Tennessee Spring Practice #1

[Fingers]

Full spring roster 2024 Football Roster - University of Tennessee Athletics

Transfers
11: Chris Brazzell (Tulane)
12: Jaylen McMurray (Temple)
13: Jermod McCoy (Oregon St)
19: Holden Staes (Notre Dame)
30: Jakobe Thomas (MTSU)
52: Eli Purcell (Wofford)
53: Lance Heard (LSU)
87: Miles Kitselman (Alabama)
99: Jaxon Moi (Stanford)

Here is a list of guys who were not in full uniform or working on the side: Javontez Spraggins, Masai Reddick, Brian Grant, Bru McCoy, Nathan Leacock, Christian Charles, Arion Carter, Elijah Herring, Peyton Lewis.

We had heard some chatter that redshirt freshman tight end Emmanuel Okoye had moved to the defensive line, but he was practicing with the tight ends on Monday morning. He does noticeably look more filled out physically, though, at least from a distance.

Trevor Duncan, another redshirt freshman, has moved positions, going from the defensive line to the offensive line. The move for the former Knoxville Catholic standout had been noted on Tennessee’s updated pre-spring roster, but it’s now officially official after seeing him working with the offensive line on Monday morning.

Redshirt sophomore Christian Harrison was with the group of safeties on Monday morning. We’ve heard he’s been repping at the Star position this offseason, so not a surprise there for a guy who played cornerback his first two seasons in the program.

LSU transfer offensive tackle Lance Heard looks every bit of the 6-foot-6 and 335 pounds he’s listed at. He is a mammoth individual. Heard doesn’t look to be carrying much bad weight either, which you’d expect given he’s spent a year in an SEC weight room already,

Notre Dame transfer tight end Holden Staes is long, athletic and sturdy. He’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds and again looks like a player who’s been in college for a couple of seasons. During some blocking drills he looked to be bringing some pop in his reps, which is good because he’ll have to block to play in this offense.

Second-year defensive linemen Daevin Hobbs and Tyree Weathersby don’t look like freshmen anymore, that’s for sure. They continue to fill out well. They are rotation candidates this season and big for the future.

Left tackle: Heard, freshman Gage Ginther, freshman Jesse Perry.
Left guard: Super senior Dayne Davis, redshirt freshman Shamurad Umarov, freshman Max Anderson.
Center: Super senior Cooper Mays, redshirt freshman Vysen Lang, freshman William Satterwhite.
Right guard: Super senior Jackson Lampley, redshirt freshman Ayden Bussell.
Right tackle: Super senior John Campbell Jr., redshirt sophomore Larry Johnson III, Duncan.

p.brown

As we knew coming into spring practice, wide receiver Bru McCoy, running back Peyton Lewis and linebacker Elijah Herring will not be going through contact this spring. McCoy was out running and a little bit with the wide receives during team stretch but all three were there and accounted for.

Nico Iamaleava made routes on air look effortless. Yes, there’s no defense and no shoulder pads. But he looked good and his final 5-6 throws that we were able to see were great, on the money with tight spirals.

Transfer wide out Chris Brazzell looked the part – long, lengthy and athletic. He ran routes well but was focused on holding onto the ball with Kelsey Pope smacking a pad on the receivers when coming down to make a catch. Freshman Braylon Staley looked quick in the slot. Squirrel White led the group. Freshman Mike Matthews was getting work in on the outside.

Dylan Sampson is now the veteran in the room and Cam Seldon looked focused, poised to take advantage of the next month to get better. Khalifa Keith looks good physically and Desean Bishop is back and going through drills.

On the offensive line, what a missed opportunity for Karic as he is currently not going through drills. With Spraggins out as well, the offensive guard position is wide open this spring. Guys like Sham Umarov, Vysen Lang (who will work at center as well) and Masai Reddick will get looks. As will freshmen Max Anderson and William Satterwhite.

Lance Heard looks like an SEC offensive tackle. John Campbell was flipped over to the right side and Trevor Duncan was with the offensive tackles today – learning as he went.

Christian Harrison was drilling with the safeties today, along with MTSU transfer Jakobe Thomas – who led most of the drills. Cornerback Jermod McCoy looked the part working with the cornerbacks. It’s a wide open battle in the Tennessee secondary this spring and expect some transfers – along with veteran safety Andre Turrentine – to lead the way.

Worth noting as well during specialty period, freshman Boo Carter was getting some 1-on-1 work with Josh Heupel and Mike Ekeler while returning kicks.

e.cain

For Tennessee’s quarterback room, redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava was running the show which was no surprise. In a short routes on air portion, Iamalaeava was accurate with the football.

The pecking order at quarterback was Iamalaeava, Gaston Moore, Navy Shuler, Ryan Damron and then early enrollee freshman Jake Merklinger. I’m not ready anything into Merklinger working last in drills to start the spring as he’s the youngest quarterback in the room.

Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach Joey Halzle was working with Merklinger on his footwork after a rep.

Both Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell II and Kaleb Webb dropped passes but other than that it was a solid routes on air portion of practice.

Early enrollee freshman receiver Mike Matthews looked the part in our short first look at him. Fellow early enrollee receiver Braylon Staley was shorter than I expected but also very quick.

One final offensive note, LSU offensive tackle Lance Heard is a mountain of a man. It’s easy to see why he was such a big recruit coming out of high school and again in the portal.

Sophomore defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs has beefed up a bit since the end of last season and could be a guy due for a breakout season. Stanford transfer Jaxson Moi looks big and should provide a big boost to Tennessee’s defensive tackle depth.

Sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Telander has slimmed down a bit entering the spring.

In the defensive backfield, MTSU transfer Jakobe Thomas was leading the way in drills for the safety group. Junior defensive back Christian Harrison was working with the safeties to open spring practice.

I’ve been as high on Oregon State corner transfer Jermod McCoy as nearly anyone in Tennessee’s transfer class and he looked the part on the opening day of spring practice.

r.schumpert

 

[WoodsmanVol]

OOOHHH Boy! It's feet ball time again!!!

 

[TAF]

GREAT to have you BACK Fingers!

 

[loosedog]

Boom! Fingers for the win!

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

If Davis and lampley end up starting on the OL we are in trouble

 

[Ten_Titans]

Curious if we ever get anything out of Emmanuel Okoye. Really seems like we're gonna be portal dipping at TE forever.

 

[Ten_Titans]

If Davis and lampley end up starting on the OL we are in trouble

Spraggins is obviously the RG. Lampley is just fine at LG.

 

[Hurley Mooncalf]

Thanks, Fingers! Gets me stoked for Fall.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Spraggins is obviously the RG. Lampley is just fine at LG.

Ah I forgot about Spraggins that makes me feel better. I’m not really high on Lampley but he can of course get better

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Exciting stuff, but is the Spring Game even happening this year? As I recall it's in jeopardy isn't it?

 

[Ten_Titans]

Exciting stuff, but is the Spring Game even happening this year? As I recall it's in jeopardy isn't it?

It was up in the air, but it is indeed happening.

Orange & White Game Set For April 13 In Limited Capacity Neyland Stadium - University of Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee football will culminate its spring with the 2024 Orange & White Game at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 13 in Neyland Stadium, which will be at a significantly

utsports.com

 

[butchna]

Merk looks jacked. College weight training speaking well.

 

[butchna]

Exciting stuff, but is the Spring Game even happening this year? As I recall it's in jeopardy isn't it?

No. ESPN+ will broadcast it.

 

[jpope9]

Nico has added some good weight!

 

[OldLofter]

Spraggins is obviously the RG. Lampley is just fine at LG.

It sounds like the OL is going to be a work in progress.

 

[JCHateSteve]

Time for everyone to get their off season fix.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Fingers getting ready for Spring Ball

 

[Vol524]

Thanks Fingers. I needed this today.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Can someone tell me, please - what are the black squares apparently held by four black "bands" on the back of the practice helmets?

This is what I'm looking at.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Nico has added some good weight!

I just came here to say the same thing. Hes definitely been hitting the weight room.

 

[Jpcisco]

Can someone tell me, please - what are the black squares apparently held by four black "bands" on the back of the practice helmets?

It's extra helmet padding to help prevent concussions and such during collisions in practice. The whole helmet is converted in white boxes. Eventually this will make it on the field imo and helmets as we know them will look drastically different.

 

[joevol33]

Thanks Fingers

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Can someone tell me, please - what are the black squares apparently held by four black "bands" on the back of the practice helmets?

It's a padded cap over the regular helmet. You can see the black tabs on the sides also. The straps hold it on the helmet.

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

Did they practice the extra point down lineman drill and, if so, who ran with the 1s?

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

I just came here to say the same thing. Hes definitely been hitting the weight room.

24 oz Porterhouse curls.