What is wrong with our WRs??

[The Original Fade]

Also, Nico is wildly inaccurate even for a freshman. He is going to have to take a significant step forward in his development next year or we’re looking at 8-4 again

 

[airvols]

Nico is not helping them at all, late balls , over throws and missed timing routes. You don’t win championships in the SEC with freshmen quarterback.

 

[rocketskates]

I’m more concerned about our secondary at the moment. They got completely exposed

Lack of adjustments, they were pretty good at shutting down Georgia’s wideouts, but you gotta give Bobo credit; he designed a gameplan that relied heavily on the tight ends and we didn’t have an answer for it. I think their tight ends accounted for 21 of their 31 points.

 

[Majors]

No Hyatt type speed to take the top off consistently. Bru and Squirrel are solid role but will never be able to take a game over. Thornton, Brazzell and Nimrod are inconsistent and Mike Matthews can’t crack the rotation.

Best addition has been Kitselman at TE.

 

[Tnphil]

If Heupel's offense can't catch the defense confused or surprised it's a very simple offense. I said in year one to backlash that this offense is a gimmick offense that when the SEC defenses catch on will become very average. And if you don't have a QB that can't pick it apart....also a running threat....and some future NFL WRs we will be in trouble.....Anyone notice the past 2 seasons we've stopped going at warp speed? That was creating mismatches and getting defenses out of position...but not anymore.

Also IMO.....in year 4 with a said offensive guru as a head coach we shouldn't have this much issues on offense. The discipline has not improved in the 4 years Heupel has been here...none...nada. That's 100 percent on coaching.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Well definitely this year however he is 5 years younger than hooker and Milton so he gets a long time b4 I cement his legacy that way I expect next year he improves a lot. He has improved a letter grade every 4 games so far

Understood. I was referring to those unrealistic folks so quick to find fault with JoMil, and just as quick to push Nico up to godhood. And just as quick to fault him when he falters. Humans gonna human, you know. Moses himself had to put up with this tendency, so did Joan of Arc.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Nico is not helping them at all, late balls , over throws and missed timing routes. You don’t win championships in the SEC with freshmen quarterback.

There have only been 3 Freshman RS or True to win a National Championship.
I am not sure that a True Freshman or RS Freshman QB has ever won a SEC Championship
* Must have started at the first of the season and gone through 70% of games played.
Holieway, Frazier? RS
I am not sure a True or RS Freshman has ever won a SEC Championship. I thought there was but I am not sure.

 

[Mccage]

Title says it all. What do you guys think? They have not been good all year. What amazes me is how slow they all look. Maybe I am missing something but Bru looks much slower now. Even Squirrel looks slower. Looking at Bama and UGAs WRs at least to me theirs look faster and quicker than ours.

Is it all coaching? Or are we not recruiting the right type of receivers?

Coaches teach them to run like their appear slow…. Sure of it

 

[Mccage]

It’s a shame Matthews hasn’t played more. I hope he doesn’t hit the portal.

Our routes are not difficult to defend. UGA has mediocre receivers but they confused TN with bunch formations. Our DBs were so confused which left receivers wide open.

I think coaches know how to defend Heup’s system. Hyatt had speed and a QB who could improvise.

It’s a shame Matthews hasn’t played more. I hope he doesn’t hit the portal.

Our routes are not difficult to defend. UGA has mediocre receivers but they confused TN with bunch formations. Our DBs were so confused which left receivers wide open.

I think coaches know how to defend Heup’s system. Hyatt had speed and a QB who could improvise.
[/QUOTE]

About 85 percent of Ga completed passes yesterday were to Tight ends… they are elite
They also were several that were contested

 

[Tigervol]

No elite WRs, they don’t look to comeback and help Nico when scrambling, drop too many passes, against elite Defense can’t shake the defender, time for more Mike Matthews.

 

[207 others]

Understood. I was referring to those unrealistic folks so quick to find fault with JoMil, and just as quick to Nico up to godhood. And just as quick to fault him when he falters. Humans gonna human, you know. Moses himself had to put up with this tendency, so did Joan of Arc.

LOL right? Milton was pretty good did these people watch the Worley years

 

[WoodsmanVol]

LOL right? Milton was pretty good did these people watch the Worley years

CanniVols simply live to find fault with our players and coaches. Eating their own is what it is. Guess they enjoy the flavor.
Joe was better than they give him credit for. His WRs had the dropsies, just as Nico's WRs do now. Both throw darts, and now that Joe is in pros, his practice and preseason throws show the pro WRs have no problem catching his lasers.

 

[adam.vol]

Squirrel made some nice catches last night. He looked good

Squirrel looked much better than earlier in the season, is what I would have said. But I agree.

 

[barney]

Wideouts aren't progressing in our system because it's not being taught to them effectively by their coach and we aren't assessing wideouts that are a good fit for our scheme.

Tillman and Hyatt were both holdovers from Pruitt. Pope has yet to find a receiver who has really thrived in our system, much less 3-5 receivers.

 

[Voltopia]

Also, Nico is wildly inaccurate even for a freshman. He is going to have to take a significant step forward in his development next year or we’re looking at 8-4 again

"even for a freshman?" Wait what?

Here's the last five freshman QBs to play for Tennessee. Nico has the highest passing completion percentage of any of them. 64.6%. That's not only the best completion percentage a freshman QB has had at Tennessee in the modern era, but he's ranked 39th out of all QBs in Division 1 in 2024 - and most of the guys around him are not freshman.

Nico Iamaleava	164	254	64.60%	2046
Tyler Bray	125	224	55.80%	1849
Erik Ainge	109	198	55.10%	1452
Casey Clausen	121	194	62.40%	1473
Peyton Manning	121	194	61.80%	1141

 

[LibertyVolance]

Matthews, Staley, Spillman, Webb, Leacock, Sneed, Brazzell, Nimrod, McCoy, White, and Thornton. So many guys underutilized because the OLine can't provide a young QB with the time to throw many balls past 10 yds. Nico was sacked 5 times and looked beaten up again at the conclusion of this game. He isn't Harry Houdini. He ran for his life several times and only netted 24 yds on 12 escape attempts. So much of offense is predicated on the strength of the men up front and every year we come up short at OLine. When they aren't letting defenders through to maim Nico, they are moving too early and drawing penalty yards.

 

[Orangepantsforever]

Played no one the first few games of the season. Created a false sense of quality

 

[deezvols]

They don’t read the expert analysis on the forums enough

 

[207 others]

CanniVols simply live to find fault with our players and coaches. Eating their own is what it is. Guess they enjoy the flavor.
Joe was better than they give him credit for. His WRs had the dropsies, just as Nico's WRs do now. Both throw darts, and now that Joe is in pros, his practice and preseason throws show the pro WRs have no problem catching his lasers.

Lord knows id drop any laser ever

 

[SpookyAction]

None of our WR are difference makers-good solid WR just nothing that scares the D.

I expected a much different season for our WRs.
I think they have been very good at run blocking and screen blocking.
Nico seems to be dealing with a lot of hurries due to coverage, and he is overthrowing deep and having some good deep passes dropped.
I hoped a WR would step up, Brazell or Thornton, and take over games and be a breakout star. Hasn't happened even in 1 game, really.

 

[livefaith]

Confusion and bewilderment toward skill players always comes ... When you can't win in the trenches. As much as you try and tell people that SEC football games are one and lost in the trenches, many still don't believe it.
When you're offensive line gets exposed, then your quarterback looks terrible and your wide receivers are anemic. When your defensive line gets completely stymied for four quarters, then all of a sudden your DB's can't cover anybody.

But, if you'll go and pay attention closely you'll notice that Nico was under pressure all night and his jersey looked like a green beret after storming into battle. Meanwhile, Carson Beck looked like he played his game in a domed stadium on artificial turf!

Right there is your game folks.

 

[stonesk]

Has Squirrel caught a pass that he hasn't let the ground for yet? Guy seems to jump for every pass, a lot of them warranted, but I've seen plenty where he jumps for no reason too.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

I’m more concerned about our secondary at the moment. They got completely exposed

Wrong. Our linebackers got exposed in pass coverage. Safeties eh. Corners played a pretty good game but Beck made some great throws.

 

[VolForLife83]

Title says it all. What do you guys think? They have not been good all year. What amazes me is how slow they all look. Maybe I am missing something but Bru looks much slower now. Even Squirrel looks slower. Looking at Bama and UGAs WRs at least to me theirs look faster and quicker than ours.

Is it all coaching? Or are we not recruiting the right type of receivers?

What's weird, is Bru looked a lot faster at start of the season. He hardly gets any targets and probably the most reliable hands on the team. He could should be playing the J Jennings role in this offense. Ole reliable.....