re: Your team's weakest position group?

For Alabama just the overall crispness off the offense. Losing the OC, QB, #1 RB and #1 WR plus a chunk of the OL means I think we will see some clunkiness on offense, especially early. We have a solid OL nucleus returning, a lot of talented backs, a talented young QB and some really young WRs and a NFL tight end, but it'll take a bit to get it all on the same page.

I'll be honest, I don't have many defensive concerns. We'll give up some points in some games because that's 2021 football, but we've got experienced talent at all 3 levels combined with experienced depth and young extremely talented kids who will be fighting to get on special teams.

- Ray, Eboigbe, Young, Mathis and Dale have all played tons of football and are solid. Tim Smith is ready to break out. Payne will be the #3 or #4 DT.

- The linebacker group went from as weak as I can remember in 2019 to as deep as I can remember in 2021. Will Anderson is a Top 10 pick and Chris Allen in an all-conference level player OLB. Harris/To'o To'o/Moody are all experienced high level guys at ILB. Then you have all the young kids who are super talented and ready to push for PT - Kennedy, Lawson, Braswell, Turner, Sanders. That list doesn't even include about 3-4 Top 100 level freshmen and redshirt freshmen (Blackshire, Koht, etc).

- Jobe is a very good and experienced CB. Moore and Branch were great as freshman at STAR. Battle and Hellams were great at the end of the year. Daniel Wright has played tons of football. The other corner spot will be somebody with limited experience (Armour-Davis or Kool-Aid).


Just not a lot of spots on defense where we don't have experience that has produced. We have proven pass rushers (Anderson, Allen), proven interior disruptors (Mathis), proven thumpers (Harris, To'o To'o), etc.

Hopefully Golding gets them all going in the right direction.

Probably not knowing how the offense will do. When you lose Trask, Pitts, and Toney, that’s a lot of offense. Emory Jones has high expectations but few snaps.

OR

Grantham

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DL? Really? I knew yall had that transfer at linebacker who is a stud. Who are the studs on y'alls DLine?

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We return the entire starting unit from last with Ali Gaye and Andre Anthony at DE returning Neil Ferrel and Glen Logan returning at DT as 4th year+ guys. We have BJ Ojulari also at DE as a SO now as well as some really talented freshman and SO’s that don’t have playing time but are legit first off the bus guys.

At DT Jaqueline Roy and Jacobean Guillory had flashes of dominance last year with Roy looking like the best D Lineman on the team in the second half of last year and he was a true freshman. Also in the unproven category we have Joseph Evans a SO that the coaches cannot stop talking about and is a projected starter and Masson Smith, a true freshman 5* that apparently came in and immediately made it know he was so much more substance than hype as he’s already pushing for playing time too.

The staff feels that we legit have 10 guys that play at high end SEC level right now, and that’s not including the untested SO’s and Freshman (excluding Evans and Smith)

Eta
I really appreciate you posting actual football discussion topics and not trolling. It’s fun to hear where everyone thinks they will be good and where they will struggle.

I think you’re dead on. Although I think Alabama fans are going to be disappointed with results. This is not 2009 with the rules.

Good over/under is probably 6.5.

The S&P thread recently had us between 5-9 wins and I think that range is right but extremely wide.

Son of a…

I forgot about Maason Smith lol how could I? Lol

Will Logan and Neil start at DT or is Roy ahead of them now? And has Smith cracked the top 2 in the rotation yet?

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Who are skill guys Florida will look to replace them? How’s that transfer RB looking?

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Copeland, Henderson and Whittemore will get to show what they’ve got. The tailbacks look good also,

Bowman looks probable.

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Not trying to be an arse but any hope for Tennessee this year?

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Depends on expectations. Do they have enough talent to win 7 games on paper? Yes.

Hooker, Bailey, and Milton need to get separation at QB. Bailey looks and acts the part but is a true SO with 5 to play 4 thanks to Covid and he really needs to be on the roster. Milton is getting the most attention but got a late start. Hooker seems like an insurance policy at this point. But a muddied QB situation likely sees Bailey transferring out as Heupel has a QB in this class for the future. A muddied QB situation is almost a worst case for the Vols this year given they have had multiple years in a row of Gitmo being named a starter, benched, and being named as the starter again.

Oline, RB, WR are going to be fine. Zero worries there.

DLine is a concern but it helps to have Rodney Garner back as their coach. The smallest guy on the line is a USC transfer at a questionable 285 that’s closer to 270ish. The rest are 300-350 with mixed experience levels. They should be good enough to get to seven lines. The couple of transfers in should help immediately

LB saw a couple of transfers that are expected to contribute on day 1. The 1st is up from GMC the other is a Texas via JUCO guy. The 2 best LBs transferred out so the roster is more unknown than a known. Brian Jean-Mary is a proven veteran with success coaching up guys.

DBs the returning starters are solid but depth is a question. Willie “the thud” Martinez is back coaching them and as a position coach he has done a decent job at his stops.


If the QB situation clears up quickly then this years team should be at least fun to watch. Something they haven’t been in the last 10 years for the most part. Even when Butch had them going with those loaded rosters the specter of Butch being dirty was palatable. Pruitt was just hard to watch at times and Dooley should have been a 1 year guy at best.

O-line. Talent is there, just incredibly young.

Interesting…

Sounds like vol fans feel fairly good about offense. Does Wanya transferring really hurt you guys. I always read that he wasn’t that good at Tennessee anyways. Who are the playmakers y’all have on O?