Tennessee football: How good can Nigel Warrior be for Vols?
Tennessee football junior Nigel Warrior entered Rocky Top with tons of hype. Now, in a new system, how good can he be for the Volunteers?
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A legacy player, the son of Dale Carter was one of the top headliners in the 2016 Tennessee football recruiting class. Despite the secondary being loaded that year, Nigel Warrior arrived on Rocky Top figuring to make a huge impact for the Vols.
To be fair to him, he did just that to a certain degree. Warrior fought through the depth and made Freshman All-SEC. He looked much more ready than most freshmen that year and clearly had a bright future.
In 2017, he was one bright spot in a terrible season. But he never stood out to anyone, so questions about his ability to make plays on the level of his father began to arise.
Now comes this year. Warrior is playing in a new system, the 3-4, for new coaches in Jeremy Pruitt, Kevin Sherrer and Charles Kelly, and he has less help with all the cornerbacks gone, most notably NFL Draft pick Rashaan Gaulden.
Warrior has more hype and expectations than almost any player on the team this year. But we have to admit that he’s part of a unit that is clearly Tennessee football’s biggest weakness. Although the blame lies with the changes at cornerbacks, Warrior is a part of it.
So taking all that into account, just how good can he be? The Vols, and Pruitt in particular, need Warrior to be able to step up and become a star. But if history of the 3-4 negatively affecting the secondary is any indication, he could have some serious problems.
Pruitt noted at the Big Orange Caravan in Atlanta Tuesday that he recruited Warrior while with the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide, according to Patrick Brown of GoVols247. He clearly sees talent in the guy, and everybody understands why.
But, in typical Butch Jones misuses talent fashion, Pruitt also noted that he hasn’t seen as much action as you might have expected his first two years on campus. He added that Warrior has a long way to go.
Still, it’s clear by letting him talk to the media in the spring that Pruitt is looking to him as one of his top guys his first year. And he also should. Warrior is a rare mix of raw talent and intelligence. Growing up with Carter as his father, he has a rare understanding of playing the sport.
Tennessee football desperately needs Warrior to help offset the problems that will likely come in the secondary. Expectations should be for him to break out this year. However, if he has to do too much, will he become a disappointment? That happened to Jonathan Hefney in 2007 and Rashad Baker in 2003. Both safeties, entering their senior years, made fewer headlines because they had to cover for too many people.
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With the issues at cornerback this year and the changing systems, Warrior could have that problem as well. This is why it’s hard to judge defensive backs. But if things pick up, he could burst into a superstar.