Worth reading 8.14.19: driving with your eyes closed

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it this, from 247Sports:

Interesting take from Pruitt on the different perceptions of the offensive and defensive lines.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  1. Vols DB Buchanan’s status uncertain due to spinal condition, via ESPN
  2. Everything Jeremy Pruitt said after Tuesday’s practice, via 247Sports
  3. Vol Report: Position Battles Continue in Fall Camp – University of Tennessee Athletics, via UTSports

Behind the paywalls

  • Stock Up: Five Vols making a move so far this preseason, via 247Sports

Worth reading 8.12.19: Kickoff is coming

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it this, from the Times Free Press:

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  1. Marcus Tatum welcoming added depth, competition on Vols’ O-line, via 247Sports
  2. Friday Five: Quarterbacks who were even better than their numbers made them appear in 2018, via CBS Sports
  3. Dominick Wood-Anderson likely to have bigger role for Vols this year, via the Times Free Press
  4. Tee Martin: ‘Faster’ Callaway could be one of SEC’s best, via 247Sports
  5. Jauan Jennings hails Tennessee coaching staff as ‘winners’, via 247Sports
  6. College football turns 150: The 25 most iconic moments in the sport’s long history, via CBS Sports
  7. Ranking college football’s greatest stadiums, via Sports Illustrated
  8. Ranking college football’s greatest fight songs, via Sports Illustrated

Behind the paywalls

  • Takeaways from Tennessee’s first preseason scrimmage, via 247Sports

Year Two is for Freshmen

In the 90’s, Tennessee had five Freshman All-Americans: Aaron Hayden and Raymond Austin in 1991, Jamal Lewis in 1997, and Albert Haynesworth and Leonard Scott in 1999. All five made the first team. (Research via Tennessee’s 2019 media guide)

In the next decade, that number jumped to 18, including seven first-teamers: Michael Munoz in 2000, Kelley Washington in 2001, James Wilhoit in 2003, Roshaun Fellows in 2004, Josh McNeil in 2006, Eric Berry in 2007, and Aaron Douglas in 2009.

With one year to go, the Vols have placed 14 players on Freshman All-American teams in this decade, including nine first-teamers: James Stone in 2010, A.J. Johnson and Marcus Jackson in 2011, Jashon Robertson and Derek Barnett in 2014, Chance Hall in 2015, Trey Smith in 2017, and Bryce Thompson and Joe Doyle last season.

Freshmen are playing faster everywhere these days. But at Tennessee, on its fourth new coach since 2008, the new guys get more opportunities…especially in a coach’s second year.

Using the starting lineups from the media guide, here’s every true freshman starter I found in the post-Fulmer era:

2018J. CarvinA. TaylorB. Thompson
2017T. SmithJ. Palmer
2016
2015J. JenningsC. HallD. Kirkland
2014J. HurdJ. MaloneE. WolfJ. RobertsonC. ThomasD. Barnett
2013M. NorthJ. SmithC. Sutton
2012L. McNeil
2011M. JacksonAJ JohnsonC. MaggittB. Randolph
2010T. BrayJ. Stone
2009A. DouglasJ. Jackson

Freshmen carry the heaviest weight not in year one, but year two: a coach’s first full recruiting class, a chance to get your guys in the mix. In 2011 all four of those starters earned Freshman All-American honors. In 2014 Butch Jones went all-in with six true freshmen starters, plus Todd Kelly Jr. who made the SEC All-Freshman team off the bench. In both cases, those guys would become significant pieces in what we hoped would be arrival seasons in 2012 and 2015-16; you’ll note the absence of true freshmen starters in 2012 (LaDarrell McNeil started after Brian Randolph tore his ACL against Florida) and in 2016 (Nigel Warrior made the SEC All-Freshman team off the bench).

We’ve been penciling in Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright as starters at offensive tackle this fall; Marcus Tatum might have something to say about some of that, but the Vols did start two freshmen on the line in 2014. Coleman Thomas was baptized by fire at Oklahoma, but the Vols still put together a potent offense as the year went along.

From there the sense for the 2019 Vols was that they didn’t have to have freshmen lead right away elsewhere, but if options emerged so be it. Early in fall camp, two of the most frequent names aren’t really that surprising: Eric Gray in the backfield, and Henry To’o To’o at linebacker. I’m not sure Gray will unseat Ty Chandler; the Vols are going to give plenty of opportunity to multiple backs anyway. But To’o To’o is Tennessee’s highest-rated signee behind the offensive tackles, and there is more opportunity to be a “starter” at linebacker than running back.

The mythical year two is usually thought of as one for big leaps. At Tennessee under Derek Dooley and Butch Jones, it was a chance to play a bunch of freshman and generate initial excitement. Dooley’s year two was derailed by injuries to Justin Hunter and Tyler Bray, but only after that excitement broke through against Cincinnati. Butch’s year two built on a close loss at Georgia before the Vols gave away the Florida game; sophomore Josh Dobbs won momentum back by season’s end.

For Jeremy Pruitt, no one is talking about this year two being a leap to championship contention. But if he can showcase his freshmen alongside the returning talent, that sense of excitement can show up on fall Saturdays. And considering the depths from which we’re climbing, there might be enough excitement for not just the future but the present.

Two Weeks Into Camp, Do Early CB Returns Change Calculus for 2020 DB Recruiting?

With a roster that has been drastically improved since Coach Jeremy Pruitt took over but still has a ways to go in order for Tennessee to be a true SEC contender, there realistically isn’t one position that can reasonably be considered in strong shape top to bottom.  There are certainly more blue chip players on the roster than there have been in a long time, and there is also hope that Pruitt and his very well-regarded staff can get step-up performances from a number of former 3-star recruits who were signed by the former regime.  But no matter how you cut it, there are needs at every position.  However, there are a finite number of scholarships in a given cycle, and staffs inevitably have to make concessions from one position to another as they put each class together. 

That said, projected numbers at each position in a class can fluctuate depending on a number of factors, most importantly of course the number and talent of the current and future players on the roster.  Specifically at Cornerback for Tennessee, three developments in camp so far have the potential to influence what Tennessee seeks to do at the position in the class of 2020:

  • After two weeks of camp and one major scrimmage, one name has been prominently and consistently mentioned among the breakout players – freshman and veterans alike – so far this fall: CB Warren Burrell.  Burrell was an even-at-the-time obviously underrated (by recruiting sites) prospects who chose the Vols over Florida, among others, and was an early enrollee who showed playmaking ability in the spring.  At over 6’0 and with long arms and a nose for the ball to go with the kind of attitude needed to be successful at the position, Burrell has taken his strong spring performance and run with it.  After receiving rare praise from Pruitt, Burrell by all accounts played most of Sunday night’s scrimmage with the starters at CB opposite Bryce Thompson and is at worst going to be the third CB in the rotation when the Vols start the season in less than three weeks, meaning the three top CBs will all be either sophomores or freshman.  Both of the other class of 2019 prospects signed to be CBs – Tyus Fields and Kenny Solomon – have also had their moments early in camp, showing the tenacity and speed/length they are known for, respectively
  • Tennessee’s only projected contributor in the secondary who is a Senior, Baylen Buchanan, has been injured since the spring and has not yet practiced.  At this point, though details of his injury are very scarce, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to take a medical redshirt year in 2019 and come back for the 2020 season.  If that happens, it would give the Vols another experienced CB in 2020 that they didn’t anticipate having
  • Jerrod Means, a late take in the class of 2019 as a WR, was moved to CB before the start of camp and has already shown flashes of real potential.  At 6’2 and around 215 pounds, Means has the length that is almost a prerequisite for a Jeremy Pruitt CB prospect.  He’s also a kid who ran a 4.4 40 and produced a 39-inch vertical at a Tennessee camp last summer, so his athletic ability is borderline elite for that size.  Everyone knows that Pruitt loves DBs who played both on both sides of the ball as that likely means they have ball skills that translate well to the secondary, and Means also played Safety in high school.  While it remains to be seen whether he sticks at CB and then becomes a good one, he’s got everything you’re looking for at the position and his move means the Vols added 4 true CBs in the class of 2019

Tennessee already has two CB commitments in the 2020 class in early enrollee Art Green – the nation’s #2 overall JUCO player – and Lovie Jenkins.  Jenkins is almost a carbon copy of Burrell in terms of size and length and chose the Vols over a heavy pursuit from Notre Dame as well as offers from Miami, Missouri, and many others.  Do the Vols need another CB in this class?  Maybe not, though it’s unlikely they’d turn down any of their top targets still on the board – namely Joel Williams (announcing in September,  leaning towards Bama) and Kendal Dennis (Vols in Top 2 with Auburn, UF and Miami trying hard, could announce in August) –  if they wanted in now.  But as things change during the season and the December signing day approaches, the Tennessee staff could certainly decide that the 3rd CB spot is needed more elsewhere, and given the developments above that wouldn’t be surprising in the least.  It’s a good problem for them to have to work through and a sign of the ever-improving roster as well as Pruitt and his staff’s evaluation acumen.

Injury Prevents the Defense of Your Dreams, Again

Wherever you might’ve placed Emmit Gooden on your “least afford to lose” list, his presence there at all speaks to the problem of his out-for-the-season absence. Two things we’ve been saying all off-season:

  • Defensive line is a bigger question mark than offensive line, because at least some of those guys on the OL played meaningful snaps and you’re bringing in five-star freshmen.
  • Other than those offensive tackles, there’s nowhere any newcomers have to step in and lead right away.

Well, now the first part is even more true, and the second part is probably a lie.

Darnell Wright and Wanya Morris are Tennessee’s two highest-rated signees. You have to go further down the list to get to Savion Williams, Darel Middleton, and Elijah Simmons. If you’re looking for good news, that’s two JUCOs and an 18-year old that looks like this:

(Like me and my almost-two-year-old son, that dude’s head circumference is in the 100th percentile. “He’s so good he doesn’t need a neck!” – Idiot Optimist by next week, probably.)

So, potential remains on the defensive line for Tennessee. Now you just need it to show up immediately.

The only good thing about early fall camp injuries is the amount of time you have to get over them before facing live fire. More newcomers (hopefully including Aubrey Solomon) will get more reps, along with important returning pieces like Matthew Butler, and we’ll re-calibrate as best we’re able.

But it’s okay to say, 3+ weeks from kickoff, that this sucks. Especially because it keeps happening to one of those defensive guys on the least afford to lose list.

Butch Jones is long gone, so we can say this without it sounding like an unnecessary defense of him: this is the fourth time in five years the Vols have lost one of their best defensive players for the year before the calendar hits October:

  • 2015: Curt Maggitt, Week 2
  • 2016: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Week 3
  • 2017: Darrin Kirkland Jr., fall camp
  • 2019: Emmit Gooden, fall camp

You can argue whatever percentage you like between bad luck and the revolving door to the strength and conditioning department, but still…man. These posts are getting old.

Gooden’s injury: bad news, but no cause for panic

“You know unfortunately last night Emmit Gooden suffered a knee injury and won’t be with us this year.”

Jeremy Pruitt, 8/7/19

Heck of an opener there from Jeremy Pruitt yesterday. I didn’t see the video, so I can’t say for sure what his demeanor was, but from a cold reading of the text, that’s some remarkable restraint addressing some remarkably bad news.

What is Pruitt thinking? I mean, with the exception of quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, Emmit Gooden was probably the guy the team could least afford to lose to injury this season. As Patrick Brown said this morning, Gooden was the most proven player on the team’s most unproven unit. I’m relatively certain that every conversation I had or heard about the Vols this offseason included an unequivocal statement that the defensive line was the team’s biggest question mark. And now, the one thing we do know is that we can’t count on one of the guys we were counting on. Sigh.

If you’re counting the lost productivity, here’s how it all adds up. Defensive linemen Kyle Phillips, Shy Tuttle, and Alexis Johnson all started all 12 games last season, and they have all graduated. Today, you can add to that ledger that of the team’s most-productive back-up in Gooden, who started a game, played in all 12 and had 33 tackles, 7 TFLs, and a sack last season. You can probably also add any productivity from Kurott Garland to the mix, as he is making doe eyes at other schools through the transfer portal.

But here’s the thing. Pruitt does not sound distraught at all, pointing out that he still has “10 guys there right now.” Here’s what he’s talking about:

Apologies appear to be in order for Dawson Stephens and Gatkek Kueth, who apparently aren’t top-of-mind for Pruitt despite making the roster as DLs. But even without the walk-ons, that’s 12 guys. Take out Gooden and one other, and those are the 10 Pruitt’s counting on. Please, please, please let him be counting Garland as gone and Solomon as here.

At this point, I think it’s wise to trust Pruitt and to mirror his lack of panic concerning the loss of Gooden. Here’s why:

  1. There is still reasonable optimism that Aubrey Solomon will be granted eligibility to play this fall for the Vols. Yeah, it’s the NCAA, and yeah, that institution is as predictable as an inebriated roulette wheel, but come on. They don’t have to tap dance on a straight line while singing show tunes backward and blowing into the breathalyzer. We just need them to stay on the stool. You can do it!
  2. Correct me if I’m wrong about this, but I would think that the learning curve is not nearly as daunting along the defensive line as it is, say, for the offensive line. You do have to line up correctly, but the linebackers are there to assist with a well-timed smack on the butt if you happen to be wrong. After that, it’s just go get the ball until the whistle blows, right?
  3. These are some big bodies. Five of these guys are over 300 pounds, and Elijah Simmons is a monstrous 340. I’m pretty sure he’s harboring an illegal immigrant in each of his thighs.

Losing Gooden is most certainly not good news. But all is not yet lost. We still have the prospect of Solomon, and we have brute bulk and strength at a position for which that’s 90% of the job.

So, I’m not panicking. I would not be surprised to find that these guys do just fine this fall. Go get ’em.