I figure Marquez North would be in the discussion if we could ever have a competent quarterback throwing him the ball.
Just from performance, I'm going with AJ. I thought AJ finally looked like he had his role on defense figured out and seemed a step quicker.
My favorite Vol is Pat Allen because VN said the players read these sites and it has a huge impact on them when we're negative. I think this may help seal the deal. OK, Hurd is my actual choice. He did pretty damn good considering the group blocking for him.
As others have said, Barnett without a doubt. That's my favorite play. Barnett with the drag and toss then O'Brien (another mean and nasty lookin dude himself) with the "and stay the **** down, b!tch". I love it. All the way to the ref probably looking back at him saying "this isn't soccer, flopper. Stop being a p*ssy". I love how mean our Defense is now. Barnett is leading the charge. And here's some gratuitous Sutton bringing the pain:
Barnett's the kind of guy who, if he played at Bama or Florida, he'd be the player I hate most in college football. I'm glad he's on our side. N
Wow! Tough to name just one when there are a couple (that have been mentioned above) right there. O'Brien, blue collar lunchbox kind-of-guy, is another. However, I too choose Barnett for the reasons both Tenny and JG mentioned and I'll add love his high-energy, non-stop motor. Leads by example, not a show-boat just gets it done. Solid. Future Captain. All-American. All-Pro. imo.
I posted earlier but it disappeared. Jalen Hurd is my guy for this question. I watched him at Beech and he was unstoppable in high school. The only thing stopping him now is the line he has to run behind. Nick Chubb would be Nick Scrubb if he depended on what Tennessee puts out there to block for him.
Definitely Barnett. I don't see how any player on the team can sit out with an injury while Gilliam is playing. You'd have to kill the guy to keep him off the field, and I'm not sure that would even do it.
Toss up between Barnett and Dobbs. We would not have gotten to a bowl had Dobbs not been but in to replace Worley. He played really well for being thrown to the wolves starting out with Bama. Barnett is just a player who won't quit and gets in the mix of things. I like it.
I agree for the very reasons you mentioned. Defense is all about getting as many guys to the football as possible and having them arrive in a bad mood. Barnette seemes to be perpetually pissed off. I like that. Offensively it was Hurd because he's as close to a mean as shit defensive player we had on offense.
1. Jalen Hurd - I miss smash-mouthed football and his physical nature almost forces our offense to look physical. This SOB gets stopped at the line of scrimmage and still gets 3yds before hitting the ground. I think the rest of the team feeds off that! 2. Derek Barnett - Not sure the last time when we put a FR in and he played game ready all year. And, he runs plays down...not a spectator. 3. Cam - He has pretty much become a lockdown guy and I love guys you can count on. Do NOT float one his way.
