We are pretty solid in a lot of areas and rarely are we just a train wreck. We play pretty tough and physical. Often make the team work for it. Outside of Kentucky we have never truly just quit. I think that has been what is so weird about judging Pruitt and this team. When you look at the roster from top to bottom it is clear we are better than Dooley or Butch. Both coaches teams often looked like a train wreck IMO. Lines of scrimmage we are much better than what Dooley and Butch did. And IMO we play with much more substance. We really have never had a ton of penalties and have given up much fewer big plays.
So how can the roster be better and a play by play basis we seem solid?
But the case could be made current product is somehow worse than the 2 worst coaches in UT history. I think the difference is impact players. We currently have almost none.
Dooley:
Justin Hunter
CP
Darick Rodgers
AJ Johnson
Curt Maggitt
Tyler Bray- guy wasn't a winner but he was really dynamic
Pig Howard was okay as a playmaker
Butch:
Barnett
Hurd
Dobbs
Kamara
Jauan
Malone
JRM
Cam Sutton
Gaulden was a stud at the nickel
Evan Berry IMO the best returner in UT history. Was almost a guaranteed 30 plus yard return.
Darrell Taylor obviously didn't do much with Butch but turned into impact guy
Warrior- see above
John Kelly- didn't see him much due to getting kicked off team but that kid was a player
Callaway- as good of a jump ball catcher as we have had. Criminally underutilized here by both staffs. Consistently went up and got the football.
Butch had terrible OLs. Outside of Barnett the DL was just meh. Shy getting hurt and Kahlil not being good was tough but overall Butch's LOS were bad.
Where are Pruitt's impact players? We are good on the OL. We are good defending the run defensively. Defensively (outside of some obvious busts that have happened this year) we typically don't just get torched down the field in 4 or 5 play drives like we saw often with Dooley.
By my count objectively Pruitt has 2 impact guys:
Henry T- who seems like less of one this year
Eric Gray- really good back probably being asked to run a system that doesn't fit him.
Who else is an impact player?
That's it. Offensively we lined up Princeton Fant in the slot half the game against Florida. Palmer isn't a #1 guy. Defensively we have no one that goes and makes a play. Bryce Thompson is a good player but I am not sure he is an impact guy. Hyatt could be.
This is (along with QB) is why we can't score. We don't have studs on the field. This is why we can't get stops because we have no one who can get to the QB or get an INT.
Thought this was interesting when the roster itself is much better than what those other 2 had.
Also shocking that we continually see Brandon Johnson, Cedric Tillman and Princeton Fant get a lot of snaps offensively.
So how can the roster be better and a play by play basis we seem solid?
But the case could be made current product is somehow worse than the 2 worst coaches in UT history. I think the difference is impact players. We currently have almost none.
Dooley:
Justin Hunter
CP
Darick Rodgers
AJ Johnson
Curt Maggitt
Tyler Bray- guy wasn't a winner but he was really dynamic
Pig Howard was okay as a playmaker
Butch:
Barnett
Hurd
Dobbs
Kamara
Jauan
Malone
JRM
Cam Sutton
Gaulden was a stud at the nickel
Evan Berry IMO the best returner in UT history. Was almost a guaranteed 30 plus yard return.
Darrell Taylor obviously didn't do much with Butch but turned into impact guy
Warrior- see above
John Kelly- didn't see him much due to getting kicked off team but that kid was a player
Callaway- as good of a jump ball catcher as we have had. Criminally underutilized here by both staffs. Consistently went up and got the football.
Butch had terrible OLs. Outside of Barnett the DL was just meh. Shy getting hurt and Kahlil not being good was tough but overall Butch's LOS were bad.
Where are Pruitt's impact players? We are good on the OL. We are good defending the run defensively. Defensively (outside of some obvious busts that have happened this year) we typically don't just get torched down the field in 4 or 5 play drives like we saw often with Dooley.
By my count objectively Pruitt has 2 impact guys:
Henry T- who seems like less of one this year
Eric Gray- really good back probably being asked to run a system that doesn't fit him.
Who else is an impact player?
That's it. Offensively we lined up Princeton Fant in the slot half the game against Florida. Palmer isn't a #1 guy. Defensively we have no one that goes and makes a play. Bryce Thompson is a good player but I am not sure he is an impact guy. Hyatt could be.
This is (along with QB) is why we can't score. We don't have studs on the field. This is why we can't get stops because we have no one who can get to the QB or get an INT.
Thought this was interesting when the roster itself is much better than what those other 2 had.
Also shocking that we continually see Brandon Johnson, Cedric Tillman and Princeton Fant get a lot of snaps offensively.
