---what do you think the starting lineup is next year---Defense

[1SmokinVol]

If Saulsberry is healthy, he starts... and it ain't close. The battle will be for back up and the other spot.

I will be surprised if JRM isn't a starter at LB.

Agreed- Saulsberry starts IF healthy. Would be surprised if JRM is not starting also.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

My attempt at a 3 deep.

LEO: Vereen/Lewis/Henderson
DT: Saulsberry/Carr/Thomas
DT: Williams/O'brien/Barnett
SDE: J.Williams/Miller/Hendrix/Vickers/Mixon

LB: Maggit/Weatherd/J King
LB: AJ/Mouhon/Bryant
LB: JRM/Bates/Eliott Berry

CB: Sutton/Berry/Mosely
CB: Coleman/Foreman/Payne
NB: Gaulden/Payne/Swafford

S: Randolph/Kelly/Arnold
S: McNeil/McDowell/Gaulden

Notes:
-I think Cory Thomas gets moved inside like Carr and Barnett moves inside a well.
-at SDE, I have no idea who plays after Williams. Miller seems a shoe in, but Hendrix is supposed to be a beast. Mixon/Vickers could surprise.
-I put Weatherd and Maggit at the same position because I think they have a similar skill set.
-I'm not sure if J King plays inside our outside. He's a wild card who I think could surprise some people. I think he redshirted and if he did, I imagine it was for a reason.
-Bates could play a lot or even start, but I put him behind JRM because of experience. And because I think they have somewhat similar skill sets.
-I don't think Coleman will lose his spot (at least to start the season). If he does, I wouldn't be surprised to see Foreman take his spot over a freshman.
-Payne could end up starting at NB, especial if he does EE.
-I think Gaulden/Berry/E Mosley get moved around a good bit before they settle in to a position on D. All 3 are versatile enough to play a lot of spots.
-I think Kelly gets a lot of reps, but idk about him starting unless McNeil makes absolutely NO progress. Same with McDowell.

In nickel situations or obvious Passing downs, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move Maggit/Weatherd down to a rush end position. I also wouldn't be surprised to see AJ get more breathers in such situations. If they did this, we could see a front "nascar" along the lines of
Maggit/DT/SDE/Leo
JRM/Bates

 

[sjt18]

Jordan Williams played in all 12 games. Just wasn't effective....18 total tackles, 1.5 sacks.

He got significantly less playing time than Miller, Walls, and Smith who recorded 36, 28, and 20 tackles respectively and 6.5, 4.5, and .5 sacks respectively. Vereen was only credited with one sack.

Williams can still be coached up into a very effective player... if the coaches get it done.

 

[KBVol]

He got significantly less playing time than Miller, Walls, and Smith who recorded 36, 28, and 20 tackles respectively and 6.5, 4.5, and .5 sacks respectively. Vereen was only credited with one sack.

Williams can still be coached up into a very effective player... if the coaches get it done.

No offense to the kid, but Miller, Smith and Walls were below average SEC DEs this year. Williams couldn't leapfrog any of those guys.... shouldn't have been too hard to do yet he couldn't. As for Vereen? He disappeared pretty much after the Georgia game.

They're gonna have to coach Williams way up IMO. Haven't been impressed.

 

[sjt18]

No offense to the kid, but Miller, Smith and Walls were below average SEC DEs this year. Williams couldn't leapfrog any of those guys.... shouldn't have been too hard to do yet he couldn't. As for Vereen? He disappeared pretty much after the Georgia game.

They're gonna have to coach Williams way up IMO. Haven't been impressed.

I disagree about the talent of Miller and Walls. And, they actually played well most of the time. Williams needs to be coached up better than what Miller and Walls were... partly on the previous staff and partly on this one.

 

[Rockytoptalker]

DE- Vereen
DE-Miller
DT-Carr
DT-O. Williams

ROLB- Weatherd
MLB-Johnson
LOLB-Maggit/JRM

CB-Sutton
CB-Coleman
S-Randolph
S-Kelly

 

[KBVol]

I disagree about the talent of Miller and Walls. And, they actually played well most of the time. Williams needs to be coached up better than what Miller and Walls were... partly on the previous staff and partly on this one.

Won't argue their talent but I will their production. Miller and Walls had their moments, Smith not so much. But collectively there was virtually no edge pass rush in any of the games vs the better teams (Oregon, Bama, Mizzou, Georgia, Auburn).... and actually very little vs WKU, SoAla and Vandy. APSU, SoCar and Ky was about it.

Coaches need to roll up there sleeves and do a better job this year than last. I think they'll have more talent albeit younger.

 

[sjt18]

Won't argue their talent but I will their production. Miller and Walls had their moments, Smith not so much. But collectively there was virtually no edge pass rush in any of the games vs the better teams (Oregon, Bama, Mizzou, Georgia, Auburn).... and actually very little vs WKU, SoAla and Vandy. APSU, SoCar and Ky was about it.

That's mostly on the rush end and schemes. UT registered 18 sacks which was tied for 12th in the SEC. Surprisingly UF was only one better. The thing that bothers me here is that Smith continued to play on passing downs while not getting it done. Vereen was more effective.

I am sure J Smith is a great guy... but he never performed to his talent level.

The amazing thing is that only one sack came from anyone other than a DL. Sutton had one. There were NO sacks from LB's. How do you do that and further how can you see that and not lay alot of blame at the feet of the DC for his schemes?

Coaches need to roll up there sleeves and do a better job this year than last. I think they'll have more talent albeit younger.

If they do better in '14 then tip your hat to the coaching. They are bringing talent in but are trying to make up for essentially a three year gap in recruiting. The guys from the '10 class were talented and for the most part brought it to the field. Dooley's next two classes were not as talented and seem to have had some fairly significant attrition. Dooley really set Jones up badly for the '13 class... regardless, it was not the talent Jones needed to start overcoming the roster issues. It was more of a "tread water" class.

IOW's, one class won't close that gap completely. There will still be talent issues. The really tough part is that they NEED to win to maintain recruiting momentum.

This is one of the reasons I thought it was so important for Jones to get to 7 wins this year and "surprise" people. He needed that to affirm credibility.

 

[sjt18]

BTW, Walls and Miller accounted for 11 of UT's 18 sacks. Both were top 20 in the SEC. And yes, Miller had a career day vs UK but the other SEC leaders got some or most of their stats vs homecoming fodder schools.

Jordan Williams added 1.5 as a back up.

 

[KBVol]

BTW, Walls and Miller accounted for 11 of UT's 18 sacks. Both were top 20 in the SEC. And yes, Miller had a career day vs UK but the other SEC leaders got some or most of their stats vs homecoming fodder schools.

Jordan Williams added 1.5 as a back up.

I just saw DEs and DTs that got gashed against the better running teams, that they did a bad job all year of setting the edges/getting sucked in, that they got very little to no rush on the QB the majority of the season. Like you said, we were 12th out of 14 teams in sack totals.

Did Walls and Miller account for 11 of the 18? Sure, that's a high percentage. But it's a high percentage of a very low number. Take out the 4 sacks Miller had versus Ky that came out of nowhere and that's 7 sacks in 11 games between the 2 of them. Then throw in J. Smith and ... well, you didn't even realize you threw him in.

Throw in Vereen (who btw I think is gonna be a really good one) and Williams and we got all of 2.5 sacks in a combined 21 games of action. I hope we get a pleasant surprise from RS Fr Kendall Vickers or one of the incoming freshmen like Hendrix... just don't believe Jordan Williams will be the answer based on what I've seen so far.

I agree with everything else you stated.

 

[sjt18]

IMHO, Jones told the truth and was a prophet concerning the D. But knowing that McCullers' performance will make or break your D.... Don't you come up with a contingency?

I mean Wilcox's first two D's performed better than this one. Both years he played guys who were natural DE's at DT.... and two of them were still on this roster AND stronger and heavier.

I like Jones and think in many ways he could be an ideal HC for UT.

I think the O will come around with talent, experience, and development.

I have SERIOUS questions regarding the DC. Every time I look at it from a different angle... it reflects even worse on him. I would buy the talent excuse if they did not so consistently underperform the talent they had. The blowouts were underperformance. The USA game was a TERRIBLE underperformance. That game was as close to being a loss as Vandy/UGA were to being wins. Jancek allowed them 392 yards!!! That was more than they got vs S Utah, Navy, Ark St, and ULL. Please don't tell me you think those teams have more talent or speed on D.

Only USCe and Vandy can be classified as good performances by the DC... and that's just not enough.