FreakNotes and Links: Aug 21

August 21, Monday (updating throughout the day)

• Happy Monday everyone, and Happy Eclipse Day! We’re only 14 days away from Football Time in Tennessee. A quick housekeeping note: you may notice, I’ve decided to add new FreakNotes to the bottom of the list, so they’ll read top down instead of bottom up… if that makes sense. If you have any feedback be sure to leave it in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
• If you missed it last night, Vols’ wide receiver Josh Smith is expected to miss four to eight weeks with a broken collarbone. Next man up.
• Tennessee offered class of 2019, four-star outside linebacker Jahmar Brown late on Friday. He also has offers from the likes of Arkansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and others.
• Several Tennessee commits had a big weekend on the field, including Michael Penix Jr., Jacob Warren, Cade Mays and D’Andre Litaker.
• The Vols 2018 recruiting class is not ranked No. 4, according to rank by offers, which, true to its name, ranks players according to the offers they have received.
• Alvin Kamara continues to prove what we all know: he should have carried the ball more while at Tennessee. He rambled 50 yards for a touchdown yesterday on his first carry for the Saints. Here’s his reaction after the game.
• Sunday’s practice was closed, but here are a few photos from UT: photo1 | photo2 | photo3 | photo 4
• Former Vol and former Cleveland Cavalier Jordan McRae has signed with Saski Baskonia.
• I don’t know the specifics, but Jason Croom was released by the Buffalo Bills. The team cited an injury in a statement on Twitter.
• There are ten teams who have signed four-straight top 20 classes. Only two of those aren’t currently ranked: Tennessee and Notre Dame. “Just noticing the last 4 yrs of #Vols recruiting vs the rest of the East. This is year 5. You’re the #2 recruiter in the East AND not ranked,” Dave Bartoo wrote.
• Tennessee was back on the field Monday for practice 18. Freshman running back Tim Jordan had his stripe removed. Cheyenne Labruzza lost his stripe over the weekend.
• Tennessee made it into the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. The Vols start the season at No. 25. As you might expect, the SEC has more teams ranked than any other conference. It’s also worthy of note that Tennessee is one of only 10 teams ranked in both preseason bolls for the third consecutive season.
• An injury might explain why we haven’t seen more of Vol 5th-year senior Shaq Wiggins. Jimmy Hyams wrote, “Jones said 3 freshmen RBs haven’t missed onepractice. Jones said CB Shaq Wiggins is out with hip injury, hopes to return by end of week.”
• John Adams wrote in his latest column that BOTH Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano might have a bright future ahead of them, if history is any indication. “UT’s history at the position is worth noting if you’re wondering whether the Vols’ new starter — either Quinten Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano — will be successful. The odds are that the new starter at least will wind up being drafted or make an NFL roster as a free agent. In fact, both might make the NFL.”
• Why did Tennessee’s odds to win the SEC tank from 20/1 to 40/1, according to Westgate?  (h/t SEC Mike)