Tennessee O-Linemen Go On a Diet

[crawfish]

By David Climer -The Tennessean

Q: Is Tennessee downsizing its offensive linemen?

A: Yes. With good reason.

In the last five drafts, UT has had a grand total of two offensive linemen drafted - Scott Wells in 2004 and Arron Sears this year. Obviously, NFL coaches and scouts see something in Tennessee's offensive linemen that they don't like - too much girth and not enough quickness. In 2005, Tennessee made headlines with an offensive line that averaged 328 pounds, more than most NFL teams. But what was supposed to be an asset turned out to be one of the weakest parts of the team. So Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe has stressed the need for more quickness and athleticism in his linemen. Cutcliffe wants to make the screen pass a big part of his offense, which requires agile linemen. The projected starting offensive line this season will average 304 pounds.

For Tennessee, less is more.


http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/sports.aol.com/fanhouse/media/2007/07/tennessee-o-linemen.jpg

[SeanVol]

Jimmy Ray Stephens was the coach behind that Idea of having a big line.

[VOLjlt]

When I see other linemen on other college teams, their size doesn't compare to UT's linemen...and they perform much better than our guys. Glad to see the size coming down. I think part of this size issue (all Fulmer jokes aside) is a result of two years of getting our butts handed to us by Nebraska (1996/1997). I remember something about the coaching staff promising we would never get pushed around again like that.

[Cianne]

Ole Miss had the largest line in the SEC throughout the Cutcliffe years. I'm surprised he finally decided to change something.

Of course we're still going to be averaging 320 this year going by predicted starters and last year's weights. I'll take the athleticism of Oher and Jerry at 325 and 340 though.

[timNem]

When I see other linemen on other college teams, their size doesn't compare to UT's linemen...and they perform much better than our guys. Glad to see the size coming down. I think part of this size issue (all Fulmer jokes aside) is a result of two years of getting our butts handed to us by Nebraska (1996/1997). I remember something about the coaching staff promising we would never get pushed around again like that.Yeah Nebraska when they were running the option had some freaking corn fed monsters. Thats what you need when you are a run-oriented offense but if you have a pocket passer you need some quick feet.