With this Great class coming in...

[jayski]

Sutton and North for sure. Lane will start but give way to one of the frosh RB.

 

[ChattanoogaVols]

Is there a returning player who is safe at his position??

Seriously, Randolph, AJ (if he returns), Maggitt, Sutton, who else???

On offense, even North and Pig will have guys nipping at their heels? Lane? Croom?

The competition at almost every position, will get INTENSE pretty quickly, and thats a very good thing!

I think "lack of quality depth" will soon be a thing of the past! :rock::rock:



.

Peterman's job is safe. I don't see anyone supplanting him as the last-string QB...


N b4 the butt-hurt police show up.

 

[KBVol]

Is there a returning player who is safe at his position??

Seriously, Randolph, AJ (if he returns), Maggitt, Sutton, who else???

On offense, even North and Pig will have guys nipping at their heels? Lane? Croom?

The competition at almost every position, will get INTENSE pretty quickly, and thats a very good thing!

I think "lack of quality depth" will soon be a thing of the past! :rock::rock:



.

Good post.

On D: Agree, although Randolph will likely have offseason shoulder surgery and will have 2 if not 3 highly rated studs coming in (TKJr, McDowell, perhaps Gaulden). Maggitt should be be safe if he actually gets on the field, Saulsberry was playing very well before his injury so I would think he's pretty safe. Sutton is a lock.

O: North and, at least to begin the season, Lane. That's it IMO.

 

[jason3713]

Skill positions are your best shot at playing early. It takes a freak to come in on this level and compete in the trenches. Most lineman coming out of high school just aren't strong enough to compete right away.

Allot of skill position players start out the same size as they finish at. A few years in the weight room help these guys as well but your not put in that many spots where you get physically dominated. A reciver gets stronger and helps him block and fight off the line quicker but they usually don't get much faster than where they start.

We are counting on our Jucos to come in and help more on both lines than we ever will freshman. Also the linebacker corp. Not many freshman can come in and compete from day one. AJ and Maggit are the only two true freshman LBs to start their first game at UT. You saw how far our program had to fall before it could happen.

 

[tomq_123]

I honestly don't care as much about who starts, just that we have quality depth at every position that can get us through the tough middle and end of the season. Injuries and quality depth are what killed us this year through and after the UGA, USCe, Bama games.

 

[1 in 102 455]

why? is it because they are older? If butch is as good as we say then the most talented should start

I think he means that the older players will have been coached under Butch for a year longer, and since he's a good coach, that'll make the difference. You're right though, I have no doubt Butch will play the most talented regardless of year.

 

[General Jack]

There's always an infatuation with the new class, but typically those guys aren't ready to compete physically.

That being said, next season could be different from the norm because 1) our lack of depth, 2) the number of early enrollees we have getting a head start.

I would expect to see Malone, Kelly Jr., Weatherd, Blair, Medley and Lambert playing from the beginning, and not be surprised if we saw Hurd and a couple of the other LBs, maybe Mouhan and possibly Bates early on.

 

[velovol]

some of you guys are nuts if you start 10 even 12 plus freshman, this past season will feel like 98.
A few fresh should start a bunch should contribute.

 

[crunchimusmaximus]

Only North, Tiny and Sutton are safe assuming Tiny returns. The rest will be at least pushed. And lol at Croom being date...guy is mediocre so far at best.....Malone and our top Juco wr will be starting over him if they are halfway as talented as advertised. Also would like to see Devrin and Pig over Croom. Croom has just been a huge let down.

And i really like Marlin Lane, but if Hurd is more talented then he should start.....plenty of freshman rbs have taken off their first year in the SEC....UGA has had numerous over the years...

 

[General Jack]

Tiny ain't coming back...

 

[sjt18]

Only North, Tiny and Sutton are safe assuming Tiny returns. The rest will be at least pushed. And lol at Croom being date...guy is mediocre so far at best.....Malone and our top Juco wr will be starting over him if they are halfway as talented as advertised. Also would like to see Devrin and Pig over Croom. Croom has just been a huge let down.

And i really like Marlin Lane, but if Hurd is more talented then he should start.....plenty of freshman rbs have taken off their first year in the SEC....UGA has had numerous over the years...

ALL of UT's current receivers including North have dropped passes, failed to make plays on catchable balls, or otherwise screwed up. They ALL need to improve... but they've got a year or two head start on guys who very likely will need to improve themselves.

If the Fr come in and start based on "talent" alone then the coaches aren't doing a very good job of development. Smith, Croom, North, Bowles, Harris, etc HAVE physical ability. What they lack is skill... and that is why you pay a position coach over $100-200K to teach them.


FWIW, Croom is probably the best blocker they have at the WR position outside of Carter who is physically limited. That's a pretty important check in his column.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

I don't really see a freshman beating out Pig, at least for the first 2/3 of the season.

I respectfully disagree. I am not bashing Pig; I wish him all the best and hope he will explode with productivity ... but so far, I am not seeing it. Let the best man win.

Edit: OK, technically, you could be correct, in that, it might not be a "freshman." It could be a JUCO, or could be a red-shirt freshman. Again, let the best man win.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

some of you guys are nuts if you start 10 even 12 plus freshman, this past season will feel like 98.
A few fresh should start a bunch should contribute.

Right, that is certainly not PROBABLE to happen.

But if the newcomers really show out as athletes who exemplify our recruiting over more experienced guys that we retain ... by gosh, play the guys who will give us the best chance to win.

 

[IMALLVOL22]

I hope and pray we get a good blocking tight end and a bruising full_back to help r running game. I wish we would go Power-I. roll out with our QB throw too tight end dragging with QB. And safety Voul right their with the QB when we throw the ball the QB has more options when rolling out if its not there he can throw the ball away. And live for the next play beside interception or getting sacked. We dont have a good QB so u have to make it simple for him.

 

[sjt18]

I hope and pray we get a good blocking tight end and a bruising full_back to help r running game.

Not sure what happened with Downs as a receiver but he did a decent job blocking.

I wish we would go Power-I. roll out with our QB throw too tight end dragging with QB. And safety Voul right their with the QB when we throw the ball the QB has more options when rolling out if its not there he can throw the ball away. And live for the next play beside interception or getting sacked. We dont have a good QB so u have to make it simple for him.

If Kiffin had stayed, you would have seen this all the time... probably Clawson too. You are wishing for the wrong thing with the current staff though. The earliest you will see this is the first game AFTER Jones leaves.

Good, bad, or indifferent... what you are wishing for just ain't Jones' style.

 

[sjt18]

Right, that is certainly not PROBABLE to happen.

But if the newcomers really show out as athletes who exemplify our recruiting over more experienced guys that we retain ... by gosh, play the guys who will give us the best chance to win.

If you have 10-12 freshmen in your two deep... you have very little chance to win in the SEC.

 

[General Jack]

I hope and pray we get a good blocking tight end and a bruising full_back to help r running game. I wish we would go Power-I. roll out with our QB throw too tight end dragging with QB. And safety Voul right their with the QB when we throw the ball the QB has more options when rolling out if its not there he can throw the ball away. And live for the next play beside interception or getting sacked. We dont have a good QB so u have to make it simple for him.

i.e. the Crompton approach?

 

[sjt18]

i.e. the Crompton approach?

Sort of but Kiffin used that at USC with better QB's too. It is a staple for him.

I like the idea. It stresses D's in a similar way to a good zone read/spread O... but you don't have to have a great runner at QB.

I just don't think it is part of Jones' scheme.

 

[General Jack]

Sort of but Kiffin used that at USC with better QB's too. It is a staple for him.

I like the idea. It stresses D's in a similar way to a good zone read/spread O... but you don't have to have a great runner at QB.

I just don't think it is part of Jones' scheme.

I like that our QB options sans Worley are mobile. Its the way that the game is evolving, additional stress on the defense.

 

[sjt18]

I like that our QB options sans Worley are mobile. Its the way that the game is evolving, additional stress on the defense.

We will see but I am still of the opinion that Worley did not run because they did not want him to get hurt running. The goal was to RS the Fr. They even played Worley injured in an effort to avoid burning those RS's.

According to his recruiting profile, he's not slow. When he ran this year he was sufficiently mobile enough to make the plays work.

I think with all the RS's now burned... he will be more of a runner if he hangs on to the job.

 

[sjt18]

None of the 4 QB's are slow like Bray, Ainge, or Manning. None of them are Heath Shuler or Tee Martin either though.

 

[Biopsyman]

OL and DL is the most difficult straight out of HS

 

[orangebloodgmc]

If you have 10-12 freshmen in your two deep... you have very little chance to win in the SEC.

Of course; I am not advocating for that to happen nor discounting the drawbacks of it. But if the incoming class has multiple guys of the likes of North or Sutton, I expect that we will see them on the field. I imagine we are probably on the same page about that.

 

[KBVol]

some of you guys are nuts if you start 10 even 12 plus freshman, this past season will feel like 98.
A few fresh should start a bunch should contribute.

Won't start any true freshmen on the OL or DTs

Offensive freshmen starters IMO- Malone and Helm, maybe Hurd. Maybe RS Frosh Ferguson

Defense- Kelly or McDowell at safety opposite Randolph. Payne or Gaulden at nickel. If we sign Adoree, he's the CB opposite Cam. Maybe a Bates or Bryant at LB or Hendrix at DE.

Freshman Medley will be our place kicker. I know... duh. But he is a freshman.

Won't see a lot of freshmen starters but freshmen will be all over the field next year and contributing heavily all year long, IMHO.

 

[Rocky Top T]

Vic Wharton is better than Pig, Pig is not as good as some think! Lane is a good back, Hurd will be great!