Recruiting Forum: Football Talk XII

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#10,053
#10,053
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#10,060
#10,060
Offensive notes

Practice one of fall camp is in the books as Team 118 took the field on a very mild evening for early August. The team, to their credit, looked very dialed in for their first practice of the year and didn’t seem to have any sort of summer hangover that is sometimes the case when practice begins. I think that played a large part in why the coaching staff also seemed relatively calm – at least during the part that the media was allowed to watch. There were no effort problems and the coaches were able to focus on teaching newcomers and continuing to develop skills in the older guys.

Here are some of the more noteworthy items from the evening.

Special Teams: As Butch Jones said in his press conference on Thursday, one of the biggest challenges that this team will face all season is trying to replace what he called the “Team MVP” in Michael Palardy. Matt Darr appears to be up to the challenge of taking over the punting duties. Darr looked really good during the special teams portion of practice, consistently booming punts of 45+ yards and pinning returners against the sidelines.

Freshman placekicker Aaron Medley took the first extra point attempt of the night in what would prove to be the only kick the media was able to see him take. For those wondering, the extra point was good.

Depth Chart Revealed?: Certainly take this with a grain of salt, but when the team lined up for their walk-through portion of practice before stretching, the offense was as follows:



QB: Justin Worley
WR: Marquez North, Josh Malone, Von Pearson
RB: Marlin Lane
TE: A.J. Branisel
OL: Coleman Thomas, Kyler Kerbyson, Mack Crowder, Marcus Jackson, Jacob Gilliam

After the first team went, it just seemed to be a random shuffling as coaches made sure everyone got a rep at their position. Nathan Peterman came out beside Jalen Hurd in the backfield with the second team offense. Pig Howard, Jason Croom and Josh Smith were with that group at receiver.

Josh Dobbs came in with the third unit. The only notable changes here were Ethan Wolf coming in at tight end and newcomer Darrell Scott lining up to claim the rep at running back.

The offensive line did nothing more than drills all evening, so instead of telling you who can crouch the lowest or crab walk the best I’ll just wait until the pads go on before I judge their work.

Running Backs: I think it’s safe to say that this will be the deepest Tennessee has been at this position in quite some time. Both Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd look physically stronger than they did in the spring and Hurd seems to have a much better grasp of the offense and the tempo in which he is expected to have in practice.

Treyvon Paulk and Derrell Scott each look like they could add something to this unit. Paulk was sporting a knee brace but moved very well as he recovers from a torn ACL that he suffered last season. He will need to get in better condition, but he is a bigger back who showed a nice burst during drills. Scott is bigger than I thought he would be and doesn’t look as small as the 5’11, 194 pounds that he is listed at. He is a very shifty player who has some speed when he clears the hole and opens it up. Running backs coach Robert Gillespie was very thorough and intentional with Scott, pulling him to the side on a few occasions to teach him and work with him on his technique.

Quarterbacks: It’s tough to get a feel for the quarterbacks in anything other than a scrimmage setting, but I thought that, as a group, they had a solid start to camp. In the routes vs. air session that I saw, Nathan Peterman, Justin Worley and Josh Dobbs went 54 of 63 as a unit. Considering that five of those incompletions came in the first sixteen throws, I thought they did a good job once they settled down. That settling down, however, did come after an animated Butch Jones got on his signal callers for a lack of focus.

There was also noticeably more zip on the quarterback’s passes than they had in the spring. Obviously, that is thanks in large part to the work they have put in during their time in the weight room this offseason, but also a product of being much more comfortable in the system and on the same page with their receivers.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: This wide receiver unit has a lot of confidence heading into camp. Von Pearson was especially chatty on the evening, always encouraging teammates and conversing with coach Zach Azzanni. Pearson had a few impressive catches in drills and is a player that is starting to gain confidence in his role as a slot receiver.

Marquez North is a physical specimen, which he demonstrated by nearly flipping a blocking sled in a running drill. He makes difficult catches look routine and at this point, I’m not sure if any ball can be thrown out of his reach. He ran down multiple deep balls that looked like they would be overthrown.

Spring holdout Pig Howard was also back on the field tonight and it didn’t look like the time he missed hampered his development at all. He looks to be in great shape and his teammates were very supportive of him as he went through drills. With Von getting all the reps in the spring, it will be very interesting to see what kind of role Pig can carve out for himself in the offense.

Daniel Helm and Ethan Wolf have transformed their bodies and no longer look like freshmen. Both run extremely well at the tight end position and seem to be on pace to have a large role in the passing game. With all of the talent and explosiveness at receiver, these two guys could turn into real weapons as teams focus on the receivers and underestimate their talent.
 
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#10,061
#10,061
Defensive Notes:


We’ll start by reminding, as always, on the first day of practice that you shouldn’t look too much into depth chart or anything else that happens. These observations are first impressions of guys who aren’t even wearing pads yet and should give a baseline for where some guys are, but are far from indicative of what we’ll see come the week of Utah State.

With that out of the way, here’s what we saw as the Vols opened practice Friday night at a soon-to-be expanded Haslam Field:

• We got a feel for at least the initial depth chart as they walked through some formations (all these will be nickel):

1st defense:

DE Curt Maggitt, DE Corey Vereen, DT Jordan Williams, DT Danny O’Brien, LB A.J. Johnson, LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, CB Cam Sutton, CB Emmanuel Moseley, NB Justin Coleman, S Brian Randolph, S Devaun Swafford



2nd defense:

DE Jaylen Miller, DE LaTroy Lewis, DT Owen Williams, DT Dimarya Mixon, LB Dillon Bates, LB Kenny Bynum, CB Riyahd Jones, CB D’Andre Payne, NB Malik Foreman, S LaDarrell McNeil, S Lemond Johnson

3rd defense:

DE Kendal Vickers, DE Derek Barnett, DT Allan Carson, DT Trevarris Saulsberry, LB Neiko Creamer, LB Gavin Bryant, CB Rashaan Gaulden, CB Michael Williams, NB Elliott Berry, S Cortez McDowell, S Todd Kelly Jr.

• Depth chart thoughts: Not too many stunners right off the bat. The starters are mostly what we saw in the spring with one relatively unsurprising wrinkle being Jordan Williams getting the first crack at the three-technique. The only thing that caught us a little off guard was Devaun Swafford starting at safety. He worked as a second-team safety for most of the spring and the coaches must’ve liked what they saw then and over the summer.

Trevarris Saulsberry working with the third team behind a guy like Dimarya Mixon was a little surprising. Saulsberry is coming off an injury and it
might be a matter of getting him back into shape a little. We’ll keep an eye on him as the pads go on over the next few days. Most of the newcomers are starting off a little further down the depth chart. That’ll be something we’ll track closely. Again, I wouldn’t put a ton of stock into what unit a newcomer was working with this early in the process. Expect many of them to work at multiple positions and to shuffle around the depth chart.

Other notes/observations:

• Freshman defensive tackle Charles Mosley did make an appearance as a spectator, albeit in a large cast and unable to put any weight on his leg after a car crash in the offseason.

Freshman DB Evan Berry
Freshman DB Evan Berry
• We didn’t get a great feel for how Evan and Elliott Berry will be used. Elliott worked as a nickelback, but also went through at least one drill as a safety. Evan, though he said he was a corner in interviews recently, was working with the safeties primarily. Both are obviously talented and versatile, and we’ll keep a close eye on where they work throughout camp.

• All of the newcomers were impressive physically on this side of the ball. Dillon Bates looks ready to step on the field Week 1. Rashaan Gaulden, who worked as an outside cornerback, is extremely tall and long. Safeties – Todd Kelly Jr. and Cortez McDowell – are extremely well-built for their position. Linebacker Chris Weatherd looks long and athletic as well.

• Maybe one of the best signs for the defense was seeing a healthy and active Curt Maggitt ready to go. For the first time in recent memory, he had no brace or wrap on and he’s clearly one of the leaders up front.

• Even though it was non-contact work today, defensive tackle Allan Carson still found himself in the hole, the area injured players work.

• A couple special teams notes: Matt Darr appeared to have a good first day. He was up and down in the spring, but he was hitting punts consistently well Friday night. Justin King, Danny O’Brien and Jashon Robertson were working as the three-man personal protection wall in front of him on punt.

• We didn’t get much feel for a depth chart per se, but these were the guys working as punt returners: Devrin Young, Vic Wharton, Pig Howard, Johnathon Johnson, D’Andre Payne, Josh Malone, Evan Berry, Von Pearson, Adrian Gamble, Jacob Carter and Cam Sutton.
 
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#10,062
#10,062
rocktopper16 said:
Offensive notes

Practice one of fall camp is in the books as Team 118 took the field on a very mild evening for early August. The team, to their credit, looked very dialed in for their first practice of the year and didn’t seem to have any sort of summer hangover that is sometimes the case when practice begins. I think that played a large part in why the coaching staff also seemed relatively calm – at least during the part that the media was allowed to watch. There were no effort problems and the coaches were able to focus on teaching newcomers and continuing to develop skills in the older guys.

Here are some of the more noteworthy items from the evening.

Special Teams: As Butch Jones said in his press conference on Thursday, one of the biggest challenges that this team will face all season is trying to replace what he called the “Team MVP” in Michael Palardy. Matt Darr appears to be up to the challenge of taking over the punting duties. Darr looked really good during the special teams portion of practice, consistently booming punts of 45+ yards and pinning returners against the sidelines.

Freshman placekicker Aaron Medley took the first extra point attempt of the night in what would prove to be the only kick the media was able to see him take. For those wondering, the extra point was good.

Depth Chart Revealed?: Certainly take this with a grain of salt, but when the team lined up for their walk-through portion of practice before stretching, the offense was as follows:



QB: Justin Worley
WR: Marquez North, Josh Malone, Von Pearson
RB: Marlin Lane
TE: A.J. Branisel
OL: Coleman Thomas, Kyler Kerbyson, Mack Crowder, Marcus Jackson, Jacob Gilliam

After the first team went, it just seemed to be a random shuffling as coaches made sure everyone got a rep at their position. Nathan Peterman came out beside Jalen Hurd in the backfield with the second team offense. Pig Howard, Jason Croom and Josh Smith were with that group at receiver.

Josh Dobbs came in with the third unit. The only notable changes here were Ethan Wolf coming in at tight end and newcomer Darrell Scott lining up to claim the rep at running back.

The offensive line did nothing more than drills all evening, so instead of telling you who can crouch the lowest or crab walk the best I’ll just wait until the pads go on before I judge their work.

Running Backs: I think it’s safe to say that this will be the deepest Tennessee has been at this position in quite some time. Both Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd look physically stronger than they did in the spring and Hurd seems to have a much better grasp of the offense and the tempo in which he is expected to have in practice.

Treyvon Paulk and Derrell Scott each look like they could add something to this unit. Paulk was sporting a knee brace but moved very well as he recovers from a torn ACL that he suffered last season. He will need to get in better condition, but he is a bigger back who showed a nice burst during drills. Scott is bigger than I thought he would be and doesn’t look as small as the 5’11, 194 pounds that he is listed at. He is a very shifty player who has some speed when he clears the hole and opens it up. Running backs coach Robert Gillespie was very thorough and intentional with Scott, pulling him to the side on a few occasions to teach him and work with him on his technique.

Quarterbacks: It’s tough to get a feel for the quarterbacks in anything other than a scrimmage setting, but I thought that, as a group, they had a solid start to camp. In the routes vs. air session that I saw, Nathan Peterman, Justin Worley and Josh Dobbs went 54 of 63 as a unit. Considering that five of those incompletions came in the first sixteen throws, I thought they did a good job once they settled down. That settling down, however, did come after an animated Butch Jones got on his signal callers for a lack of focus.

There was also noticeably more zip on the quarterback’s passes than they had in the spring. Obviously, that is thanks in large part to the work they have put in during their time in the weight room this offseason, but also a product of being much more comfortable in the system and on the same page with their receivers.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: This wide receiver unit has a lot of confidence heading into camp. Von Pearson was especially chatty on the evening, always encouraging teammates and conversing with coach Zach Azzanni. Pearson had a few impressive catches in drills and is a player that is starting to gain confidence in his role as a slot receiver.

Marquez North is a physical specimen, which he demonstrated by nearly flipping a blocking sled in a running drill. He makes difficult catches look routine and at this point, I’m not sure if any ball can be thrown out of his reach. He ran down multiple deep balls that looked like they would be overthrown.

Spring holdout Pig Howard was also back on the field tonight and it didn’t look like the time he missed hampered his development at all. He looks to be in great shape and his teammates were very supportive of him as he went through drills. With Von getting all the reps in the spring, it will be very interesting to see what kind of role Pig can carve out for himself in the offense.

Daniel Helm and Ethan Wolf have transformed their bodies and no longer look like freshmen. Both run extremely well at the tight end position and seem to be on pace to have a large role in the passing game. With all of the talent and explosiveness at receiver, these two guys could turn into real weapons as teams focus on the receivers and underestimate their talent.
Click to expand...

Big play busting blocks.
 
#10,066
#10,066
Just came across this. Not really practice relevant exactly, but Coach Mahoney has lost a TON of weight. I had read he was trying to do that this spring.

6_2994541.JPG
 
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#10,067
#10,067
@Vol_Football: JONES: Cody Blanc was the only injury from practice, awaiting further word on him.



Call off the season
 
#10,070
#10,070
Reeves-Maybin up 20 pounds. Now 230. Says he gets tired of eating sometimes but worth it.


Marlin Lane said he thought the offense met the coaches' expectations for the offensive tempo today.


Randolph said he's up from 190 to 210, and he did it for durability.

A.J. Johnson said the team came out with plenty of energy today and was ready to play, but there's always room to get better.


Kerbyson: This team has great chemistry. That's gonna help us get better.

Kerbyson: Blair doesn't look like the same guy. Is so much better conditioned now. We're all really proud of him.

Jackson said he's not taking anything differently from the way he did his redshirt year. Said he's excited about this team and this group up front.

Kerbyson: We got a bit sloppy at the end of practice with our sets and our techniques, but we'll improve. We can do it.

Butch: This is a faster team, no question. But we need to get off blocks, make plays, use that speed.

Butch: We challenged every player in our program to learn as quickly as possible, give us fast answers. We need to be quick-minded like that. We have to text them.

Between drops and fumbles, about 60 balls hit the ground today. Good teams have more like 18 or so. Our accuracy needs to improve. But this was the first day.

Butch: Dillon Bates always goes and finds AJ Johnson out there on the field. It's kind of funny.

Butch: Pig had good moments today. But we need more consistency from him.

Jones: Cody Blanc was injured today in practice. Maybe an ankle or Achilles' tendon. We'll know more after he sees doctor.

Butch: Blair looks like a different guy mentally and physically. Proud of him. He's worked hard.


- All from Callahan and Rucker
 
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#10,073
#10,073
utvols88 said:
The amount of balls hitting the floor is the first negative thing so far.
Click to expand...

Posted this in the other thread:

I'm not entirely sure what Jones was talking about but I wouldn't freak out just yet. The QBs were 54 out of 63 as a unit in pass completions per RTI.
 
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