Gameday Today: The Vols quarterback battle continues

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.”

Canales did acknowledge that something “clicked” for Guarantano the other day and also insisted that he’s still a candidate to start.

And in case you think that whatever decision is made first is made forever, John Adams pipes up with a little Vols quarterback history to remind us that the guy who starts isn’t always the guy who finishes.

Eli Wolf earns a scholly

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:

That guy he was supposed to go up against in the Circle of Life drill was his brother, and Eli said that once the whistle blew he was only thinking about “puttting him on his butt.” Ethan was also surprised by the announcement, and Dad enjoyed the moment, as well.

Quick Hits

Video roundup


 

First week of NFL preseason offers glimpse of Vols’ future

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

  • TE Ethan Wolf
  • OL Jashon Robertson
  • OL Brett Kendrick
  • CB Justin Martin
  • CB Shaq Wiggins
  • S Todd Kelly

2017 potential early entrants

  • RB John Kelly
  • WR Jauan Jennings
  • DL Kahlil McKenzie
  • DL Shy Tuttle
  • DL Jonathan Kongbo
  • LB Darren Kirkland Jr

Gameday Today: Under three weeks to football and things are starting to settle

Football

Hey, y’all. We’re under three weeks to football:

https://twitter.com/Vol_Football/status/897442767768506368

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.

Quinten Dormady is not a “rah rah’ guy, but coach Canales says he reminds him of Phillip Rivers, so who needs rah rah?

Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop says it was a mistake to not get more guys on the field earlier last year and is excited about fixing that this fall.

On the other side of the ball, offensive coordinator Larry Scott is in the weird position of not having to live up to the expectations of his predecessor but having to live up to his numbers. John Adams points out the following, which is sobering:

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.

Hoops

The bracket for the Battle 4 Atlantis is set, and the Vols open against Purdue.

Grant Williams was only two rebounds short of three consecutive double-doubles during the team’s trip to Europe, but his coaches are still wanting him to play with more of a chip on his shoulder.

Could Tennessee Football Be Receiving a Jolt?

When Tennessee lost leading receiver Josh Malone to the NFL following last year, everybody expected the Vols would take a major dip in production at the position this year.

That may not be so cut-and-dry, after all.

Yes, UT will miss Malone, whose light finally came on last year to catch 50 balls for 972 yards and 11 touchdowns. Yes, the Vols will miss quarterback Joshua Dobbs and his play-making ability.

But it’s also possible they’ll be a better passing team with Quinten Dormady under center. After all, Dobbs did a lot with his feet, enough with his arm and won games with his grit and heart, but he was far from the most accurate passer, and he didn’t always make the best decisions.

Though nobody knows how Dormady will fare, he looked sharp in the spring game and also has proved he can make a lot of things happen with his big arm and escapability in limited game action thus far. He’s got a much better arm — much more live than Dobbs’ — and his ball placement is much better than the former UT starter’s, too. In other words, he puts the ball in a spot for his playmakers to make their next football move and get downfield.

So, what if the playmakers actually make plays? Don’t count out the receivers. In speaking with some people I trust during camp, this is an area where the coaches are pleasantly surprised and, it’s not a stretch to say, even very encouraged.

First-year offensive coordinator Larry Scott indicated as much to the media on Thursday.

“I tell you, I think right now it’s probably been more the receiver group, being that there are some young guys in there that haven’t necessarily played a little bit last year, but now they’re in some roles where that’s picked up for them,” Scott told the media, according to GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan.

“The way that they just responded to everything, with some of the things that we’re doing a little bit differently than we have in the past and different things like that, so I think that group has really kind of been a surprise, yet still has so far to go to be ready to go. But we’re definitely encouraged with what’s in that position group.”

That’s huge news for Tennessee’s offense. You’ve got to figure between Dormady and talented redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano, the Vols will find a capable slinger to man the helm of the offense. Also, junior John Kelly has star quality and a team-first attitude that should translate into a big year on the ground behind a deep, veteran offensive line returning more than 110 starts.

The trio of freshman running backs — particularly Ty Chandler and Tim Jordan — have been good enough to push Carlin Fils-aime to the point that it would be a surprise if CFA is the second runner off the bench, and fellow freshman Trey Coleman looks like he has the potential to be a good short-yardage back. So, the running game looks to be on firm footing.

Tight end Ethan Wolf was challenged by an anonymous NFL scout this week in a Mike Griffith article for SEC Country as being “soft.” So, if he takes that as a challenge and responds in the right way, the Vols could get better play than they’ve had out of the position. There are plenty of options behind him, so you’d think one of them will step up.

All that leaves is the receiving corps, which, heading into fall camp, was expected to be “Jauan Jennings … and everybody else.”

It hasn’t been that way at all.

Jennings — the junior from Murfreesboro who already has etched his name in the memorable plays department at UT with his torching touchdown of Jalen Tabor to punctuate the Vols’ comeback victory over Florida last year and the Hail Mary grab in the Dobb-nail boot win over Georgia — certainly has that “dog” in him. The only thing he has left to prove is whether or not he can perform when opponents aren’t shading safeties toward Malone.

Jennings is big and physical, and he is known for making plays. But he has to improve on last year’s 40 catches for 580 yards and seven touchdowns. In order for him to do that, he needs help.

If this fall is any indication, he’s going to get it.

The Vols did a lot of 7-on-7 work this summer when they really hadn’t under head coach Butch Jones in the past, and that looks like it has paid off. The quarterbacks and receivers are more on the same page than many expected at this early stage of camp.

The good news starts with senior Josh Smith, who thus far has held off the emergence of redshirt freshman Latrell Williams and return of sophomore Tyler Byrd to be the starting slot receiver so far. There’s a long way to go, but Smith is showing up and showing out. I know you may not believe it after the past two sub-par seasons, but based on what I’ve heard from practice observers, Smith is quick and fluid.

Think about the player he was before the high ankle sprain against Oklahoma during his sophomore year, leaping defenders and turning big plays out of short gains. That’s the Josh Smith that has shown up so far in practice work now that he’s healthy. That’s big news for the Vols, who also look like they’ll be able to depend on Byrd AND Williams at the position, too.

On the other side opposite Jennings, the Vols have Marquez Callaway, who has the ability to be a standout receiver. The sophomore from Warner Robins, Georgia, had a punt return for a touchdown a season ago against Tennessee Tech, flashing some ability. He’ll get an extended audition this year on offense. So, between Callaway, Byrd (who should be on defense, but I digress…) and Williams, the Vols are excited about those playmakers at the position. Their speed, elusiveness and wiggle combined with Dormady’s ability to put the ball in positions for them to turn and get upfield could be big for Tennessee.

Then there’s sophomore Brandon Johnson, who looked like he had the potential to do big things, getting a lot of playing time as a true freshman. He had just seven catches for 93 yards, but he also showed ability in practices and again looks good this summer. The second-year player from American Heritage High School in Florida is the nephew of Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson and the son of former major league catcher Charles Johnson, and those athletic bloodlines translated well.

So, we’re up to Jennings, Smith, Callaway, Johnson, Byrd and Williams. All of those guys have given UT fans reasons to be excited about the youth and potential at the receiving corps during the first couple of weeks of camp.

And that isn’t even to mention one of the biggest stories of practices so far. On defense, everybody is buzzing about true freshman linebacker Will Ignont. Offensively, that constant buzz-worthy player is receiver Josh Palmer, a player who wasn’t even a part of Tennessee’s class last year until very late.

He is a Canadian pass-catcher who moved from up North to Florida last year to catch the eye of college football teams. He was initially committed to Syracuse, but the Vols and Scott identified him, loved what they saw and convinced him to come to Knoxville. That looks like a coup.

The 6’2″, 198-pound receiver is the most physically ready of the freshmen, and he will help right away. All the talk you have heard isn’t just lip service; he’s the real deal. Though there’s always the threat of a freshman wall, Palmer is going to make a lot of plays very soon.

Though he was the 122nd-ranked RECEIVER — not player — in the 247Sports rankings, the Vols wanted him badly when they saw him. He’s proving that evaluation right.

“He was kind of a late bloomer,” UT head coach Butch Jones told GoVols247’s Grant Ramey. “You never really know until they get here. Again, it’s just a level of consistency. He hasn’t missed one rep.”

He’s made the most of those reps, too, as Jones told the media that Palmer would play “a lot of football” for the Vols this year.

Of course, everything hasn’t been perfect this summer.

But, the good has far outweighed the negative.

So, without question, UT will miss Malone’s big-play ability from a season ago. This receiving corps would really have the potential to be excellent had he not bolted to the NFL draft, where he was selected by Cincinnati in the fourth round. But there are enough quality talents at the position to produce and make up for those numbers as a collective unit this year.

First-year receivers coach Kevin Beard has a lot of good prospects on his hands, and it appears he’s getting them to blossom. If that continues and the Vols can get consistency from Dormady (or Guarantano), the passing game may not miss a beat from last year, and it’s even possible it can be better.

Gameday Today: My money’s on Ethan Wolf over an anonymous NFL scout

An anonymous NFL scout insults Ethan Wolf from the shadows, Chick-fil-A is sold out, you’re going to love Will Ignont, Hoke’s focused on stopping the run, another offensive lineman will miss the entire season, and Josh Dobbs will start for the Steelers tomorrow night. All this and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Anonymous NFL talent evaluator says Ethan Wolf isn’t tough enough

Mike Griffith with SEC Country last night published a post quoting an unnamed “NFL talent evaluator” as saying that the draft-eligible players on the 2017 Vols roster are soft. That’s likely brewing into the storm of the day, particularly in light of the fact that some players, particularly senior tight end Ethan Wolf, were specifically called out.

I’m no anonymous NFL talent evaluator or anything, so I don’t know whether that’s true or not. My guess is that it’s not, and my money’s on Wolf in a fight with any anonymous NFL scout, particularly this one. But if it makes our players more mad and more tough, thanks for the fuel, anonymous NFL-dude.

The Chick-fil-A Kickoff is sold out

Tennessee’s season-opener against Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium is officially sold out. Kickoff is on Monday, September 4 at 8:00 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

Playing Georgia Tech and its out-of-the-ordinary offense poses problems, but it’s not something the Vols can’t overcome with sufficient preparation. And John Adams reminds us that Tennessee would do well to get an early lead because run-first teams like the Yellow Jackets don’t overcome early deficits well.

You’re going to love Will Ignont

Linebacker Quart’e Sapp is apparently “still very limited,” according to Butch Jones, who went on to say good things about Darrin Kirkland Jr., Cortez McDowell, Elliott Berry, and Dillon Bates. Colton Jumper, having proved himself a reliable guy already last season, is also still improving:

The big news in the linebacking corps, however, is freshman Will Ignont, who is apparently already poised to really make some noise this fall. According to Jumper, Ignont has “gotten everybody’s attention,” and he’s an especially physical guy who’s also ahead of the game from the neck up:

“Will’s a lot, I mean, head and shoulders above like, when any other linebacker has come in here,” Jumper said. “He knows the game really well. He’s a smart guy. You can tell he’s really smart. I mean, like, when I came in, my first camp, it was just, you know, setting up the front, knowing where to line up. He’s way, way past that. He’s starting to get coverages down, pass patterns down.

“I think he just recognizes the game really well, and I think that just, right off the bat, can help him a lot.”

Run defense

Defensive line coach Brady Hoke says that “We’ve got to be a unit that this team counts on.”

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/895315933748633607

See? I told you so. Hoke also elaborated to Jimmy Hyams:

“Stopping the run, to me, is always the No. 1 thing you have to do (on defense),’’ said Tennessee defensive line coach Brady Hoke. “And you’re not going to stop the run unless everybody understands where the fits are and what different strengths and weakness each defensive call may have.’’

Fits in my house are generally somewhere in the vicinity of my six-year-old, but I’m not sure how that helps, to be honest. I do know, however, that stopping the run was a problem for the Tennessee defense last season and that they need to be better at that this fall.

 

Injuries

Freshman offensive lineman K’Rojhn Calbert, who reportedly was destined for a redshirt season anyway, will now definitely miss the season to undergo surgery to repair a pre-existing knee injury. Speedy recovery, young man.

Football – General

 

VFLs

Josh Dobbs is going to start for the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Giants Friday night, mostly because neither starter Ben Roethlisberger nor backup Landry Jones are available. Head coach Mike Tomlin is wondering whether his early assessment of Dobbs will survive under pressure:

“One man’s misfortunate is another man’s opportunity,” Tomlin said about Dobbs getting the opportunity to play in place on Jones. “I know he’s excited about it, I know I’m excited about watching him.

“He’s a bright-eyed willing worker that appears to be willing to learn from his mistakes. He also appears to learn by watching the mistakes of others. But we won’t know until we get him into a stadium. It will be good to get him into the stadium on Friday night.”

I love that whole “vicarious learning” thing, and I also love that Dobbs is keen on making sure that his mind overcomes his muscle memory:

“19 seconds left, and as a quarterback, it’s third and eight so you’re thinking I want to get a first down, but at the college level you’re thinking I want to spike it so we can call another play. But in the NFL, if you get the first down in bounds the clock doesn’t stop as we all know. So as the receivers are running back you change your whole mindset to ‘I gotta take a shot at the endzone’ because this could be our last play and we need to throw it into the end zone and then get a play after that.”

Also, if you’re interested in how people actually paid to crunch numbers rate the Vols in the NFL, GoVols247 has a slideshow of all of their Madden rankings.

Also, UTSports has a nice catching-up feature on VFL Jarnell Stokes. Always liked that guy.

Comparing Tennessee’s Win Probabilities with FPI & S&P+

That’s a lot of alphabet soup in the title. FPI (Football Power Index) is an ESPN metric; as such you’ll see it a lot on their coverage, in playoff conversations, etc. S&P+ is a metric used by Bill Connelly at SB Nation and Football Outsiders, measuring what it believes to be the four factors most critical to success (efficiency, explosiveness, field position, and finishing drives) plus turnovers.

Both are useful, among many other ways, in their projected win probabilities which update each week. Bill Connelly released his excellent 2017 Tennessee preview today, which gives us a look at S&P+’s projected odds for Tennessee each week. An FPI projection for Tennessee is also available at ESPN.com.

Before diving into their numbers, think of it this way for your own odds:  what percentage chance would you give Tennessee to win each game?

Add up all those percentages, and you’ll get your projection for Tennessee’s record this year. It’s one thing to say you think the Vols should go a generic 9-3 or 5-7. This way of thinking it through usually involves statements like, “Missouri, we’ll beat them.” The Vols should be favored, no doubt, but there’s a difference in assuming an automatic win (of which there are virtually none in the SEC anymore) and saying you give Tennessee an 85% chance.

The Vols are favored in nine games by both FPI and S&P+. But neither projects the Vols to go 9-3. This is because the percentages on so many games are close enough to 50%, the most likely outcome is the Vols will lose one or two they’re actually favored to win. This is what happens to almost everyone: how many power conference teams who were favored in at least six games never lost to an underdog? Last year, the answer was four:  Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Penn State, and Southern Cal. Saying you think Butch Jones will lose one he shouldn’t is basically saying you think Butch Jones is like most coaches in college football (Jones is 27-6 as a favorite at Tennessee and has covered the spread as a favorite better than anyone other than Missouri in the SEC). Upsets happen.

When you add the percentages, FPI projects the Vols to finish around 8-4; S&P+ projects a finish around 7-5. It’s an interesting neutral perspective. Here’s the comparison with Tennessee’s win probability for each game:

Opponent FPI S&P+
vs Georgia Tech 68% 56%
Indiana State 99% 98%
at Florida 38% 30%
UMass 97% 93%
Georgia 51% 51%
South Carolina 76% 66%
at Alabama 14% 7%
at Kentucky 60% 57%
Southern Miss 96% 87%
at Missouri 64% 61%
LSU 47% 29%
Vanderbilt 81% 74%

Note the differences:

  • How much of a toss-up is Georgia Tech? S&P+ puts it squarely in that category, giving the Vols a 56% chance to win. FPI is much more bullish on the Vols at 68%; other than the 18-point swing in their LSU projections, this is the biggest difference on the board. Vegas has the Vols as a 3.5 point favorite, so I’d say it qualifies as a toss-up.
  • I think S&P+’s odds for Florida are too low. Tennessee has had the better team in this match-up three years in a row, and has recruited as well or better than the Gators in that span. Maybe Florida gets elite quarterback play from Malik Zaire to make this difference; I’m not saying the Vols should be favored, but if they played 10 times I think Tennessee wins more than three.
  • Everything about the Georgia game suggests a toss-up. And history is the strongest indicator there:  the last six have been decided by one possession, three of the last four on the final play of the game.
  • What is Tennessee’s most difficult game after Alabama, LSU, Florida, and Georgia? FPI says it’s at Kentucky (60%). S&P+ gives the nod to Georgia Tech, but by only a singe percentage point over Kentucky (57%). No one likes the timing of that trip to Lexington the week after Tuscaloosa.

If you blindly assume the Vols will win all the games they’re favored in, you’re probably thinking 9-3 or better. If you blindly assume every game other than Alabama and the non-power-conference games are true toss-ups, you’re probably thinking 7-5 or worse. I think the latter assumption is safer, but the truth is usually in the middle. And in this case, the data can support what I believe will be the majority projection of 8-4.

Ethan Wolf and Colton Jumper post-practice comments

Ethan Wolf

On the question of whether someone is stepping up to replace the pass-catching void of Jason Croom from last year, Wolf said that there’s a lot of depth at the tight end position with him, Eli Wolf, Jakob Johnson, and Austin Pope.

Wolf also emphasized that the chemistry on the team is really good, even with the new guys. There were some very productive individual workouts throughout the summer, which he said was “very encouraging compared to camps in the past.” Hmm. Somebody should have circled back around to that.

When asked to comment about the differences between former offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and current OC Larry Scott, Wolf said that Scott is “very energetic.” He also mentioned that they have already installed their base offense that they ran last year and have added some new stuff as well. He said that he’s expecting to see more differences as time goes on and that he’s “excited to see how [Scott] distributes the ball this year.”

Colton Jumper

Jumper seems to be in tune with Jones on the challenge of having summer classes still going during fall camp, saying that “We’re still in summer school right now, so that’s been kind of a struggle because guys still have classes.”

Asked about the linebacking corps in general, Jumper noted that nothing’s really settled right now. He’s currently practicing at Mike, but he’s also played Sam, Will, and something called Cheetah, too, which sounds so much more cool, and is willing to fill in wherever needed.

 

 

 

Jones talks QB separation, freshmen running backs, Georgia Tech, and more

Butch Jones talked to reporters after practice last night and started with saying that the challenge right now is balancing practice and summer school. The message to his team was to make sure they are not just spending their time at practice, but investing it, and he said that having fall camp while summer school was going on was going to help develop mental toughness.

Jones also addressed several other issues:

  • He dodged a question about whether either Quinten Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano had separated themselves from the other in the ongoing quarterback battle saying instead that both are improving every day and gaining confidence.
  • When asked specifically about Dormady, Jones said he is consistent and getting more comfortable and vocal. He then said the same about Guarantano. Specifically, he’s watching several things, including their body language after a play to see whether it changes depending on how the play went.
  • Jones said that all three freshmen running backs are looking good and are going to play. They’re being taught the difference between being a rusher and being a running back, that they need to be able to run, take care of the football, pass protect, and carry through well on run fakes. He says they’ve handled it extremely well and that much of the reason for that is that John Kelly is doing a good job of mentoring them and helping them get ready. And don’t forget that Carlin Fils-aime is also still in the mix. So it looks like it’s not just Kelly and Fils-aime but that they’re getting the freshmen ready to contribute as well.
  • The team is starting to sprinkle Georgia Tech preparation into their practices. At this point, they are not especially concerned about who the Yellow Jackets quarterback is going to be. They’re more concerned just about their offense, which Jones characterized as a very, very explosive one that causes mismatches and match up problems. They are going to run their offense regardless of who’s manning the QB position. Jones hasn’t tabbed anyone in particular to be the scout team quarterback, saying the main challenge is being able to simulate the speed of the game with that type of offense.
  • After a brief hesitation, Jones acknowledged that the senior cornerbacks do have a leg up on the others just due to experience. He again mentioned how much he’s liking Justin Martin, that he’s growing up and maturing. Emmanuel Moseley getting cleared for all drill work is also a good thing. But the young guys are pushing the older guys.
  • When asked what they’re doing, if anything, about opposing teams kicking away from kick returner Evan Berry, Jones said simply that they need to be solid in their schemes and that the goal of the kick return unit is to get good starting field position for the offense. When teams “sky-kicked” against the Vols, their starting position was between the 34- and 37-yard lines, which they’ll gladly take.
  • At weakside linebacker, Quart’e Sapp is apparently still “very limited,” but Cortez McDowell has had a good camp. Jones likes that they have some versatility at the linebacker spot and specifically mentioned Elliott Berry and Dillon Bates. They’re happy to have Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Colton Jumper back, and they’re all being pushed by the young guys.

 

On Fewer Injuries & Better Health

Earlier today Joel had an informative post using Phil Steele’s injury data from last year. The fact that Tennessee led the nation in starts lost to injury last season shouldn’t surprise any Vol fans. But seeing the data presented in this format does give some additionally helpful perspective:

  • Tennessee lost 52 starts to injury last year. Only the Vols and Syracuse (50) lost more than 44.
  • The median starts lost last year was around 20. This means Tennessee was more than two-and-a-half times less fortunate than the average team with injury luck last season.
  • The Vols did this while facing what Steele ranked in his magazine as the 17th toughest schedule in the nation. Shout out to Syracuse, who lost 50 starters while facing the 2nd toughest schedule in the nation (Clemson, Florida State, and Louisville are all in the ACC Atlantic, plus they drew (and beat) Virginia Tech from the Coastal).

“Injuries are a part of football,” you’ll say. Of course they are. But this is the most helpful metric I’ve seen to show how abnormal Tennessee’s season was last year. Every team deals with injuries; no one but Syracuse dealt with this level of attrition, then had to play that schedule.

Injuries are not an excuse, but they are reality. The same is already true for the 2017 Vols with potential starter Chance Hall out for the year. The start and the finish last year left little room for grace and understanding, and this too is simple reality. But perhaps, if the 2017 Vols are able to do something this year we can all celebrate, we might be able to look back on 2016 with at least a little more understanding.

With a more manageable rhythm to the schedule, fewer expectations carrying a decade’s worth of weight, and significantly better odds on the injury front, 2017 should have a chance to be a healthier experience in more ways than one.