Vols Fall Practice #6

[Fingers]

Add cornerback Rickey Gibson III to the list of guys not practicing. The junior starter was not out there while we were present and might have been with some other rehabbing players working in the weight room.

Without Gibson the cornerback group was pretty light on Wednesday with just five players: Transfer Colton Hood, freshmen Ty Redmond and Tre Poteat, redshirt freshmen Marcus Goree Jr. and Colin Brazzell. Gibson joins fellow cornerback Jermod McCoy and top LEO Joshua Josephs as key defensive players not currently practicing.

Tennessee had one of its three projected starting wide receivers out there this morning, and it was Mike Matthews, who was in a red non-contact jersey.

Braylon Staley was not practicing for the second straight day and was watching stretch on the side while not in uniform.

Chris Brazzell II is yet to return to normal drills, but we were told he was doing some stuff in a helmet and shoulder pads prior to the open period of practice, so he continues to get closer to a return.

quarterback order remained Jake Merklinger, Joey Aguilar and George MacIntyre. Merklinger was the sharpest and most consistent on this particular day, and MacIntyre ended the period with a nice deep ball. Overall this was one of the cleanest routes-on-air periods we’ve seen in camp outside of an Amari Jefferson drop.

At receiver, Matthews was a standout and Trey Weary and Tommy Winton III had some good reps as well.

The linebackers spent a period working on defending the speed option off the edge, and William Inge was doing a lot of teaching between reps. Then his group worked on getting off blockers and getting to the field. Inge was coaching up freshman Jaedon Harmon after his rep.

p.brown

The tone was set from the onset by the head coach himself, Josh Heupel. He broke the team down at midfield after stretching and could be heard yelling, “this is the only day we got – take advantage of it.”

The offensive line was working in groups. The first-team looked to be (l-to-r) Lance Heard, Wendell Moe, Sam Pendleton, Jesse Perry and David Sanders.

The routes on our sessions was once again a good one. This is great progress just in terms of the sloppiness we saw over the weekend in the period. The past two days have been pretty solid. The quarterback rotation flipped back to Joey Aguilar first and Jake Merklinger (second) today, with freshman George MacIntyre repping third.

Mike Matthews seemed pretty motivated this morning and looked strong. He made a couple of nice catches and did a good job of catching the ball away from his body or high-pointing the football in the air.

The only drop I saw while the media was preset was Amari Jefferson over the middle. There were some missed throws at times (there always will be in practice, no reason to freak out), but hardly any balls hitting the ground due to drops. Part of routes on air was coming off play-action motion for the quarterbacks. Aguilar didn’t sell it as much as the other two.

Where Aguilar excelled on Wednesday was throwing it deep. This was the first time we have actually seen the quarterbacks air it out some. The talk about Aguilar coming in was he throws the ball well down the field (20+ yards). He looked good doing it today. Of the four deep balls we saw him throw, three were completed.

Merklinger had a strong day, in our opinion. We only saw him throw one deep ball and it was a great catch down the middle (seam) to Miles Kitselman. He was quick and accurate for the most part on the intermediate throws today. Merklinger’s consistency has been something of note in fall camp to this point.

Walk-on Trey Weary continues to carry himself like an upperclassmen who knows what’s going on. He’s been taking advantage of missed time from his fellow wideouts and is a guy who is not on scholarship that could be in line to play if the situation ever warranted. He made a really nice catch down the field today.

e.cain

On to routes on air, and it was a more entertaining one today. We watched two full periods instead of our usual one and Tennessee’s quarterbacks were starting to throw the ball down the field more. They threw a ton of intermediate passes from 10-20 yards while also taking a few deep shots at the end of the open period.

It was an overall productive day. There were a few drops but mostly from players well down the depth chart. There were some more incompletions but some of that is the nature of the length of the passes.

here are my unofficial completion numbers for the day. Jake Merklinger was 11-for-13. Joey Aguilar was 13-for-16 and George MacIntyre was nine-for-12. MacIntyre was also the victim of a pair of bad drops.

Merklinger was stellar on most of the intermediate stuff. Consistent throws right in stride including some good ones to Mike Matthews. The redshirt freshman was just two-for-four on the four deep balls he threw. Amari Jefferson had a bad drop on a ball down the seam but on the reverse side, Merklinger under threw Radarious Jackson. The freshman receiver made the catch on routes on air but it was unlikely to be a catch in a game.

Aguilar was a little more inconsistent on the intermediate passing but it’s easy to see why people are speak highly of his deep ball. He completed two of the three attempts I saw and I think Ethan David ran his route down the seem wrong on the one incompletion. At least a coach was barking at Davis after the play. Aguilar also threw a beautiful deep ball to Travis Smith Jr right in stride.

Noted what appeared to be a first team offensive line working together Wednesday and it was (left to right) Lance Heard, Wendell Moe, William Satterwhite, Jesse Perry and David Sanders. Offensive line coach Glen Elarbee raved about Perry Tuesday but that was still a surprise to see him in that group.

With Josephs sidelined, Caleb Herring, Emmanuel Okoye, Mike Bethea, Kellen Lindstrom and Jordan Ross worked at LEO. Boo Carter, Jalen McMurray and William Wright were working at the STAR spot. Felt notable that McMurray was working at STAR during the open portion of practice even with Gibson sidelined.

Lastly, Edrees Farooq was getting a good bit of run beside Andre Turrentine at safety in portions of practice open to the media.

r.schumpert

 

[WillisWG]

 

[Type Orange+]

First page.
Maybe.

 

[Mullins2010]

Happy to hear QBs and Matthews looked good

 

[Adam2014]

15-0 is absolutely back on the table.

 

[HooahVol]

I am thinking of our WR issues. Since we are fairly stacked at TE does anyone remember what UGA did to get Brock Bowers the ball back in '23. I know Bowers was the GOAT and as good as Kitselman and Staes are I do not expect them to get the yards after catch like Bowers did but I feel like if they are always open in space it really screws up the defenses. I have absolute faith in Heup and am sure he will figure out a way to get them the ball.

 

[strongj81]

Can't believe it's already 6 practices down! Boys are getting better everyday!

Gbo!

 

[cachurch]

HOBBS IS HUGE. Holy cow, excited for this guy. Looks like a grown man.

 

[Unconditional Surrender]

start the guy who throws the great deep ball.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

PHANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[IndianaVol]

Encouraged by Mathews showing out and the QBs seem to be making progress.

 

[#1HomeGrownUTVOL]

I am thinking of our WR issues. Since we are fairly stacked at TE does anyone remember what UGA did to get Brock Bowers the ball back in '23. I know Bowers was the GOAT and as good as Kitselman and Staes are I do not expect them to get the yards after catch like Bowers did but I feel like if they are always open in space it really screws up the defenses. I have absolute faith in Heup and am sure he will figure out a way to get them the ball.

Umm, guys who’s going to tell him……

 

[Mountvol]

I am thinking of our WR issues. Since we are fairly stacked at TE does anyone remember what UGA did to get Brock Bowers the ball back in '23. I know Bowers was the GOAT and as good as Kitselman and Staes are I do not expect them to get the yards after catch like Bowers did but I feel like if they are always open in space it really screws up the defenses. I have absolute faith in Heup and am sure he will figure out a way to get them the ball.

Staes is no longer with us

 

[volnado2]

So funny how they have different 1st string OLine and quarterback rotation.

 

[Volfan76]

Are these reporters off duty weather forecasters? I'm not sure what happened today other than Aguilar throwing a nice deep ball. Not even sure who even took first team reps at qb.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

So funny how they have different 1st string OLine and quarterback rotation.

I noticed that too. Satterwhite and Pendleton are the same person it seems.

 

[SaturdaysInKnox]

So funny how they have different 1st string OLine and quarterback rotation.

Seems like the staff are high on Perry and want him on the field - which is encouraging. I assume that's why Pendleton is getting more reps at center.

 

[Volfan76]

So funny how they have different 1st string OLine and quarterback rotation.

Not only that..Joey Aguilar was 13-for-16, yet supposedly struggled on intermediate routes and George MacIntyre was 9-for-12 and was "stellar" and "consistant".

 

[25vol]

I’ve fully given up on dissecting these reports. I swear it’s the same crap every year lmao you’d spin your head off trying to find a consistent narrative. Vols media can’t even seem to agree on what events are occurring in reality at these practices.

quarterback order remained Jake Merklinger, Joey Aguilar and George MacIntyre. Merklinger was the sharpest and most consistent on this particular day, and MacIntyre ended the period with a nice deep ball. Overall this was one of the cleanest routes-on-air periods we’ve seen in camp outside of an Amari Jefferson drop.
-E. Cain

The routes on our sessions was once again a good one. This is great progress just in terms of the sloppiness we saw over the weekend in the period. The past two days have been pretty solid. The quarterback rotation flipped back to Joey Aguilar first and Jake Merklinger (second) today, with freshman George MacIntyre repping third.
-P. Brown

 

[HooahVol]

Staes is no longer with us

Son of a..... I will turn in my Vol card. I appreciate your time.

 

[whm324]

The question I have is do "walk-ons" still exist? They called Weary one, which I know he was last year. Did they go to 105 or was that put-on hold? Any insight would help, thanks!

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Despite the reporters apparently watching different practices, my inner 13yo boy cannot ignore the shot on the field in the WVLT video.

Seriously, hearing that the O Line is coming together, even if the reporters get it wrong, is good. Reps, reps, reps, and reps.

The tone of the media session seemed "lunch pail" today and that's not bad. I'm hoping the guys are accepting to the grind and starting to get their assignments tweaked to a high level when the cameras go off.

 

[OmahaOmaha]

15-0 is absolutely back on the table.

Let's wait for a scrimmage or two before we crown 'em.

 

[Adam2014]

Before we crown 'em, Let's wait for a scrimmage or two.

Nope, 15-0.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

To this point in fall camp:

Positive:
- O Line
- D Line
- LBs
- QB Competition
- TEs

Mixed bag:
- DBs (DEPTH)

Areas of concern:
- WRs (DEPTH)!!!!!

Honestly it is refreshing to hear that the lines are gelling nicely. It cannot be understated how having lines helps win.

Glad to hear Mathews praise. He has a huge opportunity this year if he can just stay healthy.

I may just be missing it, but I have not heard a lot about RBs. I think it is just the nature of when the media is allowed to watch that RBs are not really the focus.