It’s finally football time in Tennessee, and we’ll be squeezing every morsel of news out of every word that escapes new coach Jeremy Pruitt’s mouth over the next month leading up to the season opener in Charlotte against West Virginia.
But we are here to fully arm you with every bit of information we can leading up to the season’ start. In order to do that, we’ve got to get you up-to-date on all the new personnel you’ll be seeing on the football field in 2018.
More than 30 new players will suit up for the Big Orange who didn’t this spring. Many of those weren’t even in orange and white for the worst season in school history a year ago. That’s not a bad thing, either.
Pruitt came in and immediately determined the team that went 4-8 last year wasn’t equipped to win this year, either. So, he called on reinforcements. Over the next few days, we’ll brief you on the newbies at each position.
Let’s take a look at wide receivers and tight ends.
WIDE RECEIVERS / TIGHT ENDS
The Vols are going to get a major boost when a new old face returns this fall. Though he’s shaking a lot of rust off and reportedly hasn’t looked that much like his old self yet, redshirt junior receiver Jauan Jennings is back from injury, back from suspension, back from expulsion.
He’s back, and he’s expected to start once he gets all the way back and begins to play the way he’s capable. So, you can add him to this list, really. He wants this to be his final season in Knoxville, but in order to do that, he has to perform, produce and show NFL front offices that he can behave while doing it.
This is a huge year for him, and if Jennings has a huge year, the Vols will be a whole lot better because of it. Now, it’s onto the real new faces.
DOMINICK WOOD-ANDERSON, 6’4″, 257-pound Junior TE
Speaking of one-and-done hopefuls, the Vols won a massive recruiting battle in December when the nation’s top-ranked JUCO tight end decided he wanted to close his college days in Knoxville rather than Tuscaloosa.
He may wind up having the biggest impact of any JUCO transfer for UT since Cordarrelle Patterson. Yes, he’s that talented. Wood-Anderson is big and has exceptional hands. It’s almost a guarantee at this point that he is the starting tight end when the Vols open the season against West Virginia. Though he isn’t the most elusive player and won’t outrun a bunch of secondary members, he’s going to be a terror for linebackers.
Wood-Anderson runs great routes, and with the aforementioned hands, he’ll be a major threat for Jarrett Guarantano (or whoever wins the QB battle). There are several guys who could help Wood-Anderson out like Austin Pope, Eli Wolf and LaTrell Bumphus, but this is a guy who looks like he could be the next great Vols tight end.
It’s not out of the question that he could bolt for the NFL if he has a big year, and with the Vols not having any quarterbacks who can guarantee advancing the ball downfield, Wood-Anderson should be a major weapon who is targeted often.
CEDRIC TILLMAN, 6’3″, 212-pound Freshman WR
It looked like the 2018 recruiting cycle could have been a lot cause when you looked at the wide receiver position, especially considering prize recruit Alontae Taylor flipped to defense where he’s showing out as a cornerback early in fall camp. After all, on paper, all we saw was a really late, little-recruited receiver from Bishop Gorman High School who was thinking about walking on at other places.
On 247Sports, Tillman was a very low-ranked 3-star. On Rivals, he was a 2-star prospect. The Vols plucked him from Hawaii, UNLV and Weber State.
All Tillman has done this summer is show out in 7-on-7s, and it’s carried over into fall camp. He’s made some big-time plays, and though he’s raw and isn’t always consistent, it’s obvious the big-bodied first-year player is going to help. If not now, then soon.
He is big and can high-point the ball with the best of them, and Tillman also is getting open and is plenty fast. It’s baffling that a player of his ilk didn’t have a better offer sheet. It looks like he could be a true big find. Of course, he’s got to do it when it really counts, and nobody is anointing him a ’18 breakout star or anything, but there’s a solid foundation with which to work. David Johnson is known for getting the most out of his players, so Tillman could be the latest project.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to see him in the rotation soon. He was quite a late-cycle find that made up for some of the swings-and-misses.
JACQUEZ JONES, 5’10”, 169-pound RS Freshman WR
How well will Jones fit in with this new staff? That’s going to be interesting to see. The Florida product was a little-known player when Butch Jones and his staff took him a season ago. Jones should just be relieved that he was one of the few freshmen who survived the Jones era with all of his eligibility intact. Jordan Murphy (who you can’t remember making a play in 2017) wasn’t as lucky.
Jones is very small, but he is fast. He and Latrell Williams are dynamos who could excel in the open field with the ball in their hand. But how do you get the ball in their hands? He’s still slight, and he looks fully recovered from the knee injury that kept him out a season ago. But he’s behind Brandon Johnson and Jordan Murphy in the slot receiver position.
Can he help this year? We’ll see.
JACOB WARREN, 6’6″, 224-pound Freshman TE
Here is another player who needs to add some weight, especially if he’s going to go through the SEC battles at the tight end position. But when you talk about matchup nightmares, Warren could fit the bill.
His 6’6″ frame is exciting to watch develop, and if he can add 25-30 pounds, he’s going to be a force because he’s got great speed for his size and good hands, too. He reportedly made some plays during the Vols’ open practice Sunday and showed some flashes of things to come. Nobody is expecting him to go out and grab 20 balls in his first year, especially with at least three and maybe more tight ends in front of him.
But this is still a big year for Warren developmentally. With Jackson Lowe and possibly Sean Brown (if he doesn’t grow into a defensive end) coming in next year, Warren could get recruited over if he doesn’t prove he belongs. He’s off to a good start in showing coaches that he can do some things. Now, he’s just got to get bigger and stronger.
With his size and speed, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he can be a red-zone weapon this year, but he has a ways to go to do that, too.
JAMES BROWN, 6’3″, 229-pound RS Freshman TE
Taking Brown in last year’s cycle was an even bigger enigma than taking Jones. You haven’t heard much about him at all in his two years, and though former offensive coordinator Larry Scott recruited and liked him, it’s hard to see where he’ll fit in the rotation.
Brown didn’t play last year, and rarely do you hear of him this year, either. How will he fit in a traditional tight end role? You don’t want to ever call a kid a transfer possibility, but Brown has a lot to prove. The good thing for him is he’s got a fresh start and clean slate to prove it to a new staff.
He was never going to be an instant-impact player, but entering Year 2 of his career, he needs to take a big step forward and prove that he belongs in the SEC. We’ve got to hear a little about him to be able to write anything more than that.