2022 Fall Practice #2

#1

Fingers

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Watching the defensive line go through bag drills, you can easily see the burst from both Joshua Josephs and James Pearce. Both have some weight to gain in order to hold their own consistently in this league – and that will come in time – but the burst and get-off is really something there.

Amari McNeill has indeed changed his body as he looks completely different. Tyler Baron and Byron young continue to lead that group both in words and actions. They are always the first two in line and are constantly coaching up the rest of the group, just as Garner is.

The offensive line looked about the same as it did yesterday with Crawford and Mincey splitting reps with the first team at left tackle. The second offensive line group today consisted of (l-to-r) Mincey, Lane, Ball, Lampley, Davis while the third group was (l-to-r) Perry, Clipper, Nichols, Krivosh and Grant. Savion Herring, Masai Reddick and William Parker were all rotating in.

Jaylen McCollough is noticeably thinner and Kamal Hadden looks quick, though he’s sporting a heavy brace on his right elbow.

Each scholarship quarterback took their turn throwing routes on-air to an uncovered receiver. Jacob Warren made a real nice catch over the middle of the field on a throw that was high from Hooker. Alex Golesh liked it so much, he let out a loud, “yessir!” The running backs joined the group, catching balls from the slot. You can tell Dylan Sampson has experience running routes and catching the ball out of the backfield, though he did drop one pass from Hooker while we were out there.

Walker Merrill looked comfortable running routes again from the outside today. They’ll need him there to buy some time for the freshmen duo of Chas Nimrod and Kaleb Webb. Bru McCoy looked good running routes, catching every pass I saw thrown his way. Jalin Hyatt made an impressive grab over the middle of the field when a ball was thrown behind him.
e.cain

Cornerback Christian Charles remains in a non-contact red jersey and limited in practice though he did go through some drills, while Kamal Hadden, one of the more vocal presences on Monday, wore a big brace on his elbow.

You could already notice a greater comfort level in the newcomers as they went through their second practice and even a guy practicing on defense for the second time in freshman Cameron Miller looked more settled during individual work. Jaylen McCollough talked about being leaner and the veteran certainly looks that way. Both transfers look like quality additions in Wesley Walker and Andre Turrentine and their competitiveness is notable.

The order through individual drills for Tennessee’s offensive line continues to be the same with tackle Jeremiah Crawford and guard Jerome Carvin first up on the left side, followed by Gerald Mincey at tackle and Ollie Lane at guard, then RJ Perry at tackle and Savion Herring at guard.

The rest of the first group looks normal with Cooper Mays at center, Javontez Spraggins at guard and Darnell Wright at tackle, and Jackson Lampley at guard and Dayne Davis at tackle were in the next group and William Parker at tackle in the third group.

Among the freshmen, Addison Nichols continues to work at center like he did in the spring, Mo Clipper Jr. is at left guard, Masai Reddick is at right guard and Brian Grant is at right tackle.

Aside from a couple of drops while the media was present, Tennessee was pretty crisp throwing and catching the football against air on Tuesday morning. Freshman wideout Kaleb Webb had a couple of nice snags that drew praise from the coaches, as did redshirt freshman Miles Campbell, back in action after missing the spring and again looking like a really good athlete for his size. Veteran tight end Jacob Warren drew a “Yes sir!” from Alex Golesh for his route and catch as the Vols worked on a lot of slants and crossing routes.

Transfer wideout Bru McCoy continues to work at the back of the line behind Ramel Keyton, Walker Merrill and Webb at one of the outside receiver positions.

Freshman receiver Squirrel White had a drop as the open period of practice concluded.
p.brown

I thought Hooker had a couple of misfires yesterday, especially during the team period, but he was dialed in today. He looked especially solid going across the middle today as the Vols worked a lot of in-breaking routes during routes on air. Overall, Hooker looked more like himself

Tyre West was urged to finish a drill by Rodney Garner, as the Vols continue to bring the freshmen along.

James Pearce looks to be as advertised. A former SI99 member, Pearce shows explosiveness and quick twitch. He received praise on back-to-back occasions during bag drills from Mike Ekeler. It would not be at all surprising for Tennessee to find a way to get him work in third down situations this fall.

Miles Campbell, Jacob Warren and Princeton Fant all showed nice hands working across the middle in routes on air, and each guy certainly has the ability to run after catch.
m.ray

The biggest note from our limited viewing session was that Jaylen Wright was back in his traditional white practice jersey after spending the opening day of practice in a non contact jersey.

Hendon Hooker looked crisp in the routes on air portion of Tennessee’s practice. Reps stayed similar at the receiver spot with Cedric Tillman, Ramel Keyton and Jalin Hyatt being at the beginning of reps with Squirrel White and Bru McCoy not far behind.

Warren Burrell, Brandon Turnage, Wesley Walker, Kamal Hadden, De’Shawn Rucker, Christian Harrison and Dee Williams joined Charles in cornerback drills.

Jaylen McCollough, Trevon Flowers, Tomarion McDonald, Jourdan Thomas, Andre Turrentine and Cameron Miller worked at safety.

The linebackers were divided into two groups for drills as they were yesterday with Aaron Beasley and Juwan Mitchell working in one group and Jeremy Banks and Solon Page III working in the other.

Right behind Tennessee’s top four linebackers in order of reps was Kwauze Garland and Will Albright. Freshman Elijah Herring wasn’t one of the first guys taking reps and even earned some criticism from Brian Jean-Mary for his fundamentals during a drill. However, he absolutely looks the part and is physically ready to play. That’s not something you could have said about Aaron Willis last year.
r.schumpert

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#16
#16
Its refreshing to see QB's actually practice like they are supposed to play and run through their progressions on simple drills with the WR's instead of giving them the old JG 1000 yard stare.

 
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#18
#18
And suddenly we have bodies at CB haha.

I was curious as to how they were going to work that. Moving Charles to CB makes too much sense. Even though he looks good a safety.

Charles and Hadden are my picks to start
Turnage will be our STAR, and Walker or Turrentine working at NB.
Rucker will play a lot too.

Need the veterans and the young gunz to provide that spark out at edge. I think they will. This is going to be a fun season.
 
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#20
#20
Very, very excited to hear two things - one they seem to be working a ton on crossing routes and quick slants and the other is guys are catching and snagging passes that are even close.

Crossing routes and slants open up the downfield as much, or more, than a solid run game.
Guys catching balls thrown behind them, high, off balance, etc. helps the QB play a lot.
 
#24
#24
Also Walker Merill runs some perrrtty routes, looks pretty fast and has soft hands. He really looks the most fluid out there.

Our WR room might commit a few homicides this year. They be lookin deadly.
 

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