Fingers
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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)
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.
p.brownLeft 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.
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.
e.cainWorth 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.
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.
r.schumpertI’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.
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