Vols Spring Practice #3

#1
Fingers

Fingers

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The main notable from this morning in terms of who was practicing and who was not is starting tight end Miles Kitselman was not in drills and was riding the stationary bike when practice opened up. The Vols thus are a little thin at tight end currently, because redshirt freshman Cole Harrison is in a red non-contact jersey after his late-season injury and freshman DaSaahn Brame was not available for a second straight practice due to illness. So a lot of work for Ethan Davis and freshman Jack Van Dorselaer.
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LEO Jordan Ross was back in drills. The same goes for cornerback Rickey Gibson III after his injury scare on Monday. Freshman cornerback Timothy Merritt was practicing normally after we didn’t see him out there on Monday.
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Alabama wide receiver transfer Amari Jefferson remains in a non-contact jersey, but went through routes-on-air and was getting coached up pretty good by Kelsey Pope.
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Linebackers Edwin Spillman and Jordan Burns each had good reps early on with one group. In the other group, Ben Bolton put a quick swim move to get past Peyton Lewis. Safety Jakobe Thomas put a good spin move on Ethan Davis, who showed good athleticism to recover.
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Running back DeSean Bishop had a good rep against Edrees Farooq. Freshman tight end Jack Van Dorselaer won his matchup with fellow freshman and safety Sidney Walton. Then Walton got on the inside shoulder of freshman running back Daune Morris and would have disrupted the pocket, and both players were getting coached up after that rep.
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Bishop took the old-school approach of catching the football without gloves, and Thomas, who caught a ton of balls at his two previous stops, looked very comfortable. Lewis looked more comfortable catching the ball on the move and getting upfield, and Morris’s overall quickness stands out – and he said Monday he’s already up 16-17 pounds to 197, so another newcomer who is impressive physically.
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Arizona transfer Wendell Moe Jr. is a springy athlete with some juice in his movement. He fires off the ball and plays with some obvious pop and power in a compact frame. Moe worked at left guard, his primary spot the past two seasons with the Wildcats.
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Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton is really athletic coming off the football as well and should be a good fit for the pulling action the Vols have in their run game. He is listed at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, but moves like a smaller player as he worked at right guard. Freshman defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell was talking up Pendleton earlier this week as one of the tougher matchups he’s encountered so far and pointed to Pendleton’s experience and technique showing up in those matchups.
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Redshirt freshman Bennett Warren is another physically impressive tackle in this program, and he has continued to change his body. He looks every bit of the 6-foot-7 and 335 pounds he’s listed at and still has the big belly and looks leaner elsewhere. The Vols had him at left tackle behind Lance Heard.
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p.brown

Jermod McCoy, Jaydin Loftin and Jourdan Thomas were off to the side riding a stationary bike. Freshman Christian Gass, Jeremias Heard, Arion Carter, Daevin Hobbs, Mariyon Dye, and Christian Charles were in a group that was doing some light stretching while the team was in individual work. Cole Harrison and Amari Jefferson were in red non-contact jerseys. Freshman linebackers Jaedon Harmon and Jadon Perlotte were not full-speed. Defensive lineman Nathan Robison was not in pads and was wearing a mask, thus he looked to maybe be sick. There’s been a few guys who have been sick. Freshman tight end DaSaahn Brame, who was sick for Monday’s practice, was back today but in a red jersey. Defensive lineman Jamal Wallace was not in pads today. Tight end Miles Kitselman was off to the side riding a stationary bike.
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Alan Williams, the new defensive back analyst hire, was very hands on with the safeties today.
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Offensively, the quarterbacks and running backs were linking up for some routes on air out of the backfield. Star Thomas can really excel in this area and Peyton Lewis and DeSean Bishop look comfortable as well. The offensive line was doing some group work with the tackles off hitting the on-man blocking sled themselves. Analyst Kevin Pendleton was giving some one-on-one attention to David Sanders. Again, Sanders looks good from a technical standpoint.
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Routes on air was fine today. There were a few drops but overall pretty crisp period. Kelsey Pope was spending a lot of individual time with both Mike Matthews and Amari Jefferson. Jefferson was running routes out of the slot again. Matthews was getting praised for adjusting to the ball in the air that was thrown off line.
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The defensive backs and linebackers were doing blitzing drills against the tight ends and running backs who were repping picking up blitzers in pass pro. Redshirt freshman Jordan Burns showed some athletic ability during the drill. Edrees Farooq displayed some good physicality. That stood out compared to the rest of the defensive backs.
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e.cain
Boo Carter remains in an orange jersey and spends his time with the defense. We weren't here for any scrimmage-type formatted drills, but through position group work he was with the defensive backs the entire time. Echoes the sentiment Tim Banks said on Monday that he's a defender first for the Vols.
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There were portions of practice that George MacIntyre got the 'second team' reps. Nico Iamaleava is always first, but MacIntyre went before Jake Merklinger a few times.
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QBs threw slip screens to running backs. Thought Daune Morris and Star Thomas looked natural releasing into the flat and catching passes. Matches up with Morris saying he models his game after Alvin Kamara.
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When throwing to routes on air, Nico Iamaleava had a bad ball thrown to Mike Matthews. Probably the first bad throw I've seen Iamaleava have all spring, Matthews was still able to get a paw on it, but would've been a remarkable catch.
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Chris Brazzell dropped a pass over the middle that he should've brought in. Happens, though.
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The group of defensive backs I was watching was typically Andre Turrentine then Boo Carter beginning drills. Feels like the secondary is Turrentine's group due to experience and being older. but Carter is seemingly getting in the mix as a guy others look to.
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Joakim Dodson, a 3-star 2025 WR signee, was here. He is not early enrolled so he was here as a recruit.
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r.sylvia
 
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#4
#4
G-Mac taking some of the 2nd string reps over merk is very interesting, especially since Merk never took 2nd string reps over Moore last year during spring/fall camp iirc
 
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#7
#7
JCVol00 said:
G-Mac taking some of the 2nd string reps over merk is very interesting, especially since Merk never took 2nd string reps over Moore last year during spring/fall camp iirc
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Interesting, yes but I find it odd that Sylvia was the only one to mention it. Practice is open for about 20 minutes, who know what goes on after the media leaves.
 
#15
#15
Woodlawn VOL said:
Glad to hear Bennett Warren being mentioned. He obviously has been working out he is massive. I think he could be a good one once he puts it all together. GBO
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Good sign that all those guys from last years class are being mentioned and looking like most of them may be in the 2-deep.
 
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#17
#17
why so many guys are out hurt even true freshmen. Some I know had off season surgery but a bunch of the true freshmen are out and really need to be getting the reps in the spring or they will have setbacks in their development to be ready to play. I know the TE is out sick but what about all the others?
 
#18
#18
VolsCigarMan said:
why so many guys are out hurt even true freshmen. Some I know had off season surgery but a bunch of the true freshmen are out and really need to be getting the reps in the spring or they will have setbacks in their development to be ready to play. I know the TE is out sick but what about all the others?
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Mostly cleanup procedures
 
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#23
#23
VOLfrombama said:
I'm starting to get excited about the OL. Starting to sound like there is some real competition and depth emerging.
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Rightfully so. This line is more athletic and still have the size you need and biggest is more competition which always makes you a better practice player which usually makes you better on Saturday. Finally a 2 deep that looks like big time Program. In CHRIST Alone
 
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#24
#24
VolsCigarMan said:
why so many guys are out hurt even true freshmen. Some I know had off season surgery but a bunch of the true freshmen are out and really need to be getting the reps in the spring or they will have setbacks in their development to be ready to play. I know the TE is out sick but what about all the others?
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Better now than in the fall. Worry about guys not participating when we're in fall camp not now in spring. This is when guys should be getting healthy for the upcoming season.
 
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