Football is near.
And it won’t be long until we’re gearing ourselves up for the Vols to usher in the Jeremy Pruitt era.
We all know 2018 likely isn’t going to be a pretty sight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk ourselves into the Vols being much-improved under the former Alabama defensive coordinator. After all, Butch Jones is gone.
You just can’t help this time of year to be a tiny bit optimistic, even if logic (and recent history) suggests this is going to be yet another rebuilding campaign in Knoxville. Pruitt wants to win now, and he definitely isn’t used to losing after successful tenures in Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee and Athens, Georgia.
He’s outfitted UT’s roster with more size, and an infusion of collegiate talent. And he’s won some recruiting battles for guys who must be able to come right in and make an impact.
But what about the dudes already on the team? Who needs to make a major step forward in 2018 for the Vols to rise above the 4-8 doldrums of a historically horrible season where it looked like the team quit on former coach Butch Jones and his staff?
OFFENSE
Drew Richmond, Junior Offensive Tackle
Tonight, we take a look at a couple of developmental disasters who have ability, but do they have the make-up, the responsiveness and the time to turn things around?
Perhaps the most important non-quarterback on Tennessee’s football team this fall is going to be former high 4-star offensive tackle Drew Richmond, a national signing day victory over Ole Miss when he flipped from the Rebels and gave coach Butch Jones one of his biggest pledges, both from a talent perspective and from a perception perspective.
After redshirting his freshman season, though and starting at the all-important left tackle spot in 2016, last season was a wash. Rather than improve on an up-and-down year thrust into the starting lineup, Richmond instead missed five games and played terribly at times when he was on the field. His performance was a microcosm of the team itself as he took a gigantic step backward and was even labeled a bust by some.
How bad was he last year? According to Pro Football Focus, he graded out third-worst on UT’s offense, per an article from GoVols247’s Patrick Brown. Only Devante Brooks and Marcus Tatum were worse. He can’t do anything about that now, and with a fairly clear path to start yet again, Richmond told Brown this spring that he has to look ahead.
“That’s just in the past,” Richmond said. “I can’t worry about that. I’m just focused right now on the growth of myself and the team. I’m just focused on this year. That’s all I can be worried about.”
There is no fairy dust for new coach Jeremy Pruitt’s staff, but as good as Walt Wells was on the recruiting trail for UT a year ago, his players didn’t respond on the offensive line. This spring showed some fair glimmers for the O-line under new coach Will Friend, and Richmond needs to build off some good performances and let it translate onto the field when it counts.
The Vols need for him to, too.
Let’s just say for instance that Trey Smith knocks off the rust and is the first-team All-SEC performer he was picked to be this preseason. Then, if Richmond responds and realizes three-quarters of his potential and turns into, say, a Dallas Thomas-type player this year, that gives UT two good-to-great linemen. With the prospects they have on the interior of the line, the Vols can find a serviceable duo there, which only leaves the right tackle spot as a place where guys like Jahmir Johnson, Tatum, Chance Hall and others can battle it out.
It’s not an ideal scenario, but it would be hard for UT to be worse along the front than it was a season ago. Under a new regime, it’s a fresh start for Richmond. With Smith, Ryan Johnson, Riley Locklear and Jerome Carvin in heated battles at guard and Alabama transfer Brandon Kennedy expected to lock down the center spot, that isn’t a bad start for UT up front.
Richmond turning into a solid player would be absolutely massive for the Vols. Is it possible he simply isn’t that good? Of course it is. He was embarrassingly awful at times last year, after all. But I refuse to give up on him just yet.
DEFENSE
Baylen Buchanan, Junior Cornerback
I basically could just take everything I wrote for Richmond, copy it, and paste it here. While they play completely different positions, the similarities between Richmond’s and Baylen Buchanan’s development [or lack thereof] are striking. It underscores just how awful the Jones coaching staff was when it came to developing players.
Again, Buchanan was a bit of a late bloomer in the recruiting process, but teams like Oklahoma, Ohio State and Louisville wanted the son of “Big Play” Ray Buchanan late in the process, and he chose to commit to the Vols. After he played in five games as a true freshman and wound up with 20 tackles, last year was horrific.
Was Buchanan a star as a freshman? Absolutely not. He looked bad at times but showed some promise. Last year, he couldn’t find the field, playing in just six games and registering four tackles. This is a kid who had eight tackles against Alabama in his first year in the program. With his bloodlines and that kind of career start, for him to be a nonfactor last year was puzzling, at best.
This past spring, he was arguably the Vols’ top cornerback. That’s promising, but it’s also scary. UT must have better play out of the position moving forward, and it’s obvious this coaching staff believed this spring that Buchanan was one of the better options. Will that continue into the fall? That’s the million-dollar question.
Here’s the deal: The Vols moved freshman Alontae Taylor to the position late in the spring, and he showed immense promise. They believe he could be a starter there immediately, and there’s a reason teams like Alabama and Georgia wanted him on defense. Also, the Vols received a major late recruiting coup when Bryce Thompson flipped from South Carolina, and he’ll start his career at cornerback, too. That’s another dynamic athlete to go with Taylor. Freshman Brandon Davis is a promising athlete, but he’s raw. Then there are guys like Cheyenne Labruzza, Maleik Gray and Shawn Shamburger who are “tweeners” and will fit somewhere in the rotation, but will it be at cornerback? Marquill Osborne is going to be a factor at the position, too.
But Buchanan really did look good at times this spring; that’s not just lip service. He was healthier, in much better shape and didn’t look lost a lot of times. Is he a No. 1 cornerback for an SEC football team? No, he shouldn’t be. But he also shouldn’t just be a special teamer who can’t work his way onto the field. Whether that was because of the incompetence of Jones’ staff or because Buchanan wasn’t doing the right things on and off the field, I don’t know.
But, again, I stress: This is a fresh start.
Buchanan has the opportunity to step right into the fray this fall. If he is solid, it’s going to make the team better. It’s also going to elevate the competition and make guys like Taylor and Thompson better.
The Vols need him to really battle for that starting gig.