Vols' DL still needs a lot of work

#26
#26
Give_All_Vol said:
I like the sound of that also. Having the other team's DC not knowing where Maggitt will line up from play to play could definitely be a weapon
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I'm optimistic concerning Maggitt, but he's not a Lawrence Taylor type talent. If healthy he can be a quality piece of the defensive puzzle, but not the type of player who is so exceptional he covers up the rest of the defensive short comings.

Are you guys expecting 20+ sacks from him?
 
#27
#27
sjt18 said:
This group will have to be carried to some degree by the back 7 at least at the beginning of the season. I am not blaming Jones at all... but he needed a better class in '13 than he got and especially on the DL.
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Yeah damnit, the nerve of that guy to not get a better DL haul in the 6 weeks he had after taking over a program that had just posted 3 consecutive losing seasons for the first time in school history. Crappy recruiter. He sucks.
 
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#28
#28
Vols are gonna do a lot of situational substituting this year, so who starts at what position will not be a huge deal. Given they have 10 more spring practices, a summer with the entire squad and then a month of fall practice, it might be a little premature to be fretting about the position listed by a player's name or who is first or second on a depth chart.
 
#29
#29
walkenvol said:
I'm optimistic concerning Maggitt, but he's not a Lawrence Taylor type talent. If healthy he can be a quality piece of the defensive puzzle, but not the type of player who is so exceptional he covers up the rest of the defensive short comings.

Are you guys expecting 20+ sacks from him?
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Hahaha didn't we have like 17 total last year? I don't think anyone is getting 20+
 
#30
#30
KBVol said:
Yeah damnit, the nerve of that guy to not get a better DL haul in the 6 weeks he had after taking over a program that had just posted 3 consecutive losing seasons for the first time in school history. Crappy recruiter. He sucks.
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I still can't believe we were thisclose to flipping Carl Lawson in 2013.
 
#31
#31
KBVol said:
Yeah damnit, the nerve of that guy to not get a better DL haul in the 6 weeks he had after taking over a program that had just posted 3 consecutive losing seasons for the first time in school history. Crappy recruiter. He sucks.
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In SJT's defense, he didn't say Jones is a failure because of it-- just that he needed a better class than he got.

:hi:
 
#32
#32
KBVol said:
Yeah damnit, the nerve of that guy to not get a better DL haul in the 6 weeks he had after taking over a program that had just posted 3 consecutive losing seasons for the first time in school history. Crappy recruiter. He sucks.
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He signed Vereen who is by all accounts the hardest working player on the team and has locked down a starting DE spot his sophomore year along with some quality depth in Malik Brown, Jason Carr, Kendal Vickers, and Jaylen Miller. All four of those guys could contribute this year. Not getting Lawson hurt but I think he did just fine with the amount of time he had.
 
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#33
#33
KBVol said:
Yeah damnit, the nerve of that guy to not get a better DL haul in the 6 weeks he had after taking over a program that had just posted 3 consecutive losing seasons for the first time in school history. Crappy recruiter. He sucks.
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Come on KB... you're better than that. I said CLEARLY that it wasn't his fault. He just needed some guys that would be ready to contribute by now.

If I said you needed more money to cover your rising bills but that the job market was not good enough for you to push for a better salary... would that be a condemnation of YOU?

Again, he wasn't to blame but he STILL needed more and better DL's in that first class.
 
#34
#34
Orange_Crush said:
In SJT's defense, he didn't say Jones is a failure because of it-- just that he needed a better class than he got.

:hi:
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Exactly. Thanks.

Dooley left Jones in a terrible situation. He had effectively quit recruiting sometime around mid-season... and that over a pretty weak effort over the course of that whole year.
 
#35
#35
On defense much is made of the loss of all of our starting linemen. From a statistical performance perspective we were next to last in the conference in rushing defense last year and we ranked dead last in the conference for sacks and almost last in tackles for loss. The tackles for loss and sacks leader boards in the conference are both almost entirely dominated by defensive linemen. Given our embarrassing ranking I find it difficult to believe we are taking a huge loss by replacing a group of guys who were wholly uncompetitive with their conference peers. In fact I will go so far as to say that on the defensive line we are likely to see major improvement at every position.

Thig's boys will be the strength of our defense (AJ, Curt, Reeves-Maybin, Weatherd, Bates, et. al.) and I'm looking for CWM to take our secondary onward and upward. We were #8 in the conference in PD last year, #3 against conference competition. With the shuffling at NB this year we've already improved our defense markedly.

Last year, Auburn and Mizzou came from low expectations to shock the world. This year someone else is going to have to take on that role. I figure might as well be us. :)
 
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#36
#36
Orange_Crush said:
In SJT's defense, he didn't say Jones is a failure because of it-- just that he needed a better class than he got.

:hi:
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Sjt and orangecrush sitting in a tree...eff you see Kay eye in gee :whistling:
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
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#37
#37
sjt18 said:
Come on KB... you're better than that. I said CLEARLY that it wasn't his fault. He just needed some guys that would be ready to contribute by now.

If I said you needed more money to cover your rising bills but that the job market was not good enough for you to push for a better salary... would that be a condemnation of YOU?

Again, he wasn't to blame but he STILL needed more and better DL's in that first class.
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.
 
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#38
#38
sjt18 said:
Come on KB... you're better than that. I said CLEARLY that it wasn't his fault. He just needed some guys that would be ready to contribute by now.

If I said you needed more money to cover your rising bills but that the job market was not good enough for you to push for a better salary... would that be a condemnation of YOU?

Again, he wasn't to blame but he STILL needed more and better DL's in that first class.
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Sorry Sjt, my bad, upon re-reading my post was out of line. Read it as, "it's not his fault, but I blame him for not recruiting effectively".

He definitely could've used a Lawson to jump aboard in the '13 class but it wasn't in the cards given his limited time on the job IMO. I like what he did in '14 and hope that the prize DL of that '13 class, Carr, develops and comes through this year.

Again, apologies for going all knee jerk.
 
#39
#39
KBVol said:
Sorry Sjt, my bad, upon re-reading my post was out of line. Read it as, "it's not his fault, but I blame him for not recruiting effectively".

He definitely could've used a Lawson to jump aboard in the '13 class but it wasn't in the cards given his limited time on the job IMO. I like what he did in '14 and hope that the prize DL of that '13 class, Carr, develops and comes through this year.

Again, apologies for going all knee jerk.
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Much appreciated sentiment. :good!:
 
#40
#40
sjt18 said:
One of the coaches said they were going to move him around situationally but seemed to quash the idea that he was becoming a full time DE. Things can change but that was the last thing I actually saw from a coach.
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this is what I saw - my guess is in nickel packages they may move him down and put vereen as the other DE - Jwilliams to the inside - just to try and get all our best pass rushers on the field at the same time - maybe leave AJ and JRM as the nickel LB's
 
#41
#41
SCvol333 said:
this is what I saw - my guess is in nickel packages they may move him down and put vereen as the other DE - Jwilliams to the inside - just to try and get all our best pass rushers on the field at the same time - maybe leave AJ and JRM as the nickel LB's
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IMHO, the best pass rusher from his normal position is Saulsberry. The guy seemed to constantly pressure the middle.

I wasn't all that impressed by J Williams.
 
#42
#42
sjt18 said:
IMHO, the best pass rusher from his normal position is Saulsberry. The guy seemed to constantly pressure the middle.

I wasn't all that impressed by J Williams.
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Agree about J Williams. I honestly think that a combination of Hendrix, Henderson and/or Weatherd winds up more in the rotation with Maggitt, especially if they're gonna move Maggitt around in different packages.
 
#43
#43
sjt18 said:
IMHO, the best pass rusher from his normal position is Saulsberry. The guy seemed to constantly pressure the middle.

I wasn't all that impressed by J Williams.
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he likely would be the DT in there in that set along with JW - doesnt really matter person - just a matter of moving whoever ends up being the SDE into the middle to take the place of the DT who is the least effective pass rusher

I like Saulsberry and he gets forgotten a lot on here - that being said he seems to always get hurt just when you think you start to see something so I can't really blame the posters who forget him

hopefully he can stay healthy this year - we will need him
 
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#44
#44
sjt18 said:
Exactly. Thanks.

Dooley left Jones in a terrible situation. He had effectively quit recruiting sometime around mid-season... and that over a pretty weak effort over the course of that whole year.
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No you are way off, he quit recruiting great DL once he became the coach
 
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#45
#45
DL is my biggest worry this year. If we play good in the trenches we may surprise a team and win 7 games.
 
#46
#46
Before too much DL panic sets in, just remember we still have several studs coming this fall to beef up DL. Between Derek Barnett, Dewayne Hendrix, Jashon Robertson and Michael Sawyers at least one or two will make their presence known. Also, Owen Williams, Joe Henderson and Dimaryra Mixon are getting the scheme, routine and fundamentals down now. In the fall they will be more ready to take that next step.

Also don't under sell Vereen, Carr, O'Brian, Saulsberry, Jordan Williams, etc. These guys are slowly getting better and all should be much improved from last year.

Development is like an earthquake, they get a lot of little improvement tremors and then boom those little tremors add up to a major shift in capabilities.
 
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#47
#47
Our D-Line will benefit from the secondary coverage being improved. This will result in opposing QB holding the ball for perhaps a second or so longer which translates into sacks and pass deflection, etc.

Another big piece is that our Offense should be more balanced than last year and therefore stay on the field longer. A few extra minutes of rest means all the world to how effective a defensive line can be.
 
#48
#48
According to Evan Woodbery, Jason Carr is injured. Severity unknown. Anybody know anything?
 
#49
#49
HuntlandVolinColo said:
Before too much DL panic sets in, just remember we still have several studs coming this fall to beef up DL. Between Derek Barnett, Dewayne Hendrix, Jashon Robertson and Michael Sawyers at least one or two will make their presence known. Also, Owen Williams, Joe Henderson and Dimaryra Mixon are getting the scheme, routine and fundamentals down now. In the fall they will be more ready to take that next step.

Also don't under sell Vereen, Carr, O'Brian, Saulsberry, Jordan Williams, etc. These guys are slowly getting better and all should be much improved from last year.

Development is like an earthquake, they get a lot of little improvement tremors and then boom those little tremors add up to a major shift in capabilities.
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I am not trying to be a smart aleck here but Fr are almost NEVER studs at DT specifically or the DL generally. UT NEEDS Saulsberry back. That becomes even more critical if Carr is hurt bad.
 
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#50
#50
sjt18 said:
I am not trying to be a smart aleck here but Fr are almost NEVER studs at DT specifically or the DL generally. UT NEEDS Saulsberry back. That becomes even more critical if Carr is hurt bad.
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Pretty much this. As far as DT goes, we're gonna have to count on O'Brien, Saulsberry, Williams, and Carr to carry the load and develop. The best we can likely hope for out of our freshmen DTs is that one of Sawyers, Mosley, Barnett, or Robertson can be a solid rotational depth guy.

AJ is likely gonna have to ight ff some blocks this season.
 
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