Vols Spring Practice #4

[Fingers]

Clips

Video


Notes

There were three VFLs seen in attendence as Darnell Wright was back for his second practice this week. Cade Mays and Jerome Carvin were also on hand for he workout.

Freshman Ethan Davis is in a red jersey as well but looks as if he’s doing everything as of now. We’ll see about contact as the week goes on, but he was in shells.

Cornerback Warren Burrell and linebacker Pak Garland donned a red noncontact jersey once again today at practice.

Freshman running back Cameron Seldon was in a red jersey today as well, so it would be assumed he’ll be light on the contact. Wideout Dont’e Thornton was not in pads today on the first day of full contact. This comes as no surprise as he was nursing a hamstring over the course of the past few weeks.

Quarterbacks, tight ends and receivers were at the 20-yard line going into the the end zone – working on red zone passing. It was not the most crisp period we’ve seen to date. There were a lot of high throws with some drops mixed in. Each quarterback did make multiple completions during the session while Gaston Moore honestly looked the best.

Later in the period, Nico Iamaleava connected with Squirrel White on a slot fade to the back corner of the end zone and that drew some raise from the offensive coaches. Good looking ball.

Arion Carter continues to draw praise from the coaching staff and position coach Brian Jean-Mary. At the defensive front, the group was under the cage doing it’s normal work. Dominic Bailey and Amari McNeill look a step quicker, at least from one vantage point.

e.cain

Tim Banks talked in February about how Tennessee’s defense needing to tighten up its coverage as one of the points of emphasis to improve from last season, and it’s been more than lip service based on what we’ve seen so far this week. The Vols have worked a zone-coverage walk-through drill at least twice during the open early portions of practice. The secondary came together for one on Saturday.

Got a first good look at the freshman cornerbacks and it’s an impressive trio with Matthews, Rickey Gibson III and Cristian Conyer. They are long and athletic and you can see their explosiveness and burst even when they are moving in drill work. Getting stronger will be key for all three as the offseason goes – and Conyer in particular – and the early buzz is positive about both Matthews and Gibson as they push for roles in the fall.

Again, buy your stock in Squirrel White now. He looks electric running routes and good luck covering him this season. White ran a perfect corner route that drew a thumbs up and some positive reinforcement from head coach Josh Heupel, then put a quick move on a slant over the middle – both passes were caught off throws from Joe Milton III.

Bru McCoy is not practicing as his left arm remains in a sizable cast/wrap, but he was hardly a spectator on Saturday. He was doing some coaching as he talked with freshman Nathan Leacock after a corner route ended in an incompletion, and he was also giving some pointers to wide receiver signee Nate Spillman, who was in attendance. It’s the kind of player-coaching that’s generally a good sign for your program.

The Vols appear to be looking at a couple of their young offensive linemen at center this spring. We saw both redshirt freshman Addison Nichols and freshman Vysen Lang snapping during some combo work with the offensive guards. Nichols obviously worked at center (having never played the position) last spring after he enrolled and you wonder if the same is happening with Lang, who played tackle in high school but figured to shift inside to guard in college.

Defensive end Tyler Baron did not have the big brace on his arm we’ve seen him wear the first few practices.

p.brown

 

[TheMagnificantOne]

 

[vol4220]

First, and thank you Fingers

 

[matt_mccoy19]

Love some fingers action

 

[PEPPERJAX]

The finger is strong with this one.

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Thanks FINGERS

 

[VAVol85]

Thanks for these posts! Getting a little insight into player development and position battles makes following the team a lot more interesting.

 

[IndianapolisVol]

You da man, Fingers!

Love all of the new depth (and size !) at cornerback.

 

[Hulavol]

Thank you finger man

 

[joevol33]

Thanks Fingers

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Squirrel is going to be unreal this season

 

[firedog28]

Love some fingers action

 

[orangebloodgmc]

Squirrel is going to be unreal this season

"The day the squirrel went berserk, in the first self-righteous church ..."

(this may come up a few times this season )

 

[strongj81]

First page!

Gbo!

 

[Frozevol]

From what I’ve been reading… WRU is BACK! Hopefully we will add QBU to that!

 

[Caspian]

From what I’ve been reading… WRU is BACK! Hopefully we will add QBU to that!

And CBU, and LBU.

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

"The day the squirrel went berserk, in the first self-righteous church ..."

(this may come up a few times this season )

SOMETHINS GOT A HOLD OF ME...YOWWW

 

[UTblood4life]

"The day the squirrel went berserk, in the first self-righteous church ..."

(this may come up a few times this season )

Haha ray stevens

 

[ftsandersvol]

"The day the squirrel went berserk, in the first self-righteous church ..."

(this may come up a few times this season )

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

"The day the squirrel went berserk, in the first self-righteous church ..."

(this may come up a few times this season )

In that sleepy little town of Pascagoula

 

[Frozevol]

And CBU, and LBU.

Been a long time since Reynolds, Kiner, and Walker

 

[vegasvolfan]

Thank you

 

[VOLywood]

I've wondered if Squirrel benefited last year from only being used to create mismatches over the middle and not having to be covered by top tier corners. The more looks we get at him the more obvious it becomes that he's a legit threat matched up against anyone.

 

[WaywardVol]

I've wondered if Squirrel benefited last year from only being used to create mismatches over the middle and not having to be covered by top tier corners. The more looks we get at him the more obvious it becomes that he's a legit threat matched up against anyone.

He shined in the bowl game without having those receivers. He’ll take a step. This staff will keep the WR full of playmakers. Squirrel is the next.

 

[Midas]

What’s the word about the safeties so far? Is it gonna be Turrentine or Walker or Charles taking over Flowers spot and will Tank keep his starting role or will one of those guys overtake him?