Tennessee held its first practice of fall camp Friday afternoon and Jeremy Pruitt’s 2019 team had to adjust on the fly as a heavy rainstorm forced the team inside after just a half hour of work.
Here are some rapid reactions and notes from Day 1, with the noted caveat that the media saw just four periods of work.
*** The Vols worked both half-line and full-line drills Friday, with our projected two-deep nearly being spot on. Trey Smith was at left guard but did almost zero contact work. Wanya Morris and Jahmir Johnson rotated at left tackle, while Brandon Kennedy and Ryan Johnson did the same at center. At right guard, K’Rojhn Calbert and Jerome Carvin got the most work, with Riley Locklear also involved. Notably, Marcus Tatum took the initial reps at right tackle with freshman Darnell Wright behind him and then Nathan Niehaus.
Will Friend, who can be quite demonstrative in his own right, was playing the good cop Friday, as offensive coordinator Jim Chaney went scorched-earth on several offensive lineman for a lack of effort and power on certain reps.
*** Mostly focusing on the lines of scrimmage today, I saw just a few minutes of routes on air. Jarrett Guarantano was pretty hot and cold on Day 1, mixing in some fantastic throws with a couple worm-burners and two airmails. The only drop I saw was by Josh Palmer. Brandon Johnson snagged two nice balls, and Jordan Murphy made one really nice catch on a deep post. Former Georgia transfer Deangelo Gibbs was working at wideout today. Expect him to rotate between offense and defense throughout camp. Also back at wideout was Malik Gray, who spent the spring on defense. Finally, I though Jauan Jennings (knee) was moving around just fine today.
*** The tight end group is clearly a bigger group, with Dominick Wood-Anderson, sporting pink hair, Sean Brown and Jackson Lowe. Jacob Warren is all of 240 pounds now, too. Fundamentals were a sore spot with the group today, with Brian Niedermeyer not pleased with the focus from the two freshman.
With the tailbacks, the only drill visible was at the beginning of practice during half-line work, where they ran quick outs to the flat. Ty Chandler, Tim Jordan, Jeremy Banks and Eric Gray, in order, all caught the ball extremely well.
*** Defensively, Darel Middleton and Elijah Simmons would be first round picks on the All-Get-Off-The-Bus Team. Simmons showcased his nimble feet and power during multiple drills. Middleton didn’t have a great a start to his first practice, drawing the ire from a couple GAs for a lack of intensity during work with the practice dummies. Redshirt freshman Kingston Harris was with the defensive line and is definitely a guy who has changed his body this offseason. I thought Greg Emerson looked better, too. Senior Emmit Gooden was definitely taking a more assertive leadership role with the unit Friday.
*** Freshman Quavaris Crouch was working with Chris Rumph and the outside linebacker unit. Same for Roman Harrison. Kivon Bennett is a guy who physically looks much different than even the spring. This is a big camp for him, as he looks to become a more serious rotational piece.
Kevin Sherrer was letting the veterans Daniel Bituli, Shanon Reid and Will Ignont lead the way. During team drills at the end of media viewing, the LB unit consisted of Darrell Taylor and Deandre Johnson on the edges with Bituli and Reid inside. JJ Peterson spent much of the media period standing with his helmet off talking to trainers.
*** In the secondary, Derrick Ansley appeared to be working with many of the options at STAR and safety, outside of sophomore Bryce Thompson who could slide inside on some situations, and Kenneth George, who was a full participant. Ansley’s group consisted of Nigel Warrior, Trevon Flowers, Jaylen McCollough, Theo Jackson, Cheyenne Labruzza, Aaron Beasley, Tyus Fields and Brandon Davis.
The cornerbacks working with Jeremy Pruitt were Thompson, Alontae Taylor, George, Kenny Solomon, Warren Burrell, Terrell Bailey, who needed assistance from trainers at the end of the period, and notably Jerrod Means. The freshman was recruited to play receiver and just yesterday Tee Martin talked about being excited about Means’ potential but the Peach State naive was working with the cornerbacks on Day 1. We’ll see how long this experiment lasts. Perhaps Pruitt will say later tonight it’s just a short-term deal with Tennessee’s lack of depth at corner for 2019.
*** Both outside linebacker Jordan Allen and freshman offensive lineman Chris Akporoghene were working with the S&C staff.
Here are some rapid reactions and notes from Day 1, with the noted caveat that the media saw just four periods of work.
*** The Vols worked both half-line and full-line drills Friday, with our projected two-deep nearly being spot on. Trey Smith was at left guard but did almost zero contact work. Wanya Morris and Jahmir Johnson rotated at left tackle, while Brandon Kennedy and Ryan Johnson did the same at center. At right guard, K’Rojhn Calbert and Jerome Carvin got the most work, with Riley Locklear also involved. Notably, Marcus Tatum took the initial reps at right tackle with freshman Darnell Wright behind him and then Nathan Niehaus.
Will Friend, who can be quite demonstrative in his own right, was playing the good cop Friday, as offensive coordinator Jim Chaney went scorched-earth on several offensive lineman for a lack of effort and power on certain reps.
*** Mostly focusing on the lines of scrimmage today, I saw just a few minutes of routes on air. Jarrett Guarantano was pretty hot and cold on Day 1, mixing in some fantastic throws with a couple worm-burners and two airmails. The only drop I saw was by Josh Palmer. Brandon Johnson snagged two nice balls, and Jordan Murphy made one really nice catch on a deep post. Former Georgia transfer Deangelo Gibbs was working at wideout today. Expect him to rotate between offense and defense throughout camp. Also back at wideout was Malik Gray, who spent the spring on defense. Finally, I though Jauan Jennings (knee) was moving around just fine today.
*** The tight end group is clearly a bigger group, with Dominick Wood-Anderson, sporting pink hair, Sean Brown and Jackson Lowe. Jacob Warren is all of 240 pounds now, too. Fundamentals were a sore spot with the group today, with Brian Niedermeyer not pleased with the focus from the two freshman.
With the tailbacks, the only drill visible was at the beginning of practice during half-line work, where they ran quick outs to the flat. Ty Chandler, Tim Jordan, Jeremy Banks and Eric Gray, in order, all caught the ball extremely well.
*** Defensively, Darel Middleton and Elijah Simmons would be first round picks on the All-Get-Off-The-Bus Team. Simmons showcased his nimble feet and power during multiple drills. Middleton didn’t have a great a start to his first practice, drawing the ire from a couple GAs for a lack of intensity during work with the practice dummies. Redshirt freshman Kingston Harris was with the defensive line and is definitely a guy who has changed his body this offseason. I thought Greg Emerson looked better, too. Senior Emmit Gooden was definitely taking a more assertive leadership role with the unit Friday.
*** Freshman Quavaris Crouch was working with Chris Rumph and the outside linebacker unit. Same for Roman Harrison. Kivon Bennett is a guy who physically looks much different than even the spring. This is a big camp for him, as he looks to become a more serious rotational piece.
Kevin Sherrer was letting the veterans Daniel Bituli, Shanon Reid and Will Ignont lead the way. During team drills at the end of media viewing, the LB unit consisted of Darrell Taylor and Deandre Johnson on the edges with Bituli and Reid inside. JJ Peterson spent much of the media period standing with his helmet off talking to trainers.
*** In the secondary, Derrick Ansley appeared to be working with many of the options at STAR and safety, outside of sophomore Bryce Thompson who could slide inside on some situations, and Kenneth George, who was a full participant. Ansley’s group consisted of Nigel Warrior, Trevon Flowers, Jaylen McCollough, Theo Jackson, Cheyenne Labruzza, Aaron Beasley, Tyus Fields and Brandon Davis.
The cornerbacks working with Jeremy Pruitt were Thompson, Alontae Taylor, George, Kenny Solomon, Warren Burrell, Terrell Bailey, who needed assistance from trainers at the end of the period, and notably Jerrod Means. The freshman was recruited to play receiver and just yesterday Tee Martin talked about being excited about Means’ potential but the Peach State naive was working with the cornerbacks on Day 1. We’ll see how long this experiment lasts. Perhaps Pruitt will say later tonight it’s just a short-term deal with Tennessee’s lack of depth at corner for 2019.
*** Both outside linebacker Jordan Allen and freshman offensive lineman Chris Akporoghene were working with the S&C staff.
