FreakNotes and Links: Aug 18

August 18, Friday (updating throughout the day)

• I don’t want to believe it, but it sure does sound like all of the suspension rumors just might be true. “I know there’s a lot of rumors out there and I don’t comment on rumors,” Butch Jones said today after practice. “If there is a suspension, I think we’ve been pretty consistent. We’ll make an announcement and we’ll talk about that.” 
• Practice number 15 is in the books and freshman cornerback Shawn Shamburger was the fourth Vol to lose his black stripe during camp. The youngster from Moultrie, GA is pushing for playing time. Check out all of the videos and highlight’s from today’s action. And here are a few photos from UT: photo1 | photo2 | photo3 | photo4
• Todd Helton will return to Tennessee’s baseball staff as volunteer director of player development, according to Jimmy Hyams. Helton said recently that he was unsure why he wasn’t relied on more by the previous staff. Regardless, it’s great to see him involved.
• This position group overview is worth your time. Read it.
• Did you know only one SEC coach has a major bowl win (Sugar, Rose, Fiesta, Orange, NY6) in his career? Wow.
• Bill Connely released his SEC power rankings. I love breaking down numbers, such as those in this article. Read through it and let me know your take in the comments below.
• Tennessee sent out quite a few offers of note yesterday. I’ll run through them quickly.
  1. George Karlaftis ★★★★. A four-star defensive end from West Lafayette, IN, who is considered to be one of the top-five players in the state, tweeted “Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Tennessee!” — He appears to be a pretty strong Michigan lean at this point.
  2. Jarrian Jones ★★★. A three-star safety from Flowood, MS. He wrote, “Blessed and HONORED to say I have received and offer from The University of Tennessee.”
  3. Chris Steele ★★★★. A four-star cornerback from California. He’s ranked the No. 2 cornerback in the nation, according to the 247Sports composite. Steele tweeted, “ALL GLORY TO GOD…PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT I’VE RECEIVED AN OFFER FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE!!!“
  4. Omar Speights ★★★★. A four-star outside linebacker from Philadelphia, PA, who is rated the number one player in the state, according the 247. “Blessed to receive my 9th offer from The University of Tennessee,” he wrote.
  5. Howard Cross III ★★★★. A four-star strongside defensive end from Montvale, New Jersey, rated the No. 6 player in the state. “Extremely honored to receive an offer to Tennessee,” he wrote.
  6. Savion Jackson ★★★★. A four-star strongside defensive end from Clayton, NC tweeted, “Blessed to receive my 14th offer from the University of Tennessee.”
• I know most people aren’t going to get excited about a punter, but Tennessee picked up a good one yesterday in Paxton Brooks. Rated the No. 2 punter in the country, “he repeatedly hit 50-60 yard blasts,” wrote Kohl’s kicking camp in their evaluation.
• Josh Dobbs is slated to get his second NFL preseason start for the Steelers on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
• If you missed Derek Barnett in action last night, I’ve got you covered with all the highlights.
• Happy Friday, everyone. What better way to celebrate the weekend than to check out yesterday’s Freaknotes.

If you enjoy reading these summaries and would like to see them continue, be sure to leave a comment below and/or share with friends/social media. That gives me the motivation to continue writing them. I’m still not quite sure about the format, so if they aren’t all that interesting to folks, my time may be best spent elsewhere. Regardless, thank you for taking the time to read today’s edition. Go Vols!