The CheckerBoard

Might as well post #1 also... I think the only question was the order of the top two, and I think you nailed it. I've enjoyed these the last week and a half, Wes.

It's definitely Bray. We don't know who will start at RB, and Wes won't put both Lane and Neal as #1. Also, QB is such an important part of the team, and we are a different team with Bray. If it weren't Bray then he would have definitely been in the top 3 somewhere and not entirely missing from the top 10. JMO...

Great series, Wes! I got Bray as the most important, for obvious reasons.

Love this feature.

For the sake of argument, I think Lathers should be ranked a little higher, and Im surprised Waggner was at 4. Having Maggitt as 10 when a pass rush is so important also seemed off to me.

Nonetheless, really like this feature, it gives us something to think about it.

Welcome to the Board you'll love it here

I'm surprised either the QB or even one RB will be left off the list when our team was so bad running the ball and the emphasis has been on that. Brings to mind Wes's reasons for this.

If Bray is #1 does that mean Wes you believed that the OL was the main reason for bad running or what? Just curious I know you can't answer it now but will be interesting to know the reasoning

I'm not Wes, but I agreed with Wes on the 10 players on his list, and here was my reasoning: This is supposed to be a list of the 10 most important players on the team for this season. Tennessee needs to have a good running game, absolutely, and that's on the running backs as much as the offensive linemen. But because Lane, Neal and even Devrin Young appeared to be somewhat interchangeable compared to the players on this list, I think it's impossible to put any of the running backs on the list at this point.

What happens if you put Lane on the list, but then Lane gets injured and Neal goes on to have a great season. Did Tennessee fail because Lane wasn't able to contribute? Not at all. But if any of the 10 players on this list went down with an injury, it could sink UT's season. (For what it's worth, I had Mychal Rivera at No. 11 on my list. You could definitely make a strong argument for him being on there.)

This list is supposed to represent 10 players whose success or failure will determine whether UT succeeds or fails this season, and I don't think there's a single tailback on the Vols' roster right now who's so good that he deserves to be on this list. For all we know, UT could have a good running game with Davante Bourque as its No. 1 tailback. We just don't know right now that any one running back is so much better than the others that he's somewhat close to irreplaceable.

Thanks, Mony. Tell your friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, etc., about the site. The more the merrier, and coming from a customer it will mean a lot. Testimonials - they are like peer recruiting!

Thanks again.

+1

Great job Wes. +1