[Warning: Long--So stop reading now if a lot of words confuse and intimidate you.]
Much and more has been said about it, so I'm not going to belabor the point, but this month's (and July's) primary concern for me are the LBs. I think they're going to be a very good group of LBs, but my questions really come down to three things:
1) Toughness, Health and Athleticism
--> I'm not one for fall camp freakouts; I tend to take the long-view on things, especially when they entail any type of strategy, so take what I'm about to say with a grade of slaw:
It's high time we see some toughness and aggressiveness from our LB corps. Hit somebody son. Deliver the contact, win the engagement and do it for four quarters. Right now in preseason, do whatever it takes to get DK and Bituli healthy. Get Sapp healthy and get A. Smith up to speed like yesterday. I'm a fan of the Ginger Ninja, Colton Jumper, and think he'll be a great player for us this year and that most people sleep on him because he's white, but we absolutely need to develop our scholarship talent (yes, I know Colton earned a scholly).
Next, why are these players always nicked up and bruised? I played football my entire life, and I got injured, but I can also count on one hand the number of practices I ever had to sit out in college. Granted, that was DIII, but what type of drills, contact, or practice is happening to result so consistently in people being nicked up. If it's maintenance and precaution that are the driving forces behind these absences, ok, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
For a team that's preaching Details, Accountability and Toughness, you gotta think having upperclassmen be held out consistently hurts that. Now, they may not actually be "out" like many of us are imagining, but at some point I'd like to see a healthy Butch Jones team.
2) Getting the LBs Mentally Ready To Not Think
--> I'm not a fan of Bob Shoop. Y'all know this. Right now, it feels to me like he got overpaid by about $800k last year. Jury is still out; ton of injuries last year, and not going to go into that, but I'm tired of hearing about how complicated this and that is and how so and so hasn't completely wrapped their head around this and that.
Dumb it down, make it work and let's play. If you can't get the LBs and Safeties mentally ready, you're not doing your job. Period. This is a little of a hot take, I guess, but if Shoop and Co. trot out the "Bituli isn't mentally ready" or the "Warrior isn't mentally ready" (i know he's not an LB), I'll lose all respect for Shoop, to be honest. Because ultimately:
3) This is a Put-up or Shut-up Year for Thig and Shoop
--> There's no way around it, Thig is on the hot seat. I don't like talking about hot seats, not a fan, but the LBs have to produce this year. Thig would likely be sitting pretty if JRM and DK Jr. had stayed healthy, but the strength of a unit isn't in its strongest parts, it's in its weakest. We were only as strong last year as Ell. Berry, D. Bates, C. Jumper and C. McDowell allowed us to be, and that's fair, because that is how units are judged.
Thig has to do a better job of preparing all his LBs to step up and rise to the occasion. A little discussed fact is that our DL, while decimated last year, still wasn't completely horrible. It was bookended by D. Barnett and Corey Vereen with L. Lewis, Q. Picou, A. Johnson and P. Bain in the center during its lowest period of the year.
That should have been enough to stop Vandy from gashing us. Let's face it. If we're the Tennessee we should be, our second and third string should beat Vandy. Not gonna apologize for holding that belief. The fact that Thig couldn't get those four rising Juniors or Seniors to perform at a high level after the number of years they've been on campus is an indictment against him and the reason why his group has to perform. He knows it, and I think it'll happen, but Shoop and Thig need to step up this year, motivate and get more out of players who have now played a good amount of football for us.
Conclusion: LB should be a position of strength this year, but minor injuries and delayed returns are creating some uncertainty. Ultimately, I think a lot of it may be gamesmanship and making sure players are fresh, but in a perfect world, you'd love to see a well-oiled machine of a LB corps making hits and plays all throughout camp given how that position group finished last year. Here's to hoping it happens anyway; and I believe it will.
Much and more has been said about it, so I'm not going to belabor the point, but this month's (and July's) primary concern for me are the LBs. I think they're going to be a very good group of LBs, but my questions really come down to three things:
1) Toughness, Health and Athleticism
--> I'm not one for fall camp freakouts; I tend to take the long-view on things, especially when they entail any type of strategy, so take what I'm about to say with a grade of slaw:
It's high time we see some toughness and aggressiveness from our LB corps. Hit somebody son. Deliver the contact, win the engagement and do it for four quarters. Right now in preseason, do whatever it takes to get DK and Bituli healthy. Get Sapp healthy and get A. Smith up to speed like yesterday. I'm a fan of the Ginger Ninja, Colton Jumper, and think he'll be a great player for us this year and that most people sleep on him because he's white, but we absolutely need to develop our scholarship talent (yes, I know Colton earned a scholly).
Next, why are these players always nicked up and bruised? I played football my entire life, and I got injured, but I can also count on one hand the number of practices I ever had to sit out in college. Granted, that was DIII, but what type of drills, contact, or practice is happening to result so consistently in people being nicked up. If it's maintenance and precaution that are the driving forces behind these absences, ok, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
For a team that's preaching Details, Accountability and Toughness, you gotta think having upperclassmen be held out consistently hurts that. Now, they may not actually be "out" like many of us are imagining, but at some point I'd like to see a healthy Butch Jones team.
2) Getting the LBs Mentally Ready To Not Think
--> I'm not a fan of Bob Shoop. Y'all know this. Right now, it feels to me like he got overpaid by about $800k last year. Jury is still out; ton of injuries last year, and not going to go into that, but I'm tired of hearing about how complicated this and that is and how so and so hasn't completely wrapped their head around this and that.
Dumb it down, make it work and let's play. If you can't get the LBs and Safeties mentally ready, you're not doing your job. Period. This is a little of a hot take, I guess, but if Shoop and Co. trot out the "Bituli isn't mentally ready" or the "Warrior isn't mentally ready" (i know he's not an LB), I'll lose all respect for Shoop, to be honest. Because ultimately:
3) This is a Put-up or Shut-up Year for Thig and Shoop
--> There's no way around it, Thig is on the hot seat. I don't like talking about hot seats, not a fan, but the LBs have to produce this year. Thig would likely be sitting pretty if JRM and DK Jr. had stayed healthy, but the strength of a unit isn't in its strongest parts, it's in its weakest. We were only as strong last year as Ell. Berry, D. Bates, C. Jumper and C. McDowell allowed us to be, and that's fair, because that is how units are judged.
Thig has to do a better job of preparing all his LBs to step up and rise to the occasion. A little discussed fact is that our DL, while decimated last year, still wasn't completely horrible. It was bookended by D. Barnett and Corey Vereen with L. Lewis, Q. Picou, A. Johnson and P. Bain in the center during its lowest period of the year.
That should have been enough to stop Vandy from gashing us. Let's face it. If we're the Tennessee we should be, our second and third string should beat Vandy. Not gonna apologize for holding that belief. The fact that Thig couldn't get those four rising Juniors or Seniors to perform at a high level after the number of years they've been on campus is an indictment against him and the reason why his group has to perform. He knows it, and I think it'll happen, but Shoop and Thig need to step up this year, motivate and get more out of players who have now played a good amount of football for us.
Conclusion: LB should be a position of strength this year, but minor injuries and delayed returns are creating some uncertainty. Ultimately, I think a lot of it may be gamesmanship and making sure players are fresh, but in a perfect world, you'd love to see a well-oiled machine of a LB corps making hits and plays all throughout camp given how that position group finished last year. Here's to hoping it happens anyway; and I believe it will.
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