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

#26
#26
sjt18 said:
I could obviously be wrong but the group I am concerned least about is the OL. I really like what little we've seen from Crowder. Very smart. Very aggressive. Intense. Wiesman, Jackson, Kerbyson, and Sanders are all very talented players with 2 or 3 years of development under their belts. Kendrick may develop into at least a good back up. Blair is the key. If he can nail down the LT spot then the OL might actually be better. The other newcomers need development but I think they will provide good enough back up.

I am not counting my chickens on the WR's. There wasn't enough improvement over the season for me to be convinced that they'll be a very good group by next fall.

The front 7 on D is a huge concern. Unknowns everywhere.

I think the secondary will improve. I think the starters will probably be the same with some quality back up from the new arrivals. I think Jones and maybe Foreman with give real help at CB.

I think QB comes down to whether the Vols exit the spring with a starter or not. The WR's and the starter NEED a great summer of voluntary 7 on 7 to develop the kind of rapport they'll need to be more productive.

I think Neal will be missed more than most anticipate. I hope that UT is able to add a quality RB in this class to Hurd. If not... and I am way out in left field by myself I realize... I LOVE the look of TK Jr as a running back. I know he's pegged as a S right now... but he just looks good and natural running the ball.
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I think Neal could be missed. But if Lane stays healthy and hangs onto the ball he is the better pure RB of him and Neal. Lane has better vision, hits the hole harder and runs more physical. Neal was faster but bounced it outside too much and didnt follow his blocka. Not the best vision and doesn't look to make contact like Lane. But Neal protects the ball better and both are good receiving RB's. Blocking I honestly dont know. Hoping Lane pulls a Hardesty type SR yr. Not so much in production but staying healthy the full yr and getting to see their full potential. Does make me nervous though. Lane has had injuries, Pickett hasnt played since last season and not in the SEC, Hurd coming off surgery then I guess Hill and he is a relative unknown. A JUCO RB would be ideal if we cant land Scott. But Scott has got to see the potential for early PT and plenty of it.
 
#28
#28
VinylVols said:
Dobbs is gonna start and he's gonna be a beast after his first year of spring training.
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Dont see that happening. Dobbs actually regressed the more that he played. Has very little arm strength and isnt very accurate. If u take away all those plays where he tosses it forward to pig that lowers his completion % even more. Those count as completed passes and they ran that atleast 15-20 times and prob more since Dobbs took over. He does run it well but Riley has just as good of mobility, atleast based of his HS highlights. No its not college but if you have mobility then you have it. And Riley by far has the strongest arm and a very strong one based on all the practice reports.
 
#29
#29
sjt18 said:
No way for either of us to prove/disprove it but it is my firm belief that they limited the offense trying to keep him healthy. I think it was part of their scheme to keep RS's on the Fr. Worley was effective the few times he ran it. Jones has been pretty clear that they don't want the QB to run very often. I believe they told him not to run.

There is alot of trust and familiarity involved with that. There are no Tyler Bray arms on this roster. They're all pretty close in arm strength. Worley above all the others was known as an accurate passer coming in.

Again, trust and familiarity. Guys have to run the right routes in the way they're expected to run them in Jones' system. The QB has to be able to anticipate the WR. For the first half of the season, none of the WR's were at that point.



He may be that good. But there's no proof of it outside of scattered and inconsistent things coming out of practice. The "official" storyline was always that Dobbs and Ferguson were neck and neck.

I just don't like the assumption that a guy who has no experience and has never proven anything will overtake a guy with good talent... who did all the suffering through breaking in the WR's and converting to the new O.
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I definitely aee your point. But from everything including analysis on them is that Riley has an NFL guy and strong arm. Peterman has a pretty good arm, he just has some jersey color issues and throwing to his own teammates. But fairness to Nate he didn't get much opportunity and really didn't have a fighting chance in the UF game. I see Worley and Dobbs on the same arm strength and accuracy level. They may have limited Worley running the ball but recall quotes from Jones that Dobbs needed to keep it more on the read options. They had Dobbs running when they had nobody healthy behind him. So it may have been they didn't want Worley running but gotta think if that was the case Dobbs wouldn't have run as much either. But regardless of who starts we gotta be able to stretch the field and hit wide open receivers or teams will move up the secondary and have even less room to run. But do hope the QB is decided in the spring to gain continuity with all the young receivers.
 
#30
#30
VolFan4Life87 said:
Can't disagree with anything you've said. I'm just skeptical of the hype surround Ferg since there was similar if not more hype for Dobbs - and he looked like a deer in the headlights/interception machine.

I see Worley as the best game manager on this roster simply because he did manage to improve to a point of "not losing the game for us" though he'll never win any big games for us. I don't think he threw any INTs vs UGA or SC, both of which had a healthy defense.
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I agree. But will say GA didn't havea very good D and Worley couldn't do anything that first half against GA. He hit some the second half and went for around 215 or so. But that was also a young, depleted GA offense and Defense by time the 4th rolled around. Sc has a pretty good D and Worley had around 170-180 and take away thoae highlight catch's by North he doesn't even have 100 passing for the game. But the run game played one and if not its best game of the season. Biggest concern with Worley is all the missed wide open receivers. He did have some dropped but anything over 20 yarda you never knew where it was gonna end up but usually overthrown, behind or at their feet. Just hoping like hell Riley is the answer. If Worley starts this season then in 2015 we are starting over again at starting QB. Main reason I want Riley, gets all these guys growing up together.
 
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#31
#31
sjt18 said:
Even if that is true... the future isn't necessarily starting as a RS Fr.

There are other reasons "for the future" to start Worley next year unless someone else is just great. If Ferguson becomes the starter... you are probably looking at only him and Worley on the roster at QB come August. They do not look to have a QB in this class. That would be "real" trouble.

Hardly. Worley has talent. Dobbs has talent and made typical Fr mistakes that can be cleaned up with good coaching.

IMHO, Peterman should transfer and get a fresh start. Nothing against him. I just don't think he can recover from what he experienced this year.
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You could be right but I don't see Dobbs transferring if he doesn't win the job. With the segree he is wanting I dont see him school bouncing and not sure the way his parents seem to be that they would want that. Think Dobbs is a student first and football player second. I def could see Peterman leaving though. I just see us being limited under Worley and Dobbs actually looked like he went backwards during the year. He should have been able to throw on AU and Vandy, even with North out and later Croom. Vandy was missing their entire starting secondary and still couldn't complete passes. Honestly still not sure what happened to the offense that game. Combo of bad playcalling and bad execution. And hell HS schools could score on Kentucky's D. Just don't see a high ceiling with Dobbs but who knows. The Coach's have forgotten more than I know and I trust them to get the right guy ready, regardless of who it is.
 
#32
#32
Worley over Ferguson, Lane over Hurd, and Croom over Malone...but it's likely all of these guys could see playing time this season.
 
#33
#33
VolFan4Life87 said:
1) I would love to see some confirmation that the coaches are "telling recruits Riley is the future"

2) We drastically went down hill once Worley was taken out of the game. I was one of Worley's biggest critics, let's face it he's not an SEC QB - but unless something magical happens in the off season, none of our QB's are ready to play with the big boys in the SEC. Worley is the best game manager we have - see USCe & UGA games.

3) Riley hasn't taken a single snap in college football. To name him the starter in a 4 QB mix is crazy at this stage.
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Here is a quote from Rivals analyst Woody Wommack about runningback Derrell Scott
Scott is familiar with Riley Ferguson (the QB that the Vols staff is selling as the future starter) and current wide receiver Marquez North only helps Tennessee's position
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#35
#35
Not a good sign if Lane is the starting TB a month into the season. He is a good back up but does not have the break away speed needed for this offense. The Vols can't continue to depend on 8+ play drives to score. Lane is not a threat to take it to the house.

Alex Ellis will be in the mix for starting TE. Was in a position to start this year before a season ending injury before the season started.
 
#36
#36
Backwards K said:
Not a good sign if Lane is the starting TB a month into the season. He is a good back up but does not have the break away speed needed for this offense. The Vols can't continue to depend on 8+ play drives to score. Lane is not a threat to take it to the house.

Alex Ellis will be in the mix for starting TE. Was in a position to start this year before a season ending injury before the season started.
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Jerome Bettis was never a threat to take it to the house either. Would it be bad if an 18 year old Bus started at RB for us?
 
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#37
#37
LT: Blair
LG: Jackson
C: Crowder
RG: Wiesman
RT: Kerbyson
TE: Downs (other TEs will play a lot though)
WR: North (Croom rotates in)
WR: Pearson (Malone rotates in)
SLOT: Pig (Devrin/ Jekins rotate in)
RB: Lane with plenty of Hurd (given he is healthy)
QB: Ferguson (because we've seen all that Worley is capable of and I'm a gambler)
 
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#38
#38
Backwards K said:
Not a good sign if Lane is the starting TB a month into the season. He is a good back up but does not have the break away speed needed for this offense. The Vols can't continue to depend on 8+ play drives to score. Lane is not a threat to take it to the house.

Alex Ellis will be in the mix for starting TE. Was in a position to start this year before a season ending injury before the season started.
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I'm pretty sure Ellis was a senior and has exhausted his eligibity.
 
#39
#39
Great thread. I have modified it to reflect 2-deep. Wanted to get your thoughts.

LT- Dontavius Blair/ Brown
LG- Marcus Jackson/Kendrick
C- Mack Crowder/ Thomas
OG- Dylan Weisman/ Pair
RT- Kerbyson/ Austin Sanders
TE- Downs/ Wolfe (blocking)/ Helm (Passing)
QB- Worley/ Ferguson
RB- Lane/ Hurd/Pickett

WR*- North/ Johnson/ Jenkins/ Blanc
WR*- Pearson/Croom/ Smith
Slot*- Howard/ Young/ Wharton
4*-receiver set- Croom/ Young
*Given that Azzanni likes to play 8-10 regularly, the lineup on any play could be a mix of all of the above. Also down, distance, and red-zone will be factors in the mix.

Branisel could be in line for the 2-deep, but I think he takes an injury RS with his knee.

The 2-deep for the OL is my biggest question. I could only count 11 scholarship OL for summer. Are there any other OL from the roster I'm missing. I see names like Gilliam, Heins, Simcox, and Edwards, but don't know if they could contribute. Raulerson should contribute right away. Thoughts?
 
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#41
#41
sjt18 said:
Even if that is true... the future isn't necessarily starting as a RS Fr.

There are other reasons "for the future" to start Worley next year unless someone else is just great. If Ferguson becomes the starter... you are probably looking at only him and Worley on the roster at QB come August. They do not look to have a QB in this class. That would be "real" trouble.

Hardly. Worley has talent. Dobbs has talent and made typical Fr mistakes that can be cleaned up with good coaching.

IMHO, Peterman should transfer and get a fresh start. Nothing against him. I just don't think he can recover from what he experienced this year.
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Well said. Think Dobbs sticks at UT though, at a minimum thru next yr.
 
#42
#42
supersmo18 said:
You're likely to get roasted now, FWIW.


And FTR, I think that unless Worley screws up superbly in spring, then he'll be starting next year.
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Thats okay. I don't come on here looking for people to agree with me, I come on here to share my opinions. Really doesn't change a whole lot if people disagree.

But Idk, I just think if they spend the off season knowing that Dobbs is the starter, they can change a lot of their plays to help him out. He was a really good runner from what I saw, and yeah his accuracy was a bit off, but he was a freshman playing 3 out of his 5 games against top 10 teams. Not exactly the best nature to start him getting confident in. The 40 yard TD run against Kentucky reminded me a little bit of Vince Young. Now I know he wasn't a star in the NFL, but his senior season, he was a beast at Texas. Will he be as good as Young was in college? Probably not, but he has the same skill set in my opinion. If he has receivers that will get open for him, I say he will start hitting him, I don't think he got a whole lot of help from any WR's this year besides North, him and north looked good hooking up this year. Vince Young wasn't a great passer really compared to other guys at that time, but he had receivers who were always getting open. Malone, North and Pearson could really help him. He just has an added threat with running and I've always liked that at the college level. Just my opinion though, I'm generally pretty stubborn when it comes to what I hope from my Vols, and I try to remain positive. Ferguson might be a beast though, I haven't seen him on the college level though, so I can't make a fair judgement.
 
#43
#43
chatt-townVOL said:
Dobbs???

As in Josh Dobbs?????
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Yeah I gave a fairly detailed answer to my opinions on this thread, so I don't wanna repeat the entire thing. But basically I just liked that he can run, and I think in the offseason the coaches put together a better suited playlist for him, let him have more control over the option. Better receivers this year which I think will naturally lead for more yards throwing for him. I don't think its fair to judge him after this season when his first 3 games were against top 10 teams. Yeah he looked shaky against Vandy, but he took a step forward against Kentucky, and now he spends an entire offseason with a conditioning coach who has a proven record in getting guys ready in his second year at most programs he's been in. Don't underestimate spring practice. Worley never got me excited, Dobbs did when he ran that 40 yard TD. I'm not knocking ferguson, I just find it hard to make much of him when all I see are his High School highlights. Dobbs highlights from high school looked really good as well, so if Ferguson starts, I will have no problem admitting my predicition was off, and i will cheer for him, but right now, this is what I think Dobbs can do next season.
 
#44
#44
Any of the three qbs could start. The RF guys are crazy to think he is the chosen one though. You think he is just handed the job over a sr and a sph who were both ahead of him and got experience against top 10 teams? Malone said coaches sold him on all three. Lane will at least start the first game also.
 
#45
#45
Have any of you guys seen Todd Kelly Jr. play in high school? I only saw him play in one game but he was incredible running the ball. Very fast and powerful and difficult to tackle. Is there a chance they try him at running back too?
 
#46
#46
VoLunTiTan7 said:
Concern at QB is a given, but I am still worried about OL. I look at our incoming class and it is full of Defensive players which is great, but I just hope we don't end up with a depth problem at OL.

Please feel free to alleviate my concerns...
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Remembering that the recruiting class is not yet completely set in stone, I heard from Brent Hubbs that there are a couple of OL prospects in Florida that may be offered after the dead period ends.

Even if we get one more, is the O-Line still considered thin? Yes, it is. But some of the true freshmen on the EE list play OL. (Coleman and Raulerson I have heard are two) And that gives them time to get into the weight program before next season.

The only freshman NOT on the EE list is Orlando "Zeus" Brown, son of the late former Baltimore Raven. And if this young man is anything like his father, I wouldn't be surprised if he comes in pretty well developed.

Don't count out the guys who were waiting behind the starting 5 last year. I believe they are ready to accept the challenge before them, and have something to prove.

Did my attempt to alleviate your concerns work? If not, sorry. Guess that is why Dr. Phil makes more money than me.
 
#47
#47
jasonvol18 said:
The Coach's have forgotten more than I know and I trust them to get the right guy ready, regardless of who it is.
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I know Bajakian said at one time the Fr were ready... but that statement followed within a few days of Jones specifically saying they weren't.

I honestly don't feel good about the player development we saw this year. Hopefully that will improve.
 
#48
#48
UT returns 8 scholarship OL's. They are adding a JUCO and and 4 other HS recruits listed as OL's. That makes 13 scholarship OL's which is a healthy number. The big concern I have is LT. The only guy who looks like a natural LT is Blair. Coleman Thomas may have the athleticism to eventually play LT but I doubt he's a contributor without a couple of years of development.
 
#49
#49
Sandvol said:
Have any of you guys seen Todd Kelly Jr. play in high school? I only saw him play in one game but he was incredible running the ball. Very fast and powerful and difficult to tackle. Is there a chance they try him at running back too?
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I have only seen the highlight videos but that was my impression too. Someone said you had to consider the competition. I don't know anything about that but the guy was very difficult to tackle, made some ankle breaking cuts, appeared to have exceptional vision and imaginiation, and could just flat out fly when he got in the open field.
 
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