Gameday Today: Everybody’s becoming something, and somebody somewhere is (maybe?) throwing shade

FOOTBALL

Nigel Warrior is apparently turning into the player coaches (and everybody else) thought he could be. Meanwhile, Darrin Kirkland Jr. is apparently becoming Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and injured receiver Brandon Johnson is becoming so bored that he’s sneaking into practice reps. And the nickel is becoming the 4-3: Word is that Tennessee is playing around with more standard 4-3 defensive alignments instead of the mostly nickel packages they ran last year. So who’s in line for that third LB spot? It’s looking like Austin Smith, Colton Jumper, and Quart’e Sapp.

And finally, the Orange and White Game: Where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter.

NFL DRAFT

Another NFL draft analyst has VFL Derek Barnett going to the Baltimore Ravens as the 16th pick in this year’s draft. Most of the rest of that article talks about how that’s in contrast to Barnett’s somewhat disappointing metrics from the NFL Combine and Pro Day. Aren’t the numbers supposed to help you predict what you don’t know? And isn’t what someone actually did better evidence than an educated guess at what you think they might do in the future? But what do I know?

RECRUITING

According to a tweet from the recruit, Tennessee has offered a scholarship to 3-star junior cornerback Eddie Smith.

BONUS

The headline for this piece says that Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder has thrown shade at new Tennessee athletic director John Currie. Listen, Snyder is even older than I am, and he has no idea what “throw shade” means, and anyway, since when does singing faint praise for your incoming boss necessarily indicate an insult at your old boss?

Gameday Today: Easter greetings run the gambit as Tennessee chases big guys

A few recruiting tidbits this morning: Georgia legacy Tommy Tremble recently visited Tennessee and called it his “best visit.” ($) Tennessee is also chasing offensive lineman Cooper Mays ($). And the Vols have offered defensive tackle Kristian Williams, who now plans to visit.

The Easter greetings from the official Twitter accounts of SEC schools ranged from Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze boldly going straight S.M. Lockridge to Tennessee’s, which might as well contain the caption, “This Easter holiday brought to you by Nike.” (They appear to have changed that, if you look at the tweet now, but the screen cap below is from the one originally embedded in the post from Gridiron Now.)

Trey Smith on why he’s mature beyond his years

Grant Ramey with 247 Sports has a great feature on the surprising maturity of incoming 5-star offensive tackle Trey Smith. Smith talked to the media after Tuesday’s practice and answered a question about the reason for his maturity by speaking about his mother, who died when he was 15. That experience accelerated Smith’s growth, and he’s devoted to making her proud by becoming the kind of man she would have wanted him to be.

It’s what caused him to enroll early, to maintain his humility in the face of fawning college coaches, and to remain both competitive (he’s an absolute monster, don’tcha know) and coachable. If you have a bit of time, go check out the article at the link above. It’s worth the time.

Josh Dobbs and AJ: The Ice Cream Men

Today on Gameday: Jajuan Jennings and John Kelly leading the way on offense

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kevin Beard is liking his guys. He especially likes returning starter Jajuan Jennings, who just needs to be the alpha male he naturally is.

But speaking of leaders, running back John Kelly is relishing the spotlight and taking it on himself to coach up Carlin Fils-aime and the other running backs when he gets the chance. “He’s probably more vocal than he’s ever been,” coach Jones said. “He’s coaching the younger players. He’s demanding.”

Good. With Kelly and Jennings and the experience along the offensive line, the offense should at the very least be confident, which should go a long way in making things just a bit easier for whichever guy wins the starting quarterback gig. The latest report on that competition is that it’s still a competition.

On the other side of the ball, Darrell Taylor is really beginning to make a name for himself, even earning comparisons to Derek Barnett.

And on the baseball diamond, freshman Justin Ammons scored the game-winning run against #10 Auburn yesterday thanks to a sacrifice fly by Andre Lipcius.

Marcus Tatum is WAKING UP JUST TO EAT

One of my favorite jokes to tell to customers is when they try something on only to find it’s too big for them. “I can tell you how to grow into that,” I tell them. “I have all the secrets.” Marcus Tatum has some secrets, too.

Back in high school, I was 112 pounds. That’s basically the size, shape, and weight of a stick. Three decades later, well let’s just say that I’m no longer 112 pounds. I’m more of a trunk than a stick these days. So yeah, I know how to put on weight. It actually came quite naturally, through no real effort of my own. The pizza guys were working hard, but not me.

So it amuses me to no end to hear that Tennessee offensive tackle Marcus Tatum is working really hard to gain weight. He’s eating four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before bed, and he’s actually setting his alarm for 3:00 a.m. just to wake up and throw down a couple of protein shakes.

So Tatum is now up to between 280 and 285, more than 20 pounds heavier than his last-published roster weight of 265 and more than 40 over what he weighed when he first arrived on campus. He’s shooting for 295. Another few decades of Papa Johns, and I’ll meet him there.

But seriously, this is what you want from an offensive tackle. Tatum says he’s “not getting bull-rushed as much” and feels “a lot more powerful and balanced and stable.” All good, because we’re going to need a big, strong, and deep offensive line this fall. It could actually be a position of strength this season, and one that would be welcome while breaking in a new starting quarterback.

I’m looking forward to rooting them on with a pizza in my lap.

Who’s that monster on the Tennessee offensive line?

Offensive tackle Marcus Tatum on fellow Tennessee Volunteer offensive tackle Trey Smith:

“He’s just a monster. There’s nothing more to it,” Tatum said. “He’s been blessed with size and strength and smarts, and there’s nothing else you can really ask for out of a five-star. He’s one of the most humble five-stars I’ve ever met. I usually don’t really like five-stars, ‘cause they’re kind of cocky and stuff, but he’s just humble. You can never tell [by his actions] that he was a five-star.

“And he’s just a very talented player.”

Hey, good teammates will be good teammates, but this doesn’t appear to be praise offered out of a self-instilled sense of obligation. This appears genuine and heartfelt. And no wonder. Trey Smith is the highest-rated recruit in Tennessee’s 17th-ranked class. He’s No. 14 overall in the Class of 2017 and the No. 4 offensive tackle. And best of all, he’s humble, which to me, translates as “coachable.”

Rocky Top Talk: Where is Team 121 most vulnerable to injuries?

Our buddy Will Shelton over at the old stomping grounds is asking scary questions today: Where would injuries be most costly to the football team this fall?

It’s a good, if frightening, question in light of the impact that injuries had on last year’s team. So where are we most vulnerable in 2017? Will identifies three positions: Tight end, running back, and wide receivers.

With Butch Jones’ recruiting prowess slowing down a bit after killing it for a couple of years, the depth behind the starters this year is not only inexperienced and unproven, much of it is not quite as anticipated as some of the depth was the last couple of years. We’re feeling good about Ethan Wolf at tight end and John Kelly at running back and Jajuan Jennings at wide receiver, but behind them is a bunch of questions. Running back especially is concerning. Carlin Fils-aime and Ty Chandler may well figure to be the same kind of surprise Kelly was for us last year, and perhaps the wide receivers will be everything we’ve been hoping they can be. But that’s just it. We just don’t know.

I’d add defensive line to the list of depth concerns as well because as much as I am excited about seeing Kendal Vickers, Shy Tuttle, Khalil McKenzie, Kyle Phillips, and Jonathan Kongbo keeping each other fresh, I have this uncontrollable twitching when I remember what happened when we had no defensive tackles left last season.

Hopefully, we’ve now been inoculated against the injury bug and the new strength and conditioning guy will help as well. It sure would be nice to have all of our main guys plan almost all of our key games this season.

Josh Dobbs leans on Peyton Manning to prepare for the NFL Draft

I don’t know whether we’ve ever had anyone smarter on the roster than VFL former quarterback Josh Dobbs. I’m betting that one the things that makes him so smart, though, is that he knows when to listen to the master. And Dobbs has relied on none other than another VFL former quarterback in the ever-awesome Peyton Manning to help get ready for the NFL Draft. Dobbs told this to Pro Football Talk Live:

“The best advice, easily, I’ve ever gotten from Peyton Manning is the importance of preparation,” Dobbs said. “He just talks about his preparation each and every week, his pre-snap process, his communication at the quarterback position and how important those three areas were. And then to go on the field with him and see the importance of each and every rep. Every rep is important and he’s trying to maximize that rep and make it a game rep. So to see how important your preparation is and seeing how important each rep is that’s definitely made me a better quarterback in my college career and that’s something I’ve learned and will take to the next level.”

The best learn from the best.

Derek Barnett and Butch Jones to attend the first round of the NFL Draft

Derek Barnett and Butch Jones will both be in attendance at the first round of the NFL Draft on April 27. In all, 22 top prospects and 13 coaches will be in attendance.

ESPN has projected Barnett as high as the eighth pick overall in this year’s draft, and having his college coach beside him will definitely be a very good thing for the Tennessee program.