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Topic Started: Jun 18 2012, 08:11 AM (247 Views)
LonzoVol


Who is the freshman that you think will have the biggest impact this fall. Can't be Sentimore or McCullers, the juco transfers. Most of you know that I have been very high on the Porker since UT begin recruiting him and Mr. Howard certainly will get his chance in August to help the team in several different ways.
However, as sleepers go, here's one, Drae Bowles. He is a big, fast, smart and very athletic player. Phil might confirm this, but I believe the passing quarterback at Jackson Christian got hurt early last year and Bowles had to play both ways for the Eagles, a team that had to go to the ground game more. :coolaid:
If he has great hands, Bowles could be another extra weapon at wide receiver. Anyway, I really feel like he is a guy to watch going forward.
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*OrangeRev
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Tree hug'n, bleed'n heart, lazy luv'n, global warm'n token liberal

Piece of information: the coaches feel that we are weak at DB and strong at WR for 2012 ... Vincent Dallas (who has actually done well as a WR) has been moved to DB.

So, I believe the freshman who has the highest probability to shine in 2012 is Deion Bonner. He's the 5-star player that lost a star with the 5-finger discount at UGA. I think he may well be the return of Eric Berry, plus he has the opportunity to play with the depth problems at DB.

In all likelihood, Bowles will redshirt or be very limited simply because of the strength of our current WRs.

I believe Howard will contribute on special teams and some other specialized packages akin to Devrin Young.
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Shakearag
The Voice of Al Sharpton
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+1 Deion Bonner - I loved his high school film, appears to be a shut down corner.
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LonzoVol


Can't argue with the Bonner choice, nine interceptions in six games will get anyone's attention! However, I will go even further out on a limb here and suggest that Bowles could be the second coming of DaRick Rogers without the bad attitude. We shall see and I understand that a Red-shirt year is the preferable scenario. Between Bowles and Croom, I think one red-shirts and one plays. This is assuming that Patterson gets in school next month and there aren't any injuries in August to any of the front line wideouts. :powerT:
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*Zippy
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Burning Man, 2009 FOREVER

Bonner. He's better than anyone else on the roster @ CB. Good chance he starts from Day 1, IMO. The safety we signed will probably play, too. Keep in mind, db and/or RB are just great spots for a freshman to come in and get immediate pt because our roster there is so bad. RB is the same way. If Borque is any good as a HB, he's going to play too....and if he's not any good as a RB, he'll be playing LB next year.

Pretty much everywhere else on the roster it's tougher for a freshman to get a crack in the lineup. We wont be starting 7-10 freshman again as we have done the last two years, and thank god that's over. Our soph/jr classes are pretty fair now, and pretty deep. If we'd signed any LBs (like Peters, for example....MAYBE Santos but I've always thought he was hugely overrated) they would play, too....but we didnt.

WRs will all redshirt, except maybe...maybe...Howard OR Watson (and even then, they will lose the redshirt basically just to return kicks. if that, maybe). None of them will push for PT over the big three, so assuming none of them get lost for the season (to injury or...uh...self inflicted non-injury...) there is no reason whatsoever to burn their redshirts. None. Let Jacob Carter, Joe Dirt and the other great white hype get the mop up duty or play the 4th WR when necessary.

Here are the two darkhorses for PT though: Peterman and the kicker. If Bray gets hurt again, Peterman may be the man. Bullock probably isnt really a darkhorse for PT though, now that I think about it.

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*OrangeRev
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LonzoVol
Jun 18 2012, 09:09 AM
However, I will go even further out on a limb here and suggest that Bowles could be the second coming of DaRick Rogers without the bad attitude. We shall see and I understand that a Red-shirt year is the preferable scenario. Between Bowles and Croom, I think one red-shirts and one plays. This is assuming that Patterson gets in school next month and there aren't any injuries in August to any of the front line wideouts. :powerT:
I'm excited about the potential of both Bowles and Croom. But, I believe that their opportunities are going to be in 2013 and beyond simply because it takes some time to go from High School routes to SEC routes AND we have a veteran, experienced squad of WRs.

That's not to say that one or both won't play in 2012, but I just think that they won't make much of an impact in 2012.

Remember the 2010 season when we only had 2 quality WRs with Moore and Jones, and Jones was injured for 3-4 games? Even then uber-talented Hunter and Rodgers only had 27 receptions between them - combined, they didn't match the yardage of either Moore or Jones.

This year, we should have 4 experienced WRs ahead of Bowles and Croom, and I would argue that Cody Blanc is also ahead of them (due to his experience in the spring).
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LonzoVol


OrangeRev
Jun 18 2012, 09:49 AM
LonzoVol
Jun 18 2012, 09:09 AM
However, I will go even further out on a limb here and suggest that Bowles could be the second coming of DaRick Rogers without the bad attitude. We shall see and I understand that a Red-shirt year is the preferable scenario. Between Bowles and Croom, I think one red-shirts and one plays. This is assuming that Patterson gets in school next month and there aren't any injuries in August to any of the front line wideouts. :powerT:
I'm excited about the potential of both Bowles and Croom. But, I believe that their opportunities are going to be in 2013 and beyond simply because it takes some time to go from High School routes to SEC routes AND we have a veteran, experienced squad of WRs.

That's not to say that one or both won't play in 2012, but I just think that they won't make much of an impact in 2012.

Remember the 2010 season when we only had 2 quality WRs with Moore and Jones, and Jones was injured for 3-4 games? Even then uber-talented Hunter and Rodgers only had 27 receptions between them - combined, they didn't match the yardage of either Moore or Jones.

This year, we should have 4 experienced WRs ahead of Bowles and Croom, and I would argue that Cody Blanc is also ahead of them (due to his experience in the spring).
And likewise on the other side of the ball, Bonner is a true freshman who has covered high school wide receivers. Justin Coleman demonstrated last year what can happen to a true freshman cornerback when thrown into battle before he is ready. Frankly, I don't see Bonner beating out Waggner and Coleman, or Eric Gordon. Again, we shall see and I don't mean to short change Bonner. He is a legitimate talent and has the potential to be a great cover corner, in time.
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*OrangeRev
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LonzoVol
Jun 18 2012, 11:16 AM
And likewise on the other side of the ball, Bonner is a true freshman who has covered high school wide receivers. Justin Coleman demonstrated last year what can happen to a true freshman cornerback when thrown into battle before he is ready. Frankly, I don't see Bonner beating out Waggner and Coleman, or Eric Gordon. Again, we shall see and I don't mean to short change Bonner. He is a legitimate talent and has the potential to be a great cover corner, in time.
I don't think Bonner is going to beat them out either.

But, have you looked at our 2-deep with corners? I think Waggner and Colemen will be fine, but after them we are really hurting ... Teague is easily burned, and Gordon just can't play true corner (but he plays in Nickel situations competently). My thought is that Bonner will be on the two-deep at CB when the season opens. Losing Lanier for the season (and perhaps forever) really stings.

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gallavol
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Bonner and McNeil will be two of our most talented DBs the minute they step on the field. How much they play will be governed by how quickly they can learn the system.
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*Zippy
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LonzoVol
Jun 18 2012, 11:16 AM
And likewise on the other side of the ball, Bonner is a true freshman who has covered high school wide receivers. Justin Coleman demonstrated last year what can happen to a true freshman cornerback when thrown into battle before he is ready. Frankly, I don't see Bonner beating out Waggner and Coleman, or Eric Gordon. Again, we shall see and I don't mean to short change Bonner. He is a legitimate talent and has the potential to be a great cover corner, in time.
Justin Coleman demonstrated last year what can & will happen to Justin Coleman. That's part of the reason why I think Bonner is going to get on the field, actually. Coleman has talent but he's been very prone to having 1-3 really, REALLY bad plays per game.

Bonner is just more talented than he is. He's more talented than Waggoner, too. Keep this in mind about Waggoner: he's Preston Warren. Looks great largely in comparison to the crap that is the rest of our DB roster. But in past years where we had actual talent back there, he would not see the field. Nothing against Waggoner there, btw, the kid can certainly be a playmaker...but so could Warren. I still think there is a very good chance Bonner beats one of them for PT, sooner rather than later. If he's all he's supposed to be he'll be starting game one. I'm actually thinking he'll be either feast or famine, though. He'll either start pretty much from day 1, or he will wash out. Could go either way with him I guess.

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*TennesseeTuxedo
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I believe that Bonner and LaDarrell McNeil will have the biggest impacts of all of the true freshmen.

You need to be able to go 2 deep at safety and at cornerback. There are always injuries that force you to go into the two deep. Once Bonner and McNeil get their SEC legs, they will be very good players. Expect each of them to make their mistakes and get burnt a few times like Coleman. Coleman is going to be a very good CB before he is gone.
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LonzoVol


gallavol
Jun 18 2012, 02:27 PM
Bonner and McNeil will be two of our most talented DBs the minute they step on the field. How much they play will be governed by how quickly they can learn the system.
Sorry Galla but that is absolutely absurd. Free Safety Brian Randolph is a legitmate all-star candidate this season. And while Bonner may be a future great at corner, he can't line up with a guy like Waggner who had five picks and returned three for scores (tied for the national lead) the last time he played a full season at cornerback (2010).
Considering the bad luck the Vols have had with Texas recruits, if it's all right with you I guess I'll just wait and see how McNeil performs in August and determine if he will avoid the red-shirt or not. :powerT:
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gatewayghost
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That's one of the differences in this team than the last 2, you at least have enough bodies where you don't have to play so many freshman. Most of our key recruits were JC transfers or 4 year DLineman. DLineman rarely play as freshman anyway. Bonner, the most common answer is a corner, most corners suck as freshman.
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*Zippy
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LonzoVol
Jun 18 2012, 09:30 PM
Sorry Galla but that is absolutely absurd. Free Safety Brian Randolph is a legitmate all-star candidate this season. And while Bonner may be a future great at corner, he can't line up with a guy like Waggner who had five picks and returned three for scores (tied for the national lead) the last time he played a full season at cornerback (2010).
Considering the bad luck the Vols have had with Texas recruits, if it's all right with you I guess I'll just wait and see how McNeil performs in August and determine if he will avoid the red-shirt or not. :powerT:
Yes, he can. Physically I'm not sure Waggoner is even close to Bonner. Bonner is the whole package. Great size, good speed (though not elite), great ball skills, etc. Saying he will be one of two of the most talented DBs is only absurd in the sense that he may be understating Bonner's talent: he's very likely the MOST talented we have, at least purely from an athletic standpoint.

Nothing against Waggner here as he is clearly the best we have had on the roster (by far) and, again, clearly has a knack for making plays...but he has his limits. Bonner seriously has elite potential. Eric Berry type elite potential. Only problem is, he may turn out to be another Janzen. Waggner is, like I said, the second coming of Preston Warren...with the difference being Warren pretty much got recruited over in year 2 whereas we are just now recruiting over Waggner in year 4.

McNeil is going to play by necessity. If he doesnt, Waggner is going back to end up back at safety anyway and whether or not he gets beat out by Bonner will be a moot point. We are not going to leave Wilks in the 2 deep all season.

Who starts vs. who plays is not really all that big of a deal, IMO. Waggner and Bonner are both going to play quite a bit. If McNeal cant play at a high level, we've got problems. Thats a big part of the reason I think our D is going to suck, to be honest: too much inexperience in the backfield combined with too little (talented) depth at LB. I'm not expecting the D to lead the league in anything, but they dont necessarily need to. They just need to not be gawd-awful, and make some plays here and there. If the D leads the league in any single stat next year, it better be turnovers and/or sacks....because that's what we will need them to do.
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