Goin' Poachin'

by Joel Hollingsworth on Dec 10, 2010 7:38 AM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football

Quick. Tennessee's biggest need in the class of 2011.

Uh-huh. Defensive tackle.

I thought I'd take a quick look to see where Tennessee stood on DTs and whether there were any good DTs out there who just had their world rocked by a coaching change to the school to which they were committed. Word of warning, I did this all in about ten minutes.

Tennessee commits at DT:

Allan Carson 2 stars (6'0", 327)
Maurice Couch 4 stars (6'2", 295)
Trevarris Saulsberry 3 stars (6'4", 252)

Okay, heading to Gainesville first. DT's committed to Florida:

. . . .

That's right. None. Huh?

Southward on to Miami.

[Stopping to ask for directions. Learned Miami is not in the same location it used to be. It's not in the Top 50. Turning around and heading north to Pittsburgh.]

DT's committed to Pitt:

Khaynin Mosley-Smith 3 stars (6'1", 275)
Marquise Wright 4 stars (6'3", 265)

Well that's more like it. Unfortunately, Mosley-Smith never showed any interest in anyone other than Pitt, and Wright never showed any interest in Tennessee. He does have Florida State, Miami, and South Carolina on his list, though, so he's worth a contact, probably.

Looking at the list of DT recruits, most are committed to schools that haven't booted their head coaches. Timmy Jernigan -- the 3rd best DT in the nation, according to Rivals -- is not committed. Tennessee is on his "medium interest" list with several others. He has Alabama, Florida State, LSU, and Michigan listed as "high interest." No. 10 Gabe Wright is also uncommitted and has Tennessee on his impressive offer list, but shows only Auburn as "high interest."

That's all I have time for right now. What else can y'all find?

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I'm beginning to take issue with the conventional wisdom that our biggest need is DT

Corey Miller and Malik Jackson have BOTH moved to DT. That leaves us with a DT rotation looking like this:

Malik Jackson (SR)
Montori Hughes
Marlon Walls
Corey Miller
Joseph Ayres
Arthur Jefrrey
Maurice Couch [entering next year, probably an immediate starter]
Allan Carson [entering next year]
Trevvaris Saulsberry [entering next year]

The DE rotation looks like this:

Ben Martin (SR)
Jacques Smith
Willie Bohannon
Jordan Williams [entering next year]

Which one do you think looks like the big need in recruiting right now? Of our top 5 defensive ends this year, two are graduating and two are moving to tackle. We need help, and fast.

Regarding DT recruiting, I keep hearing two names pop up:

1. Gabe Wright. Leaning towards Auburn, but it’s an AU/UT battle, and Momma is rumored to prefer Tennessee.
2. Mickey Johnson. From LA (Los Angeles), now lives in LA (Louisiana), has offers all over the place. I don’t know whether it’s supposed to be UT/LSU/UCLA or what, but it’s something like that. Conventional wisdom is that he’s a sign and place wherever he goes.

It’s my understanding that we’re running low on spots, as well, so I’m not sure who we have room for and who we don’t. I’m sure that if Gabe Wright wants to come to Tennessee, we make room. And if Mickey Johnson wants to come AND gets his grades in order, we make room (if he doesn’t have his grades in order, we don’t need room). Other than that, we may be done at tackle.

by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 10, 2010 11:43 AM EST reply actions

Also, apropos of my comment regarding end being our big need

*Anthony Chickillo, 6’3, 226 lb DE from Miami, ranked #6 nationally at his position. Current Miami commit, chose the ‘Canes over Tennessee and Florida. Might we have a shot here?
*Jeoffrey Pagan, 6’4, 270 lb DE from Asheville, ranked #3 nationally at his position. Former Florida commit, now thought to be choosing between Tennessee, Clemson, and Alabama. (also, injury watch. Had surgery on a torn MCL and PCL a couple months ago).
*Ray Drew (#1 DE in the country) is also uncommitted, but everyone knows he’s going to Georgia. Then again, so was Da’Rick.

by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 10, 2010 11:48 AM EST up reply actions

I'm beginning to think

that Malik and Corey will move back to DE in the Spring to balance things. Especially if we miss out on Chickillo or another DE

"I condone fun things" ~~ Cortland Finnegan

Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.

by VolBrian on Dec 10, 2010 11:52 AM EST up reply actions

We'll see

But Corey’s move was announced after the season was already over. The coaches know what the roster looks like; they know what recruits we have committed. It would make no sense for him to switch back unless they were counting on signing another DE that they missed on.

by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 10, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, that was going to be my reply. Like I said, I dashed this off this morning despite sleeping an hour longer than usual, so I haven’t actually fact-checked anything, but aren’t the guys we were playing at DT really DEs? Didn’t they displace our only true DT? My impression is that we need true DTs, big, heavy guys.

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel Hollingsworth on Dec 10, 2010 1:44 PM EST up reply actions

Miller and Jackson were DEs

The others are true DTs. Jackson announced a permanent move to DT a month ago—they’re setting a target weight of 290. I could’ve sworn that Miller announced a permanent move as well (also in the last couple weeks), but I can’t for the life of me find any relevant articles. Starting to wonder if I dreamed it. If I didn’t dream it, it’s because the staff thought he was growing out of the DE position.

At any rate, we need defensive linemen, though it may be an open question as to which variety we need more.

by Incipient_Senescence on Dec 10, 2010 1:55 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed on that

I was pleased with how the guys who moved around contributed at their new position. I’d just imagine that Dooley’s wanting to get guys more suitable for their positions, whether he grows them into it or recruits them into it.

Rocky Top Talk

by Joel Hollingsworth on Dec 10, 2010 2:25 PM EST up reply actions