Tennessee Vols vs Chattanooga | What Do We Want To See? | Tennessee Football Week 1 Preview

welcome back to another episode of rock boys Football Josh hyle the Tennessee balls kicking off the 2024 season hosting Chattanooga over the weekend now I think there's a reason that we're not going to be doing a game preview for this football game I think almost every Tennessee fan that's listening to this knows that you know after four quarters we look up at the scoreboard I think we know what we're going to see that being said I've been very vocal that I think this Tennessee team is extremely dangerous as an SEC Championship Contender as a legitimate threat to make a run in the college football playoffs what do we want to see from this Tennessee team week one that kind of backs up that thought process especially as you go into week two going up against the NC State team neutral site that I think is going to be very good in the ACC want to get into you know a few things that I'm looking for from this Tennessee team week one against Chad noua now before we do and as always just want to say one to the Tennessee fans the amount of support yall have shown over the last couple of weeks and months it it's been amazing whether we're previewing 2024 whether we're talking the recruiting Trail I can't thank you guys enough for rocking with it if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel without further Ado let's get into this one now let's start with the quarterback play but we've kind of said this all off season the most frustrating aspect about listening to the National media talk about Tennessee is I feel like they treat Tennessee as if their only legitimate Contender because of the quarterback position now I'm a Believer in Nico I've been a Believer since his high school days that being said there's a lot more to this Tennessee team than just the quarterback play we're going to get into that but what do we want to see from the quarterback play from Nico week one I think it starts with consistency pushing the football down the field what was the biggest difference that we saw from henen hooker in 2022 to Joe Milton in 2023 why did this Tennessee offense take a little bit of a dip in terms of the production I think a lot of it had to do with the consistency attacking 20 plus yards down the field where you look at Hen hooker in 2022 when this Tennessee offense was probably the best offense in the country henen hooker completed 44% of his footballs 20 plus yards down the field in exceptional number we all know Josh hpel is going to give you the opportunity he's going to scheme up plays to hit the explosive play in the passing attack you got to be able to make those throws henen hooker was one of the best in the country at pushing at 20 plus yards down the field now you look at 2023 with Joe Milton look we all know Joe Milton has a massive arm but the consistency was never there as a Michigan fan myself I kind of know this firsthand as well I mean it is awesome as a college fan to look at Joe Milton in practice throw it 80 plus yards down the field and make some of those jaw-dropping throws where the arm power the arm strength is I mean kind of generational if we're being honest we haven't seen many quarterbacks have the arm that Joe Millan had but where was the dip the dip was in consistency from the 44% completion percentage that hen hooker had 20 plus yards down the field in 2022 that number dipped under Joe Milton to 29% and you talk about Tennessee what are their goals it's to win a National Championship it is to win an SEC title when the margins are that small when you're talking about being one of the elite teams in all of college football you cannot be missing those throws that have the ability to change football games and too often Joe Milton would miss those throws so the number one thing I am looking for is for Nico can we get back to those hen and hooker numbers when Josh hyle schemes up a play and you have the opportunity to hit an explosive play in the passing attack 20 plus yards down the field can ni consistently make those throws that is by far the biggest storyline we have heading into 2024 with Nico at the quarterback spot we all know he has the talent we want to see the consistency that we saw from henden hooker in the 2022 football season that's the number one thing I am here for the flashy throws I'm here for the Dynamic Athlete that Nico is want to see the consistency at the quarterback play from Nico as a second-year quarterback number two and I think you know kind of an underrated storyline too is the wide receiver play wasn't very good for Tennessee once Brew McCoy went down it was very evident you kind of take a look at the Target share squirrel white ended up emerging by far as the wide receiver one I'm a massive a fan of squirrel right but he I think a lot of Tennessee fans would probably agree with this take that is squirrel white at his best is this Tennessee offense at its best with squirrel white being the wide receiver one in the Tennessee offense no the answer is probably not and so you look at the Tennessee wide receiver play heading into 2023 and say one or 2024 excuse me one you got brw McCoy back brw McCoy is going to be a healthy Brew McCoy is one of the better wide receivers in the SEC especially working vertically down the field so having brw McCoy back is massive you add Chris Brazzle in the transfer portal but some of the names that I'm going to be keeping an eye on Dante thoron Jr I I look at Dante Thor Jr I go back to him coming out of high school and say this kid he's a sleeping giant in my opinion he's extremely long he's a vertical wide receiver he's extremely fast can he be one of those deep play threats again Tennessee struggled pushing the ball down the field last year can Dante thoron who kind of struggled with injuries and I think was just kind of adjusting to the Tennessee offense last year can he put it together going into his senior season year two in this Tennessee offense and then you got a true freshman Mike Matthews you have a guy in Chaz Nimrod who sounds like he's putting a tag together and then the tight end play whether it's Ethan Davis whether it's some of the transfers I I think the pass catchers in this Tennessee offense are significantly better than they were in 2023 you talk about another reason this Tennessee offense maybe took a dip in the production it was a far cry from what you had with Jaylen Hyde and Cedric Tilman and Brew McCoy in the 2022 season and so I think a lot of Tennessee fans are saying hey not only do we want to see more consistency from the quarterback play we want to see those big long wide receivers who can work vertically down the field Chris brazle BR McCoy Dante thoron Jr Mikey Matthews we want to see them emerge as difference makers for this Tennessee offense and I think finally a veteran offensive line this is probably the least conversed topic around this tenness team I think this is a massive storyline where you look at Tennessee four out of your five starting offensive linemen are going to be seniors or red Shir seniors who have played significant football during their college career and they've all played together I mean four of these guys are returning from last year the continuity on Tennessee's offensive line and the talent level it's one of the better offensive lines I think you see in the SEC and we've kind of had this conversation a lot how would the Tennessee want to you know close the gap between other teams in the SEC I think it largely had to do with line of scrimmage play I look at this Tennessee offensive line and say so many programs across the country are building their offensive lineman through the transfer portal you know Tennessee has had these guys within their program they've been developed your only transfer portal Edition is Lance her who might be the most talented offensive lineman on this football team right now heading into 2024 look at this Tennessee offensive line and say pass protection the Run game it's going to be very good as well you want to see a Tennessee offense that I think back in 2023 I wouldn't say was one-dimensional but it kind of turned into a one-dimensional offense with that rushing attack because the passing Attack Just lacked that kind of consistency that I think we were used to seeing with henden hooker I look at this Tennessee offense heading into 2024 and say hey if you want to give Tennessee a light box and try to prevent Tennessee from pushing the ball down the field they're going to run right over just about any team in the country but if you do want to start loading the walking some safeties into the box leaving guys like Brew McCoy Chris brazle one-on-one on the boundary one can those wide receivers win and more importantly can Nico make those kind of throws if that happens I think the problem is how do you go about stopping this offense because there are so many ways that it can attack an opposing defense all with one of the offensive masterminds and Josh hyp kind of Designing and scripting this offense going to the defensive side of the football I don't know how much of a feel we're going to get for this Tennessee defense week one against Chattanooga but two things I'm looking at one I think this pass rush has the ability to be elite and kind of a similar frustration that I've had with the national meeting how they talk about Tennessee's defenses similar to how they talk about Nico on offense I feel like they talk about James Pierce Jr on defense look James Pierce Jor is probably going to be a top five pick in the NFL draft in eight months that being said there are a lot of other differ makers on this defensive line specifically in the pass R you look on the inside Amari Thomas Omar Norman lot guys that are difference makers on the inside it's a deep unit on the inside but then you look at the edge rushers and say Joshua Joseph's has the ability I would probably bet on him to be a guy that makes an all SEC team as a pass rusher you look at a true freshman and Jordan Ross you look at a guy like Caleb Herring there are so many other pieces to this Tennessee pass rush where you know James Jr is going to get that Elite treatment right tight ends are going to be chipping running backs are going to be helping him pass for that's going to leave a lot of opportunities for some other pass rushers on this defensive front one of the things I'll be looking at is can the other guys who are going to get those favorable matchups really capitalize on those kind of matchups that's what I'm looking for last thing and this is probably the one thing that you're looking for week one yeah Chad Newan can throw the football they have a quarterback that's returning that threw for almost 3,000 yards last year the secondary is uh probably the biggest question mark on this football team but I think also one of the more exciting aspects of this football team as well where you lose a lot of production from 2023 that being said I think there's a real argument that this Tennessee secondary is more talented than it was in 2023 now I think the question is hey we got a lot of new faces that haven't played a ton of football for us can we have that chemistry and consistency in the back end Al look at Jamon McCoy potential all Canada I look at Ricky Gibson on the other side potential allc Canada the only question marks we have are they're both true sophomores going into 20124 you look at potentially starting a true freshman at the nickel spot you have a guy in will Brooks who a fascinating storyline he's going to be a red Shir senior former walk on that you kind of feel is that veteran leader of this group the talent level is there it's kind of a similar conversation we have with this Clemson secondary where this secondary can be very good you want to see the chemistry in continuity within this unit kind of emerge and they're going to be probably tested a little bit against Chattanooga and then obviously tested more against n State my eyeballs will probably be most on Nico at the quarterback spot the wide receivers in in the secondary in the back end those are the biggest storylines for this Tennessee program going into week one now Sunday afternoon we are certainly previewing that Tennessee NC Stak game I think one of the better football games we're going to see week two we'll close it down there appreciate you guys rocking with the fellas if yall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys and we'll talk to youall later