Let me start by saying that I'm not into the whole "Chryst crowd vs. Guarantano crowd." I thought that it was absurd to even engage in such manufactured tribalism. We're all UT fans and we all want UT to win. Just because we have a different opinion on which QB gave us the best chance, that doesn't make anyone less of a Tennessee fan.
Furthermore, that type of tribal thinking tends to put people into the extremes. Many put it in terms of "Guarantano/Chryst is good or Guarantano/Chryst is terrible." Truth is, both have strengths, both have weaknesses.
Let me just say that I wanted to see Chryst play more at times this year. I thought he did a good job of getting the ball out quickly and seemed to put the offense into better protections. There is much more to playing QB than throwing the ball. His INT before the half against Missouri was a game-changer, but I think it was a communication issue. Had he been given the first team practice reps, that probably doesn't happen is my guess (but just a guess).
That said, Guarantano clearly has more arm talent than Chryst. Guarantano doesn't turn the ball over and he's generally pretty accurate. His flaws are that he holds the ball too long and doesn't get through his progressions quickly. And, I think, he doesn't understand protections or read defenses quite as well as Chryst does. I think.
I bring this up because I'm seeing a lot of folks saying Guarantano shouldn't be the QB in 2019, Tennessee will never get over the hump with him at QB, etc. I don't buy that. Here's the thing....Jarrett's shortcomings are correctable. They're not about God-given talent (or lack thereof). It's not about lack of toughness. He has all that. His shortcomings are all coachable. He can get better at going through his progressions. In fact, he improved on that from last year, no reason to think he cannot further improve. He can understand protections and reading defenses better, as well.
There is no guarantee that he will get better in those areas. But I suspect he will. Let's not act like we know for certain that 2019 Jarrett Guarantano can't be a star QB. I suspect he can. Especially if his OLine gets better. It can't get much worse.