2022 Fall Practice #15

[Fingers]

updating...

what Cedric Tillman was doing to defensive backs in this morning’s open portion of practice should be illegal in all 50 states

b.mckee

Media got to see some individual competition at the goal line between the Vols WRs and DBs this morning. Cedric Tillman ate. Bru and Hyatt looked good with Hendon throwing them the ball, and Squirrel White made a really impressive catch in the back corner of the end zone.

j.foster

Lyn-J Dixon and Jacob Warren were not amongst their teammates while Jimmy Calloway remained in shorts, his practice jersey and no helmet. He went through stretches with his teammates before doing work on the side the rest of the open portion of practice.

Wright’s participation was the same as it’s been for most of camp with him being in-and-out of certain drills.

With Len’Neeth Whitehead out, Jaylen Wright hampered and Lyn-J Dixon arriving late and now sidelined with an ankle injury, Tennessee freshmen Dylan Sampson and Justin Williams-Thomas have gotten an abundance of reps all fall camp.

The defensive back room remains hampered with Cheyenne LaBruzza, Dee Williams and Christian Harrison all in red non contact jerseys while Wesley Walker was absent for the third straight practice.

While I doubt either plays much on defense this season, freshmen Christian Harrison and Jourdan Thomas are good looking players.

We were able to watch 22 reps of one-on-ones between the defensive backs and receivers or tight ends Friday morning. It was definitely the defense’s day as the majority of reps ended with the ball on the ground and even one interception.My offensive MVP for the drill is Cedric Tillman while my defensive MVP is Kamal Hadden.

r.schumpert

The connection between Hooker and Tillman and Hooker and Hyatt was well on display, as the Vols' signal caller connected with the two wideouts seamlessly. Hooker also had success connecting with Bru McCoy, who showed the ability to make a quick and effective cut in his slant route.

The offense didn't have as much success with the backup pass-catchers, but Joe Milton III looked sharp, especially on a beautifully placed ball in Princeton Fant's hands on a fade route.

The last route of the day was caught by Squirrel White, who made an impressive back-shoulder grab on a pass from Hendon Hooker.

Like the wideouts and DBs, the offensive line and defensive line worked one-on-ones on the far end of the practice field.
Both sides looked good, but I was mostly impressed with Gerald Mincey, who did not allow a single defensive lineman to move him.

j.foster

Good set of goal-line one-on-ones between Tennessee’s defensive backs and wide receivers. The DBs won a lot of reps early before the wideouts (and tight ends) made some nice plays. The standouts on each side for me were wide receiver Cedric Tillman and cornerback Kamal Hadden.

Tillman made a couple of, well, Tillman-like catches where he used his frame and strength for a couple of catches on 50-50 fades to the corner of the end zone. To Burrell’s credit, he stuck with the play on the first one and got enough of the football where in a game, replay review would have ruled it an incomplete pass as Tillman didn’t have full control as he went out of bounds. Tillman got Burrell on the next one with a sick catch he made look scarily easy.

Hadden is a bundle of energy and looks like a really confident player, and he forced an incompletion on a back-shoulder throw to Bru McCoy and got the best of Ramel Keyton twice, including an interception. On the pick, he got his head around on a back-shoulder throw after positioning himself well and completed the contested catch, losing his helmet in the process. On the second play, he stayed inside and read Keyton as he listed to the corner of the end zone, then played the receiver’s eyes to get his hands up in time to force the incompletion.

Jalin Hyatt had a pass broken up to him by Trevon Flowers, but put a pretty quick move on Doneiko Slaughter to create a bunch of separation and an easy pitch-and-catch on a corner route.

Another standout play was freshman Squirrel White getting open on a corner against Will Brooks and making an athletic catch for the score – Kelsey Pope was really fired up about that one.

only left tackles Jeremiah Crawford and Gerald Mincey got reps among the expected starters, and Byron Young and Tyler Baron watched from the defensive side – but there were a couple of standout moments for some young guys.

Freshman Addison Nichols probably was the best of the offensive line. Working at left guard, the 6-foot-5, 318-pounder anchored well against big defensive tackles Kurott Garland and Bryson Eason, not giving much ground on either rep. On this very limited evidence, Nichols, who worked at center in the spring, could be a legitimate factor in terms of Tennessee’s interior depth up front.

Fellow freshman Mo Clipper Jr. also had a couple of good reps at guard and freshman right tackle Brian Grant won a rep against fellow rookie Tyre West. Freshman guard Masai Reddick lost one rep against big Elijah Simmons, but came back with a better one on the second matchup. Jeremiah Crawford won against Amari McNeill, who later couldn’t move Clipper very much.

p.brown

We’ll start with who looked the best and you really don’t have to think too hard about it. Cedric Tillman ‘Moss’d’ Warren Burrell twice on the far sideline. Both were fade routes and good balls from Hendon Hooker, who gave his big wide receiver a chance to go and make a play.

Jalin Hyatt looked extremely smooth running routes out there today. He won every battle he took part in, besting both Trevon Flowers and Doneiko Slaughter, though he did drop one pass. Still he got by the defensive back with ease each time, showing his ability to be a threat in the red area.

Squirrel White got behind Jaylen McCollough for a touchdown reception. Walker Merrill had a nice catch on the sideline (just out of bounds though) with Dee Williams in coverage. Bru McCoy and Princeton Fant each hauled in touchdown receptions on slant passes. Charlie Browder, who will have to play some this year in our opinion, did not look great running routes. Lots of offensive pass interferences that would have been called.

Defensively, Kamal Hadden made a couple of plays. He batted down a pass intended for Bru McCoy and later picked off Joe Milton on a lob intended for Ramel Keyton. Freshman Jourdan Thomas recorded a PBU – as did Tamarion McDonald covering Fant on a slant.

Looked to me like the offense clearly won the competition, but the defense made some plays.

e.cain

 

[TheMagnificantOne]

First and the last practice report...Great work as always Fingers

 

[LittleVol]

FIRST after 1st .

FANGURZ!!! haha

 

[tobybeast]

YES!!! GBO

 

[Ttucke11]

Nice to hear Hadden showing out. He and Turnage have the talent to change this defense if they put it together.

 

[FLVOL_79]

First and the last practice report...Great work as always Fingers

 

[FLVOL_79]

what Cedric Tillman was doing to defensive backs in this morning’s open portion of practice should be illegal in all 50 states

Not sure to be super stoked about this or worried.

 

[Ttucke11]

Not sure to be super stoked about this or worried.

Stoked, he's going to do it to pro's in a year.

 

[Volfan39]

I would be more concerned if our projected top 2 round reciever wasn’t dominating everyone in practice.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Not sure to be super stoked about this or worried.

McKee likes to get a little excited.

 

[OrangeEtBlanc]

Concerned to see Lyn-J out the past few practices. He’s already “behind the 8-ball” in learning a new system, so hopefully they have him devouring the playbook on these off days. Excited to see how he can contribute this season.

 

[butchna]

Three thoughts:

1) Hadden shows recruits what opportunity and development plays in your career vs warming the middle or end of a talented bench.

2) Brian Grant shows that message board declarations immediately after a commitment needs some fleshing out pending information. All we heard was “project that won’t see the field for 3-4 seasons”. We’ll SEE this one before that.

3) Where’d the CONCERN over Bru’s conditioning go? This is a freak athlete who’s worked out on his own the past two off-seasons…CHILL couch tater strength coaches!

 

[VolFaninFla]

This was certainly encouraging.

The offense didn't have as much success with the backup pass-catchers, but Joe Milton III looked sharp, especially on a beautifully placed ball in Princeton Fant's hands on a fade route.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

Calling my shot now: as long as our offensive line and running backs pass block well, Cedric Tillman will be the most productive wide receiver in the SEC this season.

 

[71VOL]

GBO!!!

 

[FLVOL_79]

Stoked, he's going to do it to pro's in a year.

Yeah but I dont care about the pro's

 

[VolInDayton]

I'm surprised we haven't heard more about Turnage this fall. He flashed some last year, I was hoping he could do it consistently this year.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Not sure to be super stoked about this or worried.

Uhhh, he pretty much dominated opposing teams’ DBs last year as well.

He’s an NFL talent for a reason.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Uhhh, he pretty much dominated opposing teams’ DBs last year as well.

He’s an NFL talent for a reason.

Read that comment again and think of another context.

 

[rdk4121]

I still feel like Hadden will be the other starter opposite Burrell come game 1. He just carries himself like a starter and brings the effort and intensity that you need. McDonald might be getting an upper hand on Walker now that walker has missed a few practices in a row. I really like our depth in the secondary, as I feel like we could honestly play 10-11 guys.

 

[JRVOL11]

love hearing all these good things about hadden

 

[VOLINVONORE]

updating...

b.mckee
j.foster






r.schumpert





j.foster








p.brown





e.cain

Concerned that the defense gave up two slant pass Tds. That play killed us last year and we need to see that it stops.

 

[RAVOL]

Calling my shot now: as long as our offensive line and running backs pass block well, Cedric Tillman will be the most productive wide receiver in the SEC this season.

He will be very very good. Also believe Hyatt will have a huge year with 50+ catches in which several will split safeties for TD'S. In CHRIST Alone

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Nice to hear Hadden showing out. He and Turnage have the talent to change this defense if they put it together.

That’s what I was thinking.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Not sure to be super stoked about this or worried.

It’s practice