He may have been a good QB in Juco, but he has to have the finishing pieces of the puzzle around him to be stellar, and to my knowledge, he does not. He will be mobile, which yes, will be somewhat of a headache at times, but just can't see his supporting cast making the difference.
He actually has some pretty nice pieces to the puzzle.. Isiah Ford, Bucky Hodges, Travon McMillian, Sam Rogers are a few of the guys that the VT offense will lean on to have big seasons. Ford and McMillian are both coming off 1000 yard seasons at the WR and RB positions.. Hodges has been shifted to the WR position this season and presents a big match up challenge given his size at 6'7 245lbs. Rogers is a do it all kind of player, filling the fullback, tailback, H-back roles.. just all around solid.
The main key IMO, is the VT OL.. which has actually drawn the most praise from the coaches during the preseason. Next up is the QB spot... Evans is an unknown. Great stats coming out of the JUCO ranks, but how much water does that really hold. He did beat out a very athletic, and more experienced (SR) Brendan Motley to get the starting nod. Coaches believe he's picking up on the intangibles, and stringing together more consistent days than the other guys.
Other question marks on offense for VT are depth behind the starting WRs. Outside of the starters, Ford, Cam Phillips, and Hodges.. the depth is relatively young and inexperienced.
On the defensive side of the ball.. LB play is a question mark. Tremaine Edmunds looks like a beast, now we'll find out if he can play like one. The other LB, Andrew M.. has a years worth of experience under his belt and needs to become more consistent. He had some issues last season with missing gaps etc. Big plays are killers, and he's in a spot where mistakes get exposed quick.
The DL should be solid. Ken Ekanem at one of the DE spots will be hard to handle. The DT position is solid through out the 2 deep. One of the backup DT's (Tim Settle) has all the tools to be legit and should get plenty of opportunity to show what he can do. Depth at the DE spot is a concern.
DBU should be solid. Facyson had a monster freshman season going before the injury bug hit him... he's supposedly back to 100%. Edmunds and Mook Reynolds are both sophomores who stepped in as freshman last season and had good years.
I get that expectations are high for the Vols, and on the flip side... nobody is on the VT bandwagon.. that's what a few years of mediocre play will do for you. I have a feeling though that if VT can avoid the injury bug they have a chance to knock some people off this year. Whether or not that happens next Saturday in Bristol, I'm not sure.. but anything can happen inside those lines.