Peyton, wearing that same Cutter & Buck polo he always wears on Rocky Top (hey, I have one, too; it’s a nice shirt), has some words of wisdom for the team:
The Wolf brothers enjoy a little air time on ESPN talking about Eli’s shiny new scholly:
Hey, look! It’s John Kelly running through a giant bowl of pasta in super slo-mo!
It’s also nice to see some practice by the d-line against that nasty cut-block stuff.
And more practice highlights from this afternoon, including the dreaded green rubberbands:
Brett Kendrick, Micah Abernathy, and Trevor Daniel talk to reporters after practice this afternoon:
Did you miss Derek Barnett’s third sack last night? Here ’tis:
Mills ran for 771 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and was named to the preseason All-ACC team. He missed three games in 2016 due to two other suspensions for violations of unspecified team rules.
Georgia Tech did win all three games that Mills missed last season, but he figured to be a key cog in the crazy system this fall. According to ESPN, the other B-backs on the Yellow Jackets roster “have combined for just 14 career carries, 13 of which came from senior Brady Swilling, who was just awarded a scholarship this week after four years as a walk-on.” Of course, a B-back in the GT system is just one position of about 11 that might run the ball, but still.
One of the side benefits of having to endure all of the nonsense about Butch Jones actually thinking positive thoughts is that it has distracted us from the old habit of rehashing for the thousandth time the misery of the last decade. It’s kind of too bad that Dave Hooker didn’t post his Top 10 reasons for Tennessee’s slide over the past decade last year sometime, because it’s actually one of the better treatments of the issue even if it is, hopefully, old news. Me, I’m side-stepping the blame-game and just trying to identify the first domino to tip, which I believe was Fulmer’s hiring of Dave Clawson at the wrong time. Lots of action set in motion by that ill-fated decision.
SB Nation’s Bill Connelly ranks every SEC team using all of his fancy numbers, charts, and stuff. Spoiler: Tennessee is in “Tier 3” with six other teams, after a Tier 2 consisting of Auburn and LSU and Tier 1 consisting of the team you think is in Tier 1.
247Sports has a nice feature on Jajuan Jennings, who they rank as No. 4 on their ongoing list of Tennessee’s most important players in 2017. And Scout, which is now showing up on 247‘s page, has a similarly nice feature on offensive lineman Marcus Tatum, who’s trying to work his way into significant playing time, largely by gaining weight. I didn’t follow it all the way to the end, but I think the article concludes with a slideshow documenting Tatum’s weight gain. Incidentally, my Facebook page shows basically the same thing.
Defensive tackle Kendal Vickers is making me cringe by admitting that “every D-lineman hates to be cut-blocked” when asked about the challenges of playing Georgia Tech. Are you worried about injuries to defensive tackles in the very first game of the season? Join the club!
High five to hoopster Grant Williams, who lobbied John Currie to open Smokey’s Sports Grill in Anderson Training Center for summer sessions so the athletes didn’t have to bulk up on Gus’ Good Times Deli. I mean, Gus and his seasoned fries are partly responsible for some of the aforementioned images on my Facebook page, but I’m not an athlete and “offensive-lineman-shaped” does not equal “offensive lineman,” so good call, Currie.
If a lawn mower company is going to sponsor a bowl game played on artificial turf, it had better at least be named the “Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.”
With the commitment of Under Armour All-American Punter Paxton Brooks, the Vols are now up to 21 public commitments. With numbers tight already and a lot of good players left on the board in mid-August, some might be surprised to see Tennessee use a scholarship on a punter. But there shouldn’t really be any surprise when you consider Butch Jones’s Beamer-esque focus on special teams and the success he’s had with punters in particular in his relatively short tenure at Tennessee.
While they don’t get the publicity of the Peyton Mannings and now Derek Barnetts, UT had FOUR of its former punters in the NFL last season – Dustin and Britton Colquitt, of course, along with the two Butch Jones alums in Michael Palardy (now in a training camp battle in Carolina) and Matt Darr (in his third season with Miami). Trevor Daniel will be a senior this season and is likely to continue the trend. Brooks will be competing with a handful of walk-ons starting in 2018 and will be given every chance to win the job right off the bat.
Ramifications on the 2018 Recruiting Class
With approximately four spots remaining in the 2018 class – barring attrition, of course – here are five takeaways we can glean from Butch deciding to bring on a punter.
1. No tight end in this class
Although things have been trending away from Tennessee with its top two (and arguably only) tight ends on the board in Tommy Tremble and James Mitchell, I think it’s safe to say that there won’t be another tight end in this class to go with current commitment Jacob Warren. And with the emergence of freshman Latrell Bumphus in fall camp as a future star to go with fellow projected 2018 roster tight ends Warren, Eli Wolf, Austin Pope, and James Brown (not to mention a rumored position change – odds are its freshman Princeton Fant, aka Jason Croom 2.0), the spot is in good hands.
2. Only one more receiver
It’s a virtual certainty that UT won’t have room for more than one wide receiver. While some have speculated that there was already just one spot left for a WR, there has also been speculation that UT could try to find room for two elite players. And with fellow South Floridians Shocky Jacques-Louis and Jeshaun Jones both really liking the Vols, that seemed like a possibility until last night. We’ll get into a comparison of those two prospects at another time, but suffice it to say that it is first-come, first-served at this point, because as of right now there just doesn’t appear to be room for both.
3. No second linebacker
This move also likely closes the door on taking a second linebacker in this class (cough*Cam Jones*cough). As we wrote about just a few days before he committed, current Vols linebacker commitment Matthew Flint is an outstanding prospect and a great fit for what Tennessee wants at the position. And while Jones is a nice prospect in his own right, the numbers just aren’t going to work out for him, both in terms of availability in this class as well as need on the roster with a projected 10 linebackers in 2018.
4. There’s still room for OL Jerome Carvin and CB Jaycee Horn
One thing that hasn’t changed is that the Vols are all in on offensive lineman Jerome Carvin and cornerback Jaycee Horn. Barring something incredibly unforeseen, those two have spots in this class whenever they want them. Horn is expected to make a September decision while Carvin recently postponed his commitment – one that was supposed to take place on Wednesday and likely would have been good news for the Vols. Tennessee is trending with Horn and remains the heavy favorite for Carvin despite the delay in his public announcement. Interestingly, both also really like Alabama and while the Tide has heavily recruited them at this point, neither appear to be takes for Alabama.
5. There’s still room for one more defensive end
The other thing that hasn’t changed is Tennessee’s desire to add one more defensive end. With Azeez Ojulari committing to Georgia on Thursday and Adam Anderson continuing to look like a long shot, the Vols’ defensive end board doesn’t look any different than it did when we looked at it just over a week ago. And I’m still a big fan of high floor project/prospect Kayode Oladele, who recently set his official visit to Knoxville for the September 30 game against Georgia. What is also certain is that the Vols will need to continue to recruit JUCO stud Dorian Gerald, who is one of the jewels of the class and a plug-and-play rotation guy (at worst) in 2018. He’s going to take some other official visits, and home state South Carolina won’t give up on him until he sits in his first class in Ayres Hall in January, 2018. My guess is that the same goes for the other out-of-state defensive line commitment Jamarcus Chatman. Therefore, Tennessee will continue to recruit a bunch of defensive ends and will likely expand the board during the season as more prospects emerge. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Vols look to the JUCO ranks again if they can find another instant impact prospect, especially if a guy like Jonathan Kongbo has a big season and flirts with an early entry to the NFL.
Earlier this week Jimmy Hyams quoted some of Tennessee’s offensive linemen saying they wanted John Kelly to get 2,000 yards this season. Perhaps they’re unaware that no one at Tennessee has ever run for even 1,500 yards in a single season, but hey, aim high!
It’s not fair to Kelly to call his sophomore season a good news/bad news campaign. He is Exhibit A in the, “Just because they were playing behind someone great doesn’t mean they can’t be great,” argument for Team 121. It was no sin to be third team behind Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara in their final seasons in Knoxville. The “bad news” side of the equation is, when he did get his chances, most of Kelly’s productivity came against lesser competition: only six carries in the first five games plus Alabama, none against Florida or Georgia. Most of his 630 yards last year came against Texas A&M, Nebraska, and the late October-November stretch that didn’t feature a Top 50 defense.
The good news is those 630 yards came on only 98 carries. That’s 6.43 yards per carry. And when you break out the media guide and compare that to what the leading running back has done at Tennessee since 1980, it’s very good news indeed:
LaMarcus Coker is an interesting comparison for John Kelly. Coker’s 2006 season came as part of a crowded backfield with Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty, and much of his success came against lesser opponents: 417 of his 696 yards came against Marshall, Memphis, and Vanderbilt; 176 of those yards on two runs. He was dismissed from the team the following season while still competing with Foster and Hardesty. But John Kelly has the lead back role all to himself this fall.
Having historically great numbers against below average competition is no guarantee. It’s what makes Kelly both so intriguing and so difficult to project this fall. As he and the line are chasing numbers, Tennessee’s single season rushing record can be had if he averages 113 yards per game. As the lead back in what should continue to be an up-tempo offense, that’s not out of the question. It’s strange to think about something like that just a year after being so sure we were going to see the career record fall to Jalen Hurd. School records aren’t a fair expectation, but it might not be an exaggeration.
What can we expect from John Kelly this fall? He’ll run hard and his linemen talk like they’ll genuinely enjoy blocking for him. That’s always a good sign. Maybe he’ll settle at solid and some of the Vols’ talented freshmen will get to make some hay as well. But there is at least the potential for something special in Tennessee’s backfield from #4.
Thursday night’s Twitter announcement from West Columbia, South Carolina, punter Paxton Brooks that he’d committed to Tennessee may not have gotten you all hot and bothered.
Maybe it should have (at least in football terms, of course).
The 6’5″, 170-pound specialist chose the Vols over offers from North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Army. No, those aren’t the best football programs in the country, but Brooks is an Under Armour All-American, so he must be doing something right.
Brooks gives Tennessee a commit at a much-needed area of need with stud senior Trevor Daniel set to run out of eligibility and head to the NFL after 2017. Former Farragut punter Joe Doyle — himself another former Under Armour All-American — is a walk-on at UT with a high upside, but the Vols needed to make sure they had a viable player at a vital position.
If you don’t think so, fast forward to the 2:18 point of this video to recall Daniel’s punt against Georgia in 2015 — one of the pivotal plays in a crucial win.
Yeah, what were you saying again?
Tennessee head coach Butch Jones does a great job recruiting kickers, and while getting their commitments aren’t going to cause many to dance in the streets, they’re necessary. Brooks has the potential to be a good one.
When it comes to kickers, few services are more well-known than Kohl’s, who ranks him the second-best punter in the nation. The Vols moved on from the hiccup-quick commitment of Skyler DeLong, who pledged to UT before visiting — and ultimately flipping — to Alabama back earlier this summer.
“Ever since I came to campus for the first time, I fell in love with Tennessee,” Brooks told VolQuest’s Jesse Simonton and Austin Price.
That’s good news for UT, who needs Brooks to stick and be a stud. Here are some highlights from his junior year, where he hit 8-of-10 field goals and averaged 41 yards per punt.
Brooks will have some huge shoes to fill in big-booted Daniel, who went from walk-on to revelation in Knoxville following the resurgence of Michael Palardy and Matt Darr in their final two years at UT. Everybody knows about the Colquitts, and UT has done a very good job grabbing punters over the years. Maybe Brooks is the next in a long line of strong kickers.
With spots already at a premium to fill out this class, the Vols now have 21 pledges. It’s going to be interesting to see how they fill the remaining handful of spots. You have to think that cornerback Joe Horn and offensive lineman Jerome Carvin are two of the biggest targets remaining on the board. Beyond that, the Vols would almost certainly not turn away two pass-rushing defensive ends, and they’re targeting some big names. But they also would like to add a receiver or two, and that would put them over what presumably would be the 25 players they’re allotted.
Jones rarely has an issue with numbers and makes them work out, but with such a strong group of prospects in the fold, it’s going to be interesting to see who — if any — the Vols cut loose or try to convince to get creative to make the numbers work. Regardless, as Brooks’ tweet says, he’s got a full scholarship, which means he’ll take a spot in that class, if accurate.
The Vols quarterback battle continues, a happy pack of Wolfs, a host of quick hits, and a video roundup, all in today’s Vols link roundup.
Quarterbacks
Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who is reportedly running a close second to Quinten Dormady for the starting job, reportedly had a really good practice the other day. Some believe that practice is not especially conducive to what Guarantano does best, which is to run and evade tacklers, so news that he’s a bit of a gamer shouldn’t surprise. Guarantano does seem a bit indecisive on whether to embrace the label, though:
“I don’t want the label ‘gamer,’ but I want people to know that I am a gamer,” Guarantano said Sunday afternoon during Tennessee’s annual media day. “I think that when those bright lights are on, I’m able to really play some ball.”
Everybody wants the Vols QB to be a winner, of course, but identifying a winner before the game is played is the classic chicken and egg problem, so quarterbacks coach Mike Canales is left with what he believes is the best criteria on which to judge Dormady and Guarantano. Here’s what he’s looking for:
“You’ve got to be physically tough, you’ve got to have mobility, you’ve got to have arm strength, the ability to process information quickly,” Canales said. “I mean those things have to happen because you’ve got to be able to process what defenses are doing. I’m very into seeing how much the kids (we) recruit can process that information. I like to get to know them a little more, so you know if they can or not.
“Everybody wants the Tom Brady, the Peyton Manning, you know, the Aaron Rodgers. Everybody wants that. But they’re all unique in their own special way. They all have special strengths. It’s finding a young man that fits what you’re looking for and has great character.”
You may not have known this, but tight end Ethan Wolf’s younger brother Eli, also a tight end for the team, didn’t have a scholarship until a couple of days ago, when this happened:
Kick returner Evan Berry on offense? Maybe, but his priorities are kick returner and safety. Oh, and getting healthy, although he’s at least dressed out for practice, so it must not be anything too concerning.
According to 247Sports, Tennessee is now emphasizing grit on the recruiting trail. Not grits. Grit. Toughness. What they’re calling “competitive character.” It’s another tweak that comes as a response to the late-season collapse last year.
After being shut out of the previous few NFL Drafts in an historic drought, the Vols broke through in a big way in 2017. Headlined by first-rounder Derek Barnett to the Eagles, a total of six Volunteers were drafted. In addition, two other prominent seniors in tight end Jason Croom (Buffalo Bills) and defensive end Latroy Lewis (Oakland Raiders) were signed to UDFA contracts, and since then cornerback Malik Foreman has signed with the New Orleans Saints.
This is a big deal for Butch Jones, as this was his first senior/draft-eligible junior class to be up for the NFL Draft. The lack of Vols drafted has certainly been used against Butch and Tennessee on the recruiting trail, and frankly there was not much Jones could say or really do about it. The success he’s had in dramatically upgrading the talent on the Vols roster in the face of this is even more astounding.
As it should have, the UT football program made a very big deal on social media and with recruits about the results of the 2017 NFL Draft. You’ve already heard 2018 running back recruits talk about being “the next Alvin Kamara” and more than one defensive end prospect talk about how Derek Barnett is his role model. And of course Josh Dobbs an official Torchbearer and an ambassador of the program due to both his on and off the field exploits – he should be a role model that Butch holds up when recruiting similarly academic-minded prospects.
But while getting guys drafted is a big deal, the performances of your NFL alumni, especially guys newly in the League, can be leveraged even more. And if the first week of the NFL Preseason is any indication there is going to be a lot to promote starting this season.
Obviously when your first-round pick dominates in his NFL debut to the tune of two sacks that’s going to generate a ton of headlines, and that’s exactly what Derek Barnett did. But Kamara showed out as well as the starter for the Saints, and Josh Malone scored a touchdown in his debut with the Bengals. Dobbs made a highly-publicized start for the Steelers, and he settled in after a rough start and showed that he’s got the tools to be an NFL QB. Jalen Reeves-Maybin led the Lions in tackles in his debut, and LaTroy Lewis looks highly likely to make the Raiders’ active roster after a very good camp and a two-sack opening night of his own.
Coming off back-to-back nine-win and Top 25 seasons and with three bowl wins in a row, Butch and Tennessee have a lot to sell on the recruiting trail in terms of being a blue-chip program back on the rise after a relatively brief drop during the tenure of [REDACTED]. But in the end, what kids want is to make it to the NFL, and before this season no matter how good of a salesman Butch was, he didn’t have that to sell. As schools like Alabama and Ohio State and Florida State show you, selling on-field success and a platform to the NFL are linked, as of course the programs with the most future NFL talent are the ones consistently competing for national championships. The good news is that now Butch CAN sell the NFL dream as well as an improved program. And with some 2017 seniors and several potential NFL early-entrants (who you never want to lose but are the sign of a team stocked with talent) he should have more to sell next summer as well. We should expect him to sell the heck out of it starting immediately and it should start to yield results beginning with the 2018 class.
2017 seniors with the best chances of being drafted
GoVols247 has slideshows predicting the Vols’ offensive and defensive depth charts. Their projected starters aren’t much different than ours, except that 247 has Marquez Callaway starting instead of Tyler Byrd, Jack Jones starting instead of Coleman Thomas (because he’s the backup for Jashon Robertston at guard, who would move to center in place of Thomas), and Justin Martin starting instead of Emmanuel Moseley at corner. They’re probably right about that last one, so I’ve updated our chart accordingly.
Vince Ferrara goes down the list and updates how he feels about each position group now compared to how he feel before fall camp started. The answer is “better” about the receivers, tight ends, defensive line, and defensive backs, and “worse” about the offensive line and linebackers.
Butch Jones said some things about Jajuan Jennings the other day, and now every site has an article on Jennings’ leadership. Representative samples:
Jennings isn’t the only receiver in the news, though. Marquez Callaway, who’s in the running for a starting spot at wide receiver and as the team’s primary punt returner, also threw the shotput and managed the girls track team in high school. I’m guessing there was a girl involved. Tyler Byrd, too, is competing for a job with the ones at receiver and has the added challenge of transitioning to the position from his high school position at DB.
UT scored 473 points last season. That was second only to the 1993 team (484 points).
Tennessee’s 1998 national championship team scored 431 points. In 1997, UT had All-American Peyton Manning at quarterback, offensive guru David Cutcliffe calling the plays and an offensive depth chart manned mainly with future pros. And it scored 45 fewer points than it did in 2016.
Mike Debord was oft-criticized despite coordinating an offense that was pretty darn good.
Hear what Butch Jones had to say at his press conference yesterday about several different things, including how far Jonathan Kongbo and Jajuan Jennings have come since last season, how the linebacker position has changed over the past several years, and the power of positivity.