SB Nation - Walter Fisher

Spring Position Battles: Defensive Line

Hooper — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:00:08 -0000

So far, we have looked at the spring position battles for these positions:

Now, let's take a look at one of the primary concerns coming into the 2009 season - the defensive line.

Before getting into the players, I should note that there is a small chance that a player or two may get moved around - both between the offensive and defensive lines and among the various positions within the lines. I wouldn't expect much, but it's possible. However, I'm only going off the roster positions as listed by UT's football site and I'm not going to speculate much within this writeup about player movement (for lack of information).

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

According to UT's roster, the Vols have seven defensive tackles coming into the 2009 campaign. That's probably enough depth to be alright for the season, but you don't really want that number going any lower. A couple of injuries would create a real squeeze and limit the options available for the defensive coaches.

Final Campaign

Andre Mathis

Mathis is light for a D-tackle - listed at 255 lbs - and has not seen a lot of heavy action in his career. Originally projected as a linebacker, Mathis was likely moved to the tackle position to help with depth during an injury phase. At his lighter weight, he would likely be a more mobile and quicker tackle than most, but less likely to overpower a lineman and hold his ground in a straight-up shoving match. If he stays at tackle, his best use is probably on obvious passing downs, so his action will probably remain limited.

Chase Nelson

Chase is a name we've heard a little more frequently in action last year. At 270 lbs, he's a little more filled into the typical 4-3 tackle shape than Mathis. Yet Chase is also a move-over and was originally projected to be a pass-rushing defensive end than a tackle. He's another great fit for obvious passing downs, but his added experience and weight may make him suitable as an every-down tackle.

Dan Williams

Big Dan has been tearing up the interior for two straight years, and has the most solid shot at starting of any tackle on the roster. At 310 lbs, he's big enough to hold the interior against power runs. But he's also agile:

That was 2007. Williams played all of 2008 as well; although the stats seemed a little quieter for him, much of that was the terrific effort by the all-around defense, as well as a tendency for teams to throw those stupid 5-yard TE passes that killed us all year long. /digress

Starting time is in his hands. Williams is our best tackle, and will remain our best tackle if he chooses to do so.

The Junior

Victor Thomas

We have one tackle on the roster who will be a junior next year. At 6'4", 270, Thomas is - you guessed it - another D-end projection that was shifted over to the tackle position. I remember his name having been mentioned a time or two last season, but not much else. With Thomas, the real question will be his run-stopping skills. Can be be an anchor on the line and keep the guard/center occupied so the linebackers are free to move? Much will depend on how he develops in the strength and conditioning program.

The Sophomore

Donald Langley

Langley is listed at 6'2" and 290 lbs, which puts him more into the range of beef you generally like to see in run defenses. Recruited as a d-tackle, his physique suggests he has a real shot a significant minutes on the field. If you follow the spring practices and the O&W game, the real question will be his weight. You know that the Orgeron/Monte setup is not looking for fat blobs of humanity to occupy volume; they're looking for tenacious and aggressive players. Keep an eye on how his weight adjusts. If he stays (relatively) lean and quick, he's in prime position to start next to Williams.

Incoming

Arthur Jeffery

Jeffery was a tremendous grab for Tennessee. The Florida native is listed at about 285 pounds - a great weight for an incoming tackle - and is noted more for his quickness than his strength. As will all freshmen, his biggest concern will be his technique. Since he tended to be a better athlete than his counterparts, did he develop some bad habits that need to be broken? How is his stance? His leverage? We don't rightly know, but the coaches sure do. He really looks like a terrific prospect for tackle, but it'll all depend on how fast he rides the learning curve.

Montori Hughes

Hughes is not listed as high up in the rankings as you'd expect. He's 255, but hasn't filled to match his frame yet. Because he's still growing, the speed and strength metrics are very difficult to gauge. He's our tallest tackle, though, at 6'5" - something I really like to see on passing downs. I expect he'll need some time to grow and develop his skills, but he should have a fine career at UT in the long run.

DEFENSIVE END

The roster lists six defensive ends for UT in 2009. Like the tackle position, this is a little low for comfort. Fortunately, ends are at a slightly lower injury risk because they're not involved in as many pilups of humanity in the middle of the line. (That, and they don't line up directly against Auburn guards...) The biggest hurt is the loss of Ayers to graduation, but props to Ayers for tearing up the NFL combine and perhaps becoming a top-15 pick.

The Senior

Wes Brown

Brown saw a fair amount of action at end last year. While Ayers had one end spot locked up, Brown and Martin took up mot of the duty on the other end of the line. Brown is most likely one of the starters coming into the 2009 season, thanks to his experience and maturity. He's agile and quick, and ideally suited to be a pass-rusher, so he just might pull the coveted right end assignment if he grows into the new system.

Juniors

Ben Martin

Martin had his name called for a fair amount of the 2008 season and should be maturing into his full form at this time. A 5-star prospect, Martin is fast. He's also strong and smart, and is probably the most physically gifted D-end currently at school. Martin is the heavy favorite for starting time of the underclassmen and, despite my words for Brown, will most likely be the right end. You'll hear his name a lot throughout the offseason.

Chris Walker

Walker was originally a LB projection, but was moved to end for - you guessed it - depth concerns. His frame lies somewhere between linebacker and d-line ideals, but he can develop the strength and stamina for the line if he commits himself to it. He will always be a lighter player (listed at 230 on the roster), so he may find himself in relief duty in the new system. But one of the things we know about the new coaches is that they place a high value on heart and tenacity. During the spring, watch how hard he fights. If he's tenacious enough, he could overcome his size disadvantage.

The Freshman

Willie Bohannon

Willie Bohannon is the definition of a project. He's a tough player, but he's light (about 240) and a little slow (4.8 compared to 4.6 times) relative to the other end players on the team. The new staff doesn't start people based on their 40 times, but having the physical tolls does affect your ability to produce on the field, and these disadvantages will be very difficult to overcome. He's going to have a lot to prove to pass others on the depth chart.

Incoming

Marlon Walls

Walls was originally a LB prospect - 215 lbs out of high school - who added a lot of weight to his current 266-lb form. Is this weight due to filling into form, or did he gain a lot of the undesirable weight? Remember the 266-lb mark. If Walls drops down to 230 or so, then a lot of his size was probably the bad kind. If he stays 250-ish, then he likely gained a lot of muscle mass and may be turning into a true d-end - especially a left end. It's too hard to tell right now, so we'll have to watch and see. But the answer to Walls all begins with his weight and how it increased so much.

Rae Sykes

Sykes will be one of the new Vols this year, but he was originally recruited in 2007 and spent 2 years in the JuCo ranks. He's listed at 255 and is beginning to push for 4.6 speed, which would be terrific for defensive end. Because of his JuCo time, he may be ready to step in and play on the very first day. It's hard to tell if he can win starting time, however, because it's not easy to compare JC performance to the other names on the roster. If you're into dark horses, he's your guy.

SUMMARY

If I were to guess, I would have the starting lineup look much like the picture above - Wes Brown and Ben Martin at ends (though flipped from the picture), and Dan Williams and Chase Nelson starting in the interior. I'm least certain about Nelson because Langley has a real chance to grab the slot. I'm most confident about Dan because of his past history and because there's nobody else who's nearly as well suited to handle the left tackle position as him.

On defensive line, incoming players usually have to sit for a while as they fill out into their still-growing bodies. There are a few bright spots, but all of the incoming true freshmen have some physical development to do before they come into true form.

One last note: we have 7 tackles and 6 ends on the roster. Of the 7 tackles, 3 will be seniors. Of the 6 ends, 1 will be a senior, but one of the incoming players is from the JC ranks. Also, of the 7 tackles, 3 were moved to tackle to account for depth problems. Of the 6 ends, 3 were not originally d-line prospects. In short, we're thin on depth, experience, and on players who are ideally suited for the positions on the line. It should be workable this year, but the coaches absolutely have to find a way to get in more d-linemen in the next class. While one top-flight QB will go a long way toward easing our concerns, we're going to need a boatload of linemen next year.

2008 Senior Day Tribute: Walter Fisher

Joel — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:00:06 -0000

Why.

Walter Fisher

Walter Fisher is a junior college transfer who's played in 33 games for the Vols at this point. In 2006, he missed four games, but played in eight. His best game that season came against Arkansas, at which he had three tackles. In 2007, Fisher played in all 14 games and had several pretty big games for Tennessee. Against Southern Miss, he had four tackles, one QBH, and one pass break up. Against Georgia, he broke up a pass and had three tackles. Against Louisiana-Lafayette and in the SEC Championship Game against LSU, he had five tackles each, including one for a loss.

This season, Fisher's played in ten games and started four. He's had 18 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble.

Career stats:

				Ast	Solo	Asst Loss	Solo Loss	Loss Yds
			Games Played	Tackles					Passes Defended	Forced Fumbles	QB Hurries
Career Totals			33	24	30	0	5	17	2	1	2

Tennessee Volunteers v. Florida Gators: game preview

Joel — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:42:25 -0000

There are essentially three keys for home-dog Tennessee this Saturday against the Gators:

Control the A and B gaps on both offense and defense.
Win on third down defense.
New standard for punters: forget on-time, high, and deep. Go with early and out-of-bounds.

First, the pertinent stats:

Tennessee rush v. Florida defense	Tennessee pass v. Florida defense	Florida rush v. Tennessee defense	Florida pass v. Tennessee defense
20	52	20	12
13	4	44	74

Field Goals	Tennessee punting v. Florida punt return	Florida punting v. Tennessee punt return	Intangibles
T-85	118	37
T-85	14	21
Push

Strength of schedule metrics:

at UCLA	0-1	L 27-24
UAB	0-2	W 35-3

Hawaii	1-1	W 56-10
Miami (FL)	1-0	W 26-3

Can somebody explain the NCAA's strength of schedule pdf to me? Maybe it's just a mistake, but they have Tennessee's past opposition strength of schedule calculated as, well, zero, based on prior opponent's non-Tennessee games record of no wins and three losses. As much as that pains me, that appears to be correct, but they have Florida's calculated as zero as well, listing their prior opponent's non-Florida games record of zero wins and one loss. That has to be a data entry error, don't you think?

Here's how the teams look next to each other in each of the key statistical categories currently used in the RTT Ready, Fire, Aim BlogPoll Computer Ballot:

Rank	Team	WL	SOS	PED	RD	3DO	TD	PEO	EXP	OPPG	TO	3DD	AVG R	W AVG
17	Florida	1	99	4	13	19	3	34	116	6	62	15	33.82	191.09
70	Tennessee	65	99	12	20	61	30	96	116	27	23	68	56.09	450.36

It appears that Florida should have been ranked even higher than they were this week by the computer based on that wacky SOS data discussed above. Correcting for that puts them at third rather than 17th. Sigh.

So what's it all mean?

The bulk of the struggle in this game is going to focus on the A and B gaps in both lines. Those are the holes on either side of the center on the offensive line. As we've been saying all week (and for years), Tennessee's best chance against the Gators is to run the ball. If successful, they can then use the play-action pass, but if they aren't successful at running the ball, they'll give Florida another chance to run up the score because they won't be able to control possession on offense. The only possibly viable alternative to establishing the run and sticking with it is to use a short-yardage passing game. Despite all of that, the Vols will need to take a shot down the field once in awhile at opportune times to keep the defense honest. If they can hit one or two of those, it will help the running game a great deal and get us on the road to a possible upset. If not (and see the No. 54 Tennessee pass rank against the No. 4 Florida pass efficiency defense rank), it will just be viewed as an empty threat and will make matters worse. Tennessee's running game is good (or it appears to be good -- see the strength of schedule), but Florida's rush defense appears to actually have the edge. Still, it's our only hope Obi-Wan.

Really surprising to me here is that the numbers indicate a possible advantage for the Vols on defense. The knee-jerk skepticism is somewhat quelled by the fact that although UAB's defense was really bad, its offense really isn't. When we're on defense, look for two things: watch the A and B gaps, and watch our defense's ability to stop Florida on third down (Note Florida's third down offense rank of 19 against Tennessee's third down defense rank of 68.). Can Demonte' Bolden, Dan Williams, Walter Fisher, and Donald Langley dictate matters in Florida's backfield like Miami did? Will Chavis play the linebackers up at the line in different gaps at different times to give Tebow and the o-line and the blockers and options more to process and to disrupt the play at the outset? Will that increase the odds that any of Tebow's passes might be off target and result in interceptions from our ball-hawking secondary? It's possible. Defense is that one area where the home crowd can really help the team. It's been a long time since Tennessee's fielded an intimidating, dominating defense, and the early returns this year are encouraging. Al Wilson will be in attendance to be honored as the Tennessee Legend of the game, and it is probably safe to assume that coach Fulmer will have him address the team to get them fired up. If Vol fans see glimpses of the Tennessee defense of yore, they'll go nuts.

The real danger comes on special teams, specifically Tennessee's punting game. With Florida's Brandon James fielding punts, Tennessee's fourth-down territory should be expanded. If a punt is definitely called for, Chad Cunningham does not need to be a Colquitt, he just needs to be a mere pawn in the scheme, helping his team take one small step in the right direction. He does not need to get the punt out on time, high, and deep. He needs to get it out early and out of bounds. A thirty-eight yard gross average is not the standard here. Avoiding a special teams touchdown for the other team is the only goal. A ten-yard punt that is not returned may be the best play of the night that we'll never acknowledge simply because it precluded something bad from happening.

Big Orange Roundtable: Volunteers' unit bell curve against UAB

Joel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:20:01 -0000

YMSWWC has this week's Big Orange Roundtable and asks one simple question: how did the Vols do against UAB?

At the top of the curve

Running backs. This unit had 264 net yards. 41 carries to 33 passes is a beautiful thing when we're getting 6.5 yards per carry. Arian Foster carried 12 times for 100 yards with a long of 31 and an average of 8.3. Lennon Creer carried eight times for 93 yards, two TDs, a long of 45, and an average of 11.6. (!) Montario Hardesty ran Mo Hard, and Tauren Poole average 4.8 yards on nine carries. I'm with Will at Southeastern Sports Blog. I know it was UAB, but what more can you ask for?

Offensive line. Um, see above. They made way for the 'backs to have such a fine day, and they gave up only one sack. I also don't really remember much pressure for Crompton, either. Good job to these guys.

Linebackers. These guys played really well. Ellix Wilson continues to surprise, racking up seven total tackles a shared one for a loss, an interception, a break up, and a hurry. Adam Myers-White had five tackles, including two for a loss, and Rico McCoy added four tackles.

Defensive backs. Eric Berry. Yeah. Seven tackles, a shared one for a loss, and an interception. Dennis Rogan, who played both safety and cornerback, had five tackles and did well in coverage. DeAngelo Willingham had four tackles, one for a loss, and an interception.

In the middle of the curve

Wide Receivers. Lucas Taylor had a fantastic day, catching nine passes for 132 yards, including a really nice 48 yard reception on which he made several moves after the catch to extend the play. Gerald Jones had two TDs, and Brandon Warren had two catches for 48 yards, including the 42-yarder from Nick Stephens. There seemed to be a lot of drops, though, including several -- three, I think -- from Luke Stocker. He apparently has very good hands, but he had a bad day. As a unit, though, 282 yards is pretty good. A couple more TDs would have been nice, though, huh?

Defensive line. Not a whole lot of action here. Chris Walker seemed to have his name called quite a bit, but the stats show him with only three tackles. He did also force a fumble, though. Dan Williams also had three tackles.Walter Fisher, Demonte' Bolden, and Ben Martin all had only tackle each. Robert Ayers' only contribution to the stat sheet is a QBH. These numbers probably should have been better considering the competition. Still, Joe Webb is a great quarterback, and keeping him contained was probably priority No. 1. They accomplished that.

Special teams. Chad Cunningham averaged 38 yards on two punts and put one inside the 20. We could not get the ball into the end zone on kickoffs, but most of them went to the two- or three-yard line. We attempted no field goals, which was probably excruciating for Daniel Lincoln. Punt return and kick return yardage was practically non-existent. Gerald Jones returned one punt for six yards, and Denarius Moore returned one kickoff for 27 yards.

Coaching. The coaching staff seemed fired up. It was good to see them focus on the rushing game in the second half. Still, 14 points in the first half against the nation's second-worst defense was disappointing. Perhaps it was necessary to get Crompton some reps, I don't know. The defense holding UAB to three total points is a very good performance, though, because as bad as UAB's defense was, their offense wasn't.

At the bottom of the curve

Quarterbacks. Not the best day for these guys, but several dropped passes from their receivers didn't help matters much. Crompton fielded the team well when we went to the running game, but we went to the running game after the passing game faltered a bit. Crompton missed an open Brandon Warren at least a couple of times, once to throw to Lucas Taylor in double coverage. Still, Crompton finished 19 of 31 for 240 yards and had two great-looking TDs to Gerald Jones. One of the interceptions was more like a punt, and probably didn't matter much, but the other wasn't good. Nick Stephens looked decent when he got into the game. Finding Brandon Warren for a 42-yard seam route reception will do that for you.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Roundtablers' responses:Loser With Socks

Southeastern Sports Blog
3rd Saturday in Blogtober
Curveballs for Jesus
Fulmer’s Belly
Gate 21
Moondog Sports