Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
2:50 pm
March 9, 2016
Offline
[Image Can Not Be Found]When you take a glimpse of Tennessee’s two-deep football roster, the spoils of coach Butch Jones’ recruiting labors are oozing from all corners. Entering his fourth year as the head of the program, there’s been a complete roster flip on Rocky Top.
Now, there are no excuses when it comes to winning and winning big.
Not only is there talent up and down the depth chart, but there is also a lot of experience. Out of the power conferences, only LSU and Louisville return more starters than Tennessee’s 17—a number it shares with several other programs, according to Phil Steele.
Toss in the fact the Vols have made incremental progress in each of Jones’ first three years, and there’s no reason why UT shouldn’t build on last year’s 9-4 record, especially considering those losses came by 17 combined points.
Tennessee is deep and strong. Saturday’s Orange and White Game didn’t get to showcase all that talent with 24 players sitting out due to injuries, but none of those are expected to linger into the 2016 season. That means all those guys who got reps this spring can provide quality depth.
Things are setting up for a good run for the Vols in ’16. Let’s take a look at the projected two-deep roster going into the offseason.
[Image Can Not Be Found]
[Image Can Not Be Found]
Quarterback
There’s zero quarterback controversy in Knoxville—at least when it comes to the starting spot. As everybody knows, that belongs to Joshua Dobbs, who has the ability to be a dynamic, dual-threat signal-caller.
With all the things Dobbs brings to the table, he must get more consistent with his accuracy. Jones even acknowledged to the media after Saturday’s spring game that’s still an issue that must get addressed, according to a tweet from the Knoxville News Sentinel‘s Dustin Dopirak:
[Image Can Not Be Found]
The backup job is going to be a battle. Quinten Dormady looked pretty good for the most part in the spring game, but freshman Jarrett Guarantano is coming this summer to stake his claim to the job. The speedy, strong-armed New Jersey native appears to be the perfect candidate to follow in Dobbs’ footsteps.
But Dormady won’t give up the backup job without a fight.
Running Back
The most safe and sound spot on the entire depth chart resides at running back, where the Vols are elite.
Anybody in the nation would be envious of a junior tandem of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara.
In the former, UT has a bruising, every-down runner who can punish teams between the tackles and still has the giddy-up to get outside. In the latter, the Vols feature a vocal leader with the wheels to do damage in the open field and in the passing game.
As this spring proved, John Kelly is more than capable of performing as well, and this will be his show once those two go pro, which likely will be following the 2016 season.
Wide Receiver
For the past three seasons, Tennessee struggled mightily on the perimeter, but that position got a facelift since 2015.
Marquez North, Von Pearson and Johnathon Johnson are gone. Replacing them in the rotation will be Preston Williams, Jauan Jennings and Josh Smith, joining incumbent leading receiver Malone as the top wideouts.
For Williams, this spring was a breakout show. He has all the tools to be a dynamic target who can stretch the field. Smith seems settled in the slot, and the Vols look like they’ve got a serious red-zone threat in JUCO transfer Jeff George, who would not be denied the jump ball in several chances during the spring game.
That duo turned heads on Saturday, including B/R’s Barrett Sallee:
[Image Can Not Be Found]
UT gets even better at receiver this summer when speedster Latrell Williams, 4-star Marquez Callaway and 3-stars Brandon Johnson and Corey Henderson arrive on campus. Redshirt freshman Vincent Perry could be a weapon in the slot as well.
When you toss in this week’s cryptic—but exciting—news that dynamic 4-star athlete Tyler Byrd tweeted out, insinuating he’d start his Tennessee career at receiver rather than safety, as expected, the Vols will have plenty of options on the perimeter:
[Image Can Not Be Found]
They need to find a combo that works.
Tight End
A position that has been shallow the past couple of years behind Ethan Wolf all of a sudden looks like it could be a team strength.
A big reason for that is redshirt senior Jason Croom’s move from receiver. The big-bodied target should be a force at that spot and a mismatch for linebackers who have to guard him going downfield. He needs to improve his catching, but Croom is a physical specimen.
[Image Can Not Be Found]
Wolf’s younger brother, Eli, is a walk-on who looks like he’ll really help the Vols down the road, maybe as soon as this year. Redshirt sophomore Jakob Johnson—who moved from tight end—had a catch in the spring game and is a physical blocker.
With Austin Pope and Devante Brooks coming this summer, UT will have a full stable of tight ends for new assistant Larry Scott to tutor and develop.
Offensive Line
For the first couple of seasons, Jones was in Knoxville, Tennessee’s offensive line was a major issue. Last year, it was a strength, and if the Vols can get through some minor depth issues at tackle this year, it should continue to be moving forward.
Stars such as Coleman Thomas, Jashon Robertson and Dylan Wiesman outfit the first team with strong starters. Though Chance Hall looked like a rising star as a true freshman last year, Kendrick’s monster spring will lead to a good, healthy battle at right tackle this fall.
The other tackle, right now, belongs to Drew Richmond. But with all the guard depth the Vols boast, it wouldn’t be surprising to see UT move a guard out there to battle him as the Vols bridge the gap to the three freshman offensive tackles coming in who likely won’t be ready to play right away.
There’s talent and depth across the board along the front, and last year’s line paved the way for the program’s second-highest rushing total in school history. What will they do for an encore?
Kicker
Aaron Medley was solid last year following some very important misses that could have won games against Florida and Alabama. It’s hard to put those in the rearview mirror, especially against rivals, but the Vols desperately need him to produce this year.
It’s unequivocally the Lewisburg, Tennessee, junior’s job. Behind him is walk-on Toser, who nailed a field goal in the spring game Saturday but has never attempted a kick in a game.
[Image Can Not Be Found]
[Image Can Not Be Found]
Defensive Line
Welcome to coordinator Bob Shoop’s biggest concern on his side of the ball. While the defensive ends appear solid-to-spectacular, the Vols simply cannot afford any injuries on the interior, or they’re going to be moving some bodies inside for depth purposes.
Starting in the middle, Shy Tuttle is a beast when he’s healthy. But after breaking a bone in his leg and damaging ligaments against Georgia last year, he hasn’t returned to the field since. His estimated time frame for returning is this summer, but he will be pushing it to be 100 percent by the first game.
Beyond him, Kahlil McKenzie needs to live up to his former 5-star billing. He’s massive and could be a force against the run, but his conditioning needs to be a lot better than it was a season ago. A promising spring has the Vols excited about his potential.
He’s also excited about getting to work and getting in even better shape for the season, according to Scout’s Danny Parker:
[Image Can Not Be Found]
Upperclassmen Danny O’Brien and Kendal Vickers are strong backups, and if the Vols can get suspended Alexis Johnson to come back, along with Quay Picou, they’ll be fine inside, especially if a guy like Andrew Butcher or Dimarya Mixon could gain enough weight to help inside.
At end, Tennessee could be incredible. The Vols need to rebound from a ’15 season that had high expectations but finished with just 30 sacks, which wasn’t horrible but wasn’t what they expected.
Derek Barnett is the star, and he could have a breakout year to go along with his first two really good ones. Vereen is a senior who is steady, and classmate LaTroy Lewis provides some key snaps, too.
A trio of young, talented players could come into their own and really help UT, though. Kyle Phillips, top-ranked JUCO prospect Jonathan Kongbo and redshirt freshman Darrell Taylor will all contribute and could ultimately work their way into the two-deep. That’s a lot of really, really big potential off the edge.
Linebackers
With so many opponents running spread-based offenses, Tennessee likely will have a nickelback on the field more often than not. That would mean the two linebackers who are on the field could be dynamite.
Jones didn’t mince words when alluding to Reeves-Maybin and Kirkland to reporters following the Orange and White Game, according to a tweet from Scout.com’s Cory Gunkel:
[Image Can Not Be Found]
Tennessee must find a viable option to back up Kirkland in the middle between Colton Jumper, Gavin Bryant and incoming freshman Daniel Bituli, and that’s a concern. If something were to happen to him, JRM may shift inside.
That’s because the two outside ‘backers who made a move this spring could fill in nicely. Sapp looks like he could be the next great outside tackler after JRM turns pro. Then there’s junior Cortez McDowell, whose special teams prowess could translate to defense as well.
Toss in redshirt sophomore Dillon Bates, and the Vols could have some solid options on the outside. But they simply don’t rotate in a lot of linebackers historically because they only play two frequently.
Defensive Backs
Besides the running backs, this position group has the potential to be the team’s strength.
Coach Willie Martinez has an embarrassment of talent with which to work and mold on the back end of the defense. Yes, the Vols must replace departed senior starting safeties Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil, but they’ve certainly got the talent to do it.
At cornerback, Sutton, whom coaches believe is one of the nation’s best defensive backs, leads the Vols. He spurned the NFL to return for his final year and help the Vols win something important.
Justin Martin is a special athlete on the other side of the ball, and the Vols have a lot of potential playmakers at corner behind them, led by Emmanuel Moseley, Darrell Miller and D.J. Henderson, among others. A slew of corners are coming in the summer, too.
At nickelback, an all-important UT position, Malik Foreman bolters the Tennessee. He’ll start if he can hold off mid-term freshman enrollee Marquill Osborne, that is.
It may be easier said than done. According to Sutton, via SEC Country’s Dave Hooker, Osborne has impressed everybody this spring, and the nickelback spot is an ideal spot for the youngster, Sutton said.
It fits him a lot with his ability to play the ball in the air. He’s a physical player as well. I think it’s better for him because, especially in our system, the nickel position is a big part of our system. That nickel position, you’re always around the ball, you’re always involved in run game (and) pass game throughout the whole course of a game. He can run. Just the God-given ability that he has is going to help him be successful.
Finally, at safety, the Vols got a standout spring from Todd Kelly Jr. and Rashaan Gaulden, who’ve seized those starting spots for now. Micah Abernathy proved his viability in the race, and Stephen Griffin can provide some quality reps, too. Evan Berry was injured this spring, but he’ll battle for a starting spot when he returns, too.
Throw in dynamic freshman Nigel Warrior and the Vols are loaded at safety. All those guys are good enough to get reps.
Punter
Finally, Trevor Daniel, who earned a scholarship and will return for two more seasons on Rocky Top, was one of the biggest unsung heroes of UT’s 2015 season. The big-legged former walk-on from the Midstate is a potential All-SEC player.
With former U.S. Army All-American Tommy Townsend behind him, the Vols have a bright future at the field-flipping position.
Between Berry, Sutton and Kamara, UT returns arguably the nation’s best kick- and punt-returning trio as well, so expect special teams to be a strength again.
All quotes and information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information gathered from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. All stats gathered at UTSports.com unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
Read more Tennessee Volunteers Football news on BleacherReport.com
1 Guest(s)
