Bigger Concern: Offensive Line or Defensive Speed?

Discussion in 'Vols Football' started by tvolsfan, Sep 18, 2011.

  1. tvolsfan

    tvolsfan Chieftain

    Which concerns you more for this team both for the remainder of this year and looking ahead to next year?
     
  2. Offensive Line. Their failures with runblocking all year are apparent, but even with their "strength", passblocking, Stone and Bullard got mauled regularly, mainly in the 4th quarter. It's hard enough for Bray to have to deal with fielding ground balls.
     
  3. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    Agree. AJ Johnson and Curt Maggitt are supposedly plenty fast, they just aren't playing that way because they are true freshmen. Not sure what the deal with the OL is.

    We were expecting some issues with the young defense. The OL was supposed to take a quantum leap forward.
     
  4. volfanbill

    volfanbill Active Member

    O-line no question. It's no surprise that our D-line was going to struggle. That said, they were typically making hits or at least contact behind or at the line of scrimmage, they just couldn't tackle. Kiffin had them tackling with no problems, I think that issue can be fixed easily. The O-line is just a disaster as I've discussed in many of the threads. So much work to be done there and I think it goes beyond "getting more experience." It involves continuing to make the O-line a focus in recruiting. And that's a shame because we have so many other glaring issues that we need to use recruiting on. As KPT pointed out, the OL was supposed to be improved by leaps and bounds. 3 games in and I still haven't seen it.
     
  5. tidwell

    tidwell Chieftain

    Offensive line. Yes, that's an echo.
     
  6. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    Save a missed tackle or two, Maggitt is playing way ahead of the curve. He has a really bright future.
     
  7. bigpapavol

    bigpapavol Chieftain

    AJ doesn't look plenty fast to me. He's a little faster than Johnson, but it isn't by much. He better be quick as hell once he's accustomed, or we'll never make plays off tackle.
     
  8. FlowingAway.

    FlowingAway. Banned

    Fo Sho.

    And wasn't AJ Johnson the one who stripped the ball yesterday?

    Back to the question, definitely the O line. Very disappointing. I might not watch the LSU game.
     
  9. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    No, I believe it was Maggitt.
     
  10. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    Can't argue, but I thought practice reports did praise his speed. He might be moving to the middle once Austin leaves, which may suit him better.
     
  11. bigpapavol

    bigpapavol Chieftain

    That was AJ. Was a sweet play. No doubt he's strong as all hell and if he can get to you, you're coming down.
     
  12. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    I think Jacquez Smith is probably faster than both of them, at least at game speed.
     
  13. bigpapavol

    bigpapavol Chieftain

    and that's the problem. He's not OLB fast, but can be MLB fast because he's strong enough to hammer you or arm tackle you.
     
  14. bigpapavol

    bigpapavol Chieftain

    I don't think there is any doubt about it.
     
  15. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    You guys are right. My bad.
     
  16. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    Maybe once Lathers comes back things will get better. Let's hope. Or maybe next year Greg King can get it done.
     
  17. VOLinDAWGland

    VOLinDAWGland Contributor

    Really missed Herman Lathers speed in this game. Could have made a difference. Most definitely would have been in position to stop the long Rainey TD catch/run.
     
  18. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    It is frustrating because you can see the talent gap closing, but we're just not quite there yet. The jailbreak screen they scored on yesterday was so close to being a big sack for us. We miss the sack, a linebacker is out of position, and zip... he was off...
     
  19. FlowingAway.

    FlowingAway. Banned

    Oline just doesn't seem mean and nasty enough to me. I don't know maybe i'm way off. Just seems that way to me.
     
  20. bigpapavol

    bigpapavol Chieftain

    Somebody has to. Santos ain't that answer. He's all MLB. Maybe one of those guys can get us somewhere and Peters, Henderson or incoming King (I think) has enough wheels. This staff's infatuation with size over speed concerns me a bit against outfits with scat types.
     

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