Vols Spring Football Practice #10

[Fingers]

Defensive line coach Rodney Garner made his return to the practice field on Tuesday morning and the young guys in the position group were greeted with their first baptism by fire from the veteran coach. Freshman Darryl Rivers was getting a taste of the Rodney Garner Experience for the first time. Even sophomore Ethan Utley was as well, as Garner made him redo a rep three times because it wasn’t up to standard.

While the media was present, the quarterbacks were throwing routes on air in the redzone. It was a solid overall day for the signal-callers while we were out there and for this drill specifically. There were some wide receiver drops, however. George MacIntyre looked the best, in terms of ball placement, in this period.

William Inge spent some extra time with Jadon Perlotte and Jaedon Harmon, working leverage while getting off blockers.

Tennessee will have 14 players go through Pro day activities this afternoon. Former Tennessee defensive lineman Elijah Simons was also seen working out inside the facility on Monday.

e.cain

After watching the Rodney Garner Show for a period, we headed over to the offensive field to check out Tennessee’s passing game work with the quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends, who worked on their tight-zone route combinations and throws down by the goal line.

The sophomore duo of Travis Smith Jr. and Radarious Jackson looked crisp on some in-breaking routes and caught the football well. Mike Matthews made a nice leaping catch and got both feet down inbounds in the corner of the end zone on a fade route, but had a drop on a crossing route. Braylon Staley and Joakim Dodson were smooth in the slot operating over the middle of the field.

Ethan Davis made a nice high-point catch in the back corner of the end zone and got a foot down, though he later had a slant pass go right through his hands. DaSaahn Brame nearly made a twisting catch in the same spot, but couldn’t match his concentration on the catch and getting a foot down at the same time and couldn’t complete it, and he looked to tweak his knee a little bit on the landing. Brame favored it momentarily before walking back to the line with a trainer.

Redshirt sophomore Cole Harrison had a good period, too, with his route-running and catching ability.

Among the quarterbacks, George MacIntyre looked the sharpest in terms of accuracy and ball placement. He was putting it within the frame of his targets. Faizon Brandon had the throw to Brame on the aforementioned rep that was a little flat and a little behind him.

p.brown

As always, we’ll cut right to the chase with quarterbacks. We got to see some tight red zone routes on air outside. In the intermediate, I thought Faizon Brandon had the best day. Accurate over the middle of the field and to the back pylon with some velocity behind the ball. In the short range, I thought George MacIntyre was more accurate and put the ball in better positions for his receivers. Both missed a throw or two while we watched, but overall, a strong day for both.

Again, Ryan Staub puts the ball in the perfect spot more often than not. His accuracy is elite, and he had another good day. The issue is that you can tell pretty quickly the arm strength isn’t up to par with MacIntyre and Brandon.

Probably the toughest day for receivers as far as catching the ball so far, but I’m far from hitting the alarm. As Kelsey Pope noted yesterday, a clip went viral of drops a year ago, and the team went on to have the best trio of receivers in the conference. Some really nice receptions mixed in today, as well.

Best catch of the day went to freshman tight end Luca Wolf at the back pylon over an assistant while keeping his feet in. Best route goes to TK Keys, who broke the ankles of a coach pressing him at the line and got a reaction from his teammates. Best throw of the day was a dart from Brandon to Brame at the back pylon that you couldn’t have placed any better.

My other defensive note is Ty Redmond. He had a really strong scrimmage the other day and looks the part of an elite corner. He obviously came on strong at the end of his freshman year, but UT has some options at cornerback this year. Going through drills, he looks quick, in control, strong hands, great footwork and all the things you’d want to see from a potential starting SEC corner.

r.sylvia

 

[RDU VOL#14]

First

 

[Vol_guy]

Glad to have Coach Garner back at practice.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

PHANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GBO2011]

Are drops gonna be a problem again this year

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I think it's a safe bet to say Coach Garner isn't recovering from throat surgery.

 

[Volanta]

Are drops gonna be a problem again this year

best to get them out the way during practice

 

[FranklinVFL]

The growing pains we experienced early last year with Redmond should hopefully pay back some huge dividends this year.

 

[IndianaVol]

Good to see Coach Garner back.
Defense is getting me excited this year for sure.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Ba Boom!!!! Grind guys Grind! GBO

 

[ftsandersvol]

The growing pains we experienced early last year with Redmond should hopefully pay back some huge dividends this year.

His development as the season progressed was hard to miss last year. He should be much better this season from the get go.

 

[GBO2011]

His development as the season progressed was hard to miss last year. He should be much better this season from the get go.

I'm not sure since we fired Banks and Redmond will be learning a new scheme (Not defending Banks he absolutely should have been fired)

 

[Heupel's Offseason Beard]

The growing pains we experienced early last year with Redmond should hopefully pay back some huge dividends this year.

Same goes for almost every other position as well. We played A LOT of freshmen. 49.5% of our roster was freshmen and redshirt freshmen last year. that's half the team. Guess what... they're all bigger, smarter and coached better AND they have a year of experience under their belt. Guys like Perlotte, Perry, Redmond, Dye, and Campbell all showed that they belong on the field and now they're a year more mature. Future looks good

 

[GBO2011]

What? That's a reasonable concern, we had a lot of drops in critical moments last year and if we're having drops in practice I'm naturally going to be worried

 

[Sir Bob Tosky]

This offense could be really good, even with very mediocre quarterback play. The o-line should be solid and the talent at wide receiver and tight end jumps off the page.

 

[ftsandersvol]

I'm not sure since we fired Banks and Redmond will be learning a new scheme (Not defending Banks he absolutely should have been fired)

Good point. The fundamentals are there. They just need to translate to the new system.

 

[ChrisVFL]

Ryan with elite accuracy was my biggest take away. Still along way to go till week one of football season. Has me nervous who will be the starting QB

 

[joevol33]

Thanks again Fingers

 

[Vol423]

e.cain






p.brown






r.sylvia

The wide receiver drops need to end. We need an upper classman to show some leadership and set up a competition within the wide receiver group for fewest drops for the rest of Spring practice and all of Fall practice. Bottom 3 finishers have some sort of appropriate punishment - extra time on jugs machine, wind sprints, carrying football around to class, etc.

 

[10seV4L]

 

[10seV4L]

 

[10seV4L]

Bull stays coming with it, to boost the other content already passing around Volnation!

 

[Vol423]

best to get them out the way during practice

Best thing is to hold each other accountable for ending this crap. Yeah, our receivers did well last year. We also had some key drops amongst the receivers and tight ends that cost us. I wasn't a big fan of Pope's comment. He's there to make them better, not make excuses for bad execution.

 

[Manchester Vol]

What? That's a reasonable concern, we had a lot of drops in critical moments last year and if we're having drops in practice I'm naturally going to be worried

I’m not worried about drops at all. We only need 17 points per game this year. Our defense will carry us the distance. I see no reason why we can’t make a ball game this year.

 

[volroadwarrior]

Passes to RB was terrible all last season.