re: 4* OT Drew Richmond commits to Ole Miss

UT's 2014 class is one thing.

Putting a quality product on the field in the 2014 season is another.

Gonna be another long season on Rocky Top. This, and spanking y'all's arse in October, should push young Mr. Richmond to God's Country.

Drew and Laremy have become very tight and last weekend pulled OM back even... Possibly put us in the lead... He would be starting at OT along with Christian Morris his soph season in Oxford... I guess he would probably start on Rocky Top before the end of his frosh year... That guaranteed PT is a lot for OM to beat out.

Hahahahah so you actually think your decimated tennessee team has a chance against us? Hahahahahahhahahahahahhahaahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahshshshshsshhshshshshshshshhs

My bad Reggie. I was just astonished at his confidence

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Thank you for making my point for me, I couldn't care less how many of last years lineman are playing in the NFL. Zero of them are playing for Tennessee... sounds like you lost 9 starting Lineman. So unless you had the best backups in the country, your line will need to outperform expectations to be successful this year. I don't care how talented your skill players are, games are won or lost in the trenches

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Since you don't have the first clue about our roster, as expected, I'll go ahead and try to clarify some things for you.

First, let's address how bad last years Defensive line was.

-101st in the country in sacks.
-98th in the country in TFL.
-Zero pressure on QBs outside of the USC & UK games.
-An extremely slow and overweight line built for a 3-4 defense under Dooley that couldn't contain the edge.

Now, let's talk about this years group.

-The DL returns it's best player & pass rusher after missing all of last season with a torn ACL in SDE Curt Maggitt. WDE Sophmore Corey Vereen, while playing in extremely limited action last year, has garnered a ton of praise from the staff at the WDE spot. Adding true pass rushers on both ends of the line that we haven't seen the past 5 years. The DE position will see marked improvement this year. So, to answer your question, yes, these "back ups" should be more then capable of outperforming last years abysmal performance.

- At DT, we trade size and gap eaters recruited by Dooley who couldn't apply pressure to the QB for smaller, faster, and more athletic DTs that suit this system. Granted, this part of the line is the biggest question mark, I highly, highly, doubt there will be a drop off if any from last years group.

Every starter outside of (SO) Corey Vereen is an upper classmen with 2+ years in a D1 S&C Program. Contrary to popular belief, this line isn't going to be green on PT. It should be the exact opposite, with a completely different style of play then last years.

Both the coaches and players expect to see a marked improvement from last years line.

-On the OL, as already stated, we lost all of last years group to the NFL. A group that excelled in pass pro but was below average in run blocking. In a system that is 60/40 run - throw, that really hurt us last year. Despite UT having a 1000 yard rusher. Do I think that this line will be better than last years group? No, I don't. I do think that they'll be better at road grading and opening up holes with a drop off on pass pro. Again, this is echoing the coaches, media, and analysts statements, not purely mine.

This years starting 5 sounds like it's going to be the following:

LT - Gilliam (RS SR) or Blair (JR)
LG- Marcus Jackson (RS JR)
C- Mack Crowder (RS JR)
RG- Jashon Robertson (FR)
RT- Kyler Kerybson (RS JR)

Playable depth outside of those 5 is limited to 2-3 players, which is less then ideal, but not dire.
4 of the 5 have garnered plenty of PT, but add few starts. Freshman Jashon Robertson is considered to be the biggest off season surprise this year. Not to mention coming in with SEC Size and strength levels that match what many OL are putting up at the NFL combine. He's not an ideal fit, but he's far from a bad option, given that he's already beat out a few guys who thought they were locks to start the season.

That being said, I don't think that this years OL will be as good as last years, but I sure as hell think, along with the coaches, that it will be better then what the media is giving it credit for. Take in to account that the scheme will be built around helping a young OL with more quick slants, double TE sets, bubble screens, etc.

The OL is going to struggle at times, but it's not doom and gloom like the media want to make it out to be.

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games are won or lost in the trenches

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Thanks for the passed on knowledge. Being an SEC Charter member, we had no idea. I'll make sure this gets passed along to the coaches.

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My bad Reggie. I was just astonished at his confidence

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Confidence? No. Ole Miss will most likely beat UT but to say we have no chance is ridiculous imo.

That's literally the best Vol football team breakdown (sans skill players and DB/LBs) I've read this fall... Little bit of homerism sprinkled in but you addressed just how bad Dooley's recruiting was and the quality depth holes it left Butch and company.

Thanks.





Has the injury bug bitten yall on the DL/OL in fall camp ?

I'm so sick and tired of hearing the same recycled bull shite about the lines that I had to write a TL:DR wall of text.

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Has the injury bug bitten yall on the DL/OL in fall camp ?

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I'm not going to answer that, for fear of a jinx. Hopefully that answers your question

It's about time

Trust me, I think we're all still asking ourselves how that happened.