last year.
 
#46
#46
Rockytop10nessee said:
Regardless of the semantics, we should win by 3-4 touchdowns. They are not a good football team. Folks here last year were saying “we bettercome to play against Virginia or they could beat us.” This team is marginally better than Virginia, and we’re much better than last year.
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Vegas isn't dumb which is why this game is a 5-6 point line and the Virginia game was 27. There is NO comparison between NC State this year and Virginia last year...none. Virginia was terrible and no one picked them to be anything but close to the bottom of the acc where NC St is picked by everyone to finish in the top 2-3.
 
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#49
#49
sjt18 said:
By this measure... my dispute with the absolute accuracy of the rankings not withstanding... UT is not more talented than they were over the last several seasons. However that seems to be different than the message we've gotten from media and coaches.

Going to be interesting to watch it play out.
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it does say we are more talented. Our score went up a good bit. it just didn't go up as much as some others. we were a long way back, now we are much closer to the pack.
 
#50
#50
sjt18 said:
By this measure... my dispute with the absolute accuracy of the rankings not withstanding... UT is not more talented than they were over the last several seasons. However that seems to be different than the message we've gotten from media and coaches.

Going to be interesting to watch it play out.
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Not sure how they could think we aren’t. We are more talented at QB, have more depth on the DL than we have in decades, our LBers are deeper now than the last several years, our wide receiever room is the deepest it’s been in some time, our OL hasn’t gotten worse by any means, and our secondary has higher rated players now than we have at any point in heupel’s 3 years here. Our tight ends are better now than at any point in the last several years.

Of course, how do they rate a guy like Keenan Pili or Chris Brazell, who were 2-3 stars out of HS? Or some of our secondary transfer guys? They still using their high school rating? It wouldnt make sense to do so but it would explain why we aren’t higher ranked.
 
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