Practice número dos

#30
#30
Offense today:

Tennessee was back on the practice field Saturday afternoon for the second session of fall camp. Here are some notes and observations from the offensive side of the ball during the open portion of practice:

Injury notes: After leaving practice with an injury Friday, receiver Cody Blanc was a spectator on crutches with a large cast on his lower right leg. As we noted last night, there’s no official word, but that injury doesn’t look good for the rising junior. Guard/center Dylan Wiesman and massive walk-on O-lineman Dellen Hash were the offensive players who spent practice in “the hole,” for injury purposes.

How they lined up: Houston made some notes on this after Friday’s practice, but I wanted to try to put a full two-deep up based on what we’ve seen at practice. Again, these will change and evolve regularly, but this is how they’re starting off.

1st team

LT Jacob Gilliam, LG Marcus Jackson, C Mack Crowder, RG Kyler Kerbyson, RT Coleman Thomas, TE Ethan Wolf, WR Marquez North, WR Josh Malone, WR Von Pearson, QB Justin Worley, RB Marlin Lane



2nd team

LT Dontavius Blair, LG Austin Sanders, C Ray Raulerson, RG Marques Pair (Wiesman injured), RT Brett Kendrick, TE Daniel Wolf, WR Jason Croom, WR Pig Howard, WR Josh Smith, QB Nate Peterman and Joshua Dobbs (rotating), RB Jalen Hurd

Some position-by-position thoughts…

Quarterback: It’s hard to get a great feel for the quarterbacks before we see pads and live action, but they seemed a little off overall based on what we saw Saturday. That reflected what Butch Jones said on Friday, as he noted that over 60 balls hit the ground – a number that might be improved Saturday – but still is happening too much. Joshua Dobbs had a couple notable errant throws. On one relatively simple stop route, he airmailed the 6-3 Josh Malone. While working on swing passes, Dobbs also had one slip out of his hands as he tried to rush the throw. Still, there were some good throws by all the QBs at times. Consistency must continue to improve though.

Running backs: Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd are clearly No. 1 and No. 2, though I thought Devrin Young had a really good practice Saturday. He’s such a natural catching the ball out of the backfield. In the swing pass drill, he made a perfect catch, cut perfectly around the cone and kept his feet inbounds as he got up the field. Young also made a nice one-handed grab and then somersaulted to the ground during one receiving drill. Treyvon Paulk is bigger than I expected. He’s got a powerful lower body – more in the mold of Maurice Jones-Drew or Michael Turner – than I realized. It’s still hard to get a feel for how recovered he is from his knee injury, but he looks like he could be powerful.

Wide receivers: Jason Croom, listed at 243 pounds, almost looks like he could be 250. In one blocking drill on Saturday, he moved the blocking sled several yards, while most of the other receivers only inched it forward. It’ll be interesting to see how the coaches utilize that size and strength. Pig Howard – normally labeled as a slot receiver – got some work as an outside receiver with the second unit while Josh Smith worked in the slot. One guy who keeps grinding is Drae Bowles. He’s back from an injury in the spring and, while I’m not going to say he’s going to be in the rotation, he gives a ton of effort in practice and should find a niche on special teams, if nothing else.


Ethan Wolf
Tight ends: Ethan Wolf looks slimmer after coming in with closer to a lineman frame in the spring. He was working with the starters and has the look of a versatile blocking and receiving tight end. The coaches are relieved to see some depth at the position again. There are still some signs of trauma: three of them – Brendan Downs, A.J. Branisel and Daniel Helm – all have a brace on their leg. But they’re on the field and, joined by Alex Ellis, Joe Stocstill and Woody Quinn, there are a lot of options at the position after being down to basically one at times in 2013.

Offensive line: Coach Don Mahoney started the day with a good chewing out session directed toward the entire group as it was a little lethargic getting started. Jacob Gilliam is still working with the starters at left tackle, though Dontavius Blair looks to be in better shape and is picking up the offense. With Wiesman sitting out with a minor injury, Marques Pair got some looks at guard and Brett Kendrick worked as the second-team right tackle.

Butch Jones on the mic: After a relatively quiet start on Friday, Jones got after a few players on Saturday.

• He called Kendrick the team’s first “energy vampire” of the season as the practice got started.

• He also reminded Jalen Hurd that he’s not too good to help on special teams as the freshman was going through a punt coverage rep. “Last I checked, both running backs at Alabama started on special teams, Jalen!”
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#35
#35
For starters: This note is not really related to defense but it definitely has a huge impact on the success of this team. Aaron Medley was an absolute machine in warmups. The freshman kicker hit 12 for 12 on field goals between 25 and 45 yards from various angles. The last of which was an absolute bomb from 45 yards that would have easily been good from 55-60.

Major Boomage!!!
 
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#36
#36
Rocky Top Insider@rockytopinsider 2m
Jalen Hurd on what he'd say to somebody who says he's too tall for RB: "Come see me play"
 
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#40
#40
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#42
#42
• Former walk-on Jacob Gilliam, a fifth-year senior, continues to work with the first-team offense at left tackle ahead of touted junior college transfer Dontavius Blair. Jones said after Friday's practice, however, that Blair "looks completely" different than he did in the spring and "translated" his strong offseason onto the field in the practice opener.

• Justin Worley was the quarterback with the first-team offense during the Vols' walk-through period early in practice. At the skill positions were three newcomers -- freshman tight end Ethan Wolf, freshman receiver Josh Malone and JuCo transfer receiver Von Pearson -- along with tailback Marlin Lane and receiver Marquez North. The first-team offense looked much like it did during the spring.

• Jones singled out redshirt freshman offensive tackle Brett Kendrick as the first "energy vampire" of the season after the team's stretching period. No, it's not a label you want.

• Both Lane and Pearson were very vocal during drills. Lane told the running backs to move "on the hop" during one pass-blocking drill, while Pearson encouraged seemingly every other receiver after their rep during another period.

• Jones reminded freshman tailback Jalen Hurd, a former five-star recruit, that Alabama's two tailbacks both started out playing special teams -- that's true, too -- when they were freshmen during a punt coverage drill.

• After he was unhappy with his quarterbacks' accuracy on Friday night, Jones reminded the signal-callers to improve in the area as Tennessee transitioned into its routes-on-air period. The Vols track balls on the ground during a practice, and Jones said there were 62 on Friday night. The intended range is 18-20.

• Cody Blanc did not practice after injuring his lower leg on Friday night, while sophomore offensive lineman Dylan Wiesman and freshman cornerback Rashaan Gaulden worked on the side of Saturday's practice.
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Tennessee football practice report: Vereen knows consistency needed in expanded role | Times Free Press
 
#43
#43
Hurd:

The mental game is the biggest difference. And the tempo is a big difference from high school.

Running is natural for me, I have been running since I was 6 years old. Pass blocking is what I am picking up the most.

I want to run for a lot of yards, but my main goal is to helps team win games.

I have gotten faster. My bursts are better

Eddie George is my idol. I also look up to Adrian Peterson.

I am just a normal guy and people come up and ask me or autographs. But I love it and love the fans.
 
#44
#44
Pearson:

(on being on SportsCenter) Nothing ever happened like that to me. I probably watched it 50 times.

@UTCoachZA is one of the best coaches. He's hard on us but it's for a good reason. I like his energy.

all of the QBs are doing a good job. It will be a hard decision for Coach Jones.

In spring I made plays off athleticism. Now I am working on my technique. I feel like I am so improved.

I really appreciate everything. I am always up. I have a good bond with everybody.

29 days man, I can't wait.
 
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#45
#45
Jones:

We're looking for a level of consistency.

Tomorrow the uppers go on, we'll be able to thud a little bit and see what we're made of.

College football is about big plays, impactful plays. How can you impact the play?

We need production from our tight ends. Each individual has their own strengths.

Jalen Hurd has been used to expectations on him. It's how you manage those expectations and how they drive you.

We have to be careful not to crown them and put too much on these young players early.

Jalen is very grounded. He's the same person every day. We talk about consistency, he's incredibly consistent every day.

He fits the description of the Energy Bus. He brings it every day and it grateful to play football.

we have to focus on one day at a time. We can't have bad days. That's a challenge for a young football team.

We're only good as our last practice and we have the opportunity to go back out there and have another good one tomorrow.

We had some mental errors today and those will cost you football games. That's an opportunity to learn.

JONES on TEs: We have some depth and competition, and as we know, everything is about competition and getting better.
 
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#46
#46
Jones: Big Charles is not anticipated to play this season. He observed practice today. Has been with team since camp started.
 
#48
#48
Patrick Brown: Ethan Wolf, Vic Wharton and Josh Smith get singled for praise from Butch Jones.
 
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#50
#50
Rqiques Crump was at practice

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os0gnx3-Dbo[/youtube]
 
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