Fingers
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Dylan Sampson was seen rallying the team prior to the start of practice, continuing to be one of the biggest vocal leaders for the squad.
Cooper Mays was on the practice field in full pads this morning going through drills.
Veteran linebacker Keenan Pili and sophomore Jeremiah Telander received some good praise from coach William Inge several times while we were out there.
Rickey Gibson was getting some special attention from Willie Martinez this morning as the coach was reminding him to focus on the little things.
Martinez was also getting after Jordan Matthews some to begin the day, encouraging him to increase his energy.
Nico Iamaleava made a couple of nice throws that were complete to Ethan Davis and Dont’e Thornton in the back of the endzone. He threw a good ball on a corner route to Chaz Nimrod that was just off his hands but only to where he could catch it. Nico did miss high on one throw to Webb.
Gaston Moore completed a couple of good balls to Squirrel White and tight end Miles Kitselman in the redzone period as well.
Speaking of tight ends, Kitselman was drawing some praise from Alec Abeln on the two-man blocking sled. Ethan Davis has also shown that he’s become more physical with the in-line blocking that comes with the tight end position in this offense.
e.cainClearly, Dylan Sampson is ahead of the pack in that regard as he was running some good routes, looking comfortable. DeSean Bishop looked natural out in space and made one impressive catch on a throw that was high.
We did not see veteran Jackson Lampley taking part in drills with the offensive line.
The rest of the limited/injured/working-on-the-side players were the usual suspects: Offensive linemen Javontez Spraggins, Andrej Karic and Masai Reddick, wide receivers Bru McCoy and Nathan Leacock, linebackers Arion Carter and Elijah Herring, running back Peyton Lewis and safety Christian Charles. Obviously running back Cameron Seldon (shoulder) and cornerback Kaleb Beasley (fibula) aren’t practicing as well.
Another player whose vocal presence caught our attention was seventh-year senior linebacker Keenan Pili. He was loud but brief in trying to get his guys to transition from their final turnover circuit station inside the Anderson Training Center to where the linebackers go through drills on the outside fields. Pili certainly is being pushed to be more vocal – he’s already a lead-by-example type – by new position coach William Inge.
Sampson, DeSean Bishop and Khalifa Keith all made confident, away-from-the-body catches on their first reps.
New position coach De’Rail Sims really liked Sampson’s route on his second rep and praised him for it. Bishop then made a nice adjustment to catch a pass thrown behind him on an out route. Big Keith, at 6-foot-1 and 233 pounds, showed some nimble athleticism to catch a pass and get his feet inbounds on an out route.
Leading the three receivers lines were Dont’e Thornton Jr., Squirrel White and Kaleb Webb. Redshirt freshman Ethan Davis was the pick of the tight ends as he looked imposing and natural running routes and catching passes, his hands showing up on a couple of snags as the tight ends worked crossing routes, slant patterns and corner routes to the back pylon. Behind Davis, Miles Kitselman went ahead of Holden Staes as the two transfers continue to settle in.
Transfer receiver Chris Brazzell II had the best catch of the period, twisting his body to snag a dart thrown slightly behind him and completing the reception after his legs clipped the pad-holding manager there to simulate incoming contact. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound newcomer is coming off a good scrimmage performance and will look to build on it this week. Brazzell is almost always a standout in these practice viewings.
White had a crisp route on a corner in the back of the end zone and tapped his toes inbounds on one catch, but Webb and Nico Iamaleava didn’t have their connection going. Iamaleava sailed one high on a slant on one rep. As we were leaving, the Vols worked some red-zone scramble drill and Webb couldn’t make a catch at full extension after slipping on the wet turf as he tried to adjust his route and get open for his quarterback.
This is obviously going to be a big opportunity for Umarov as he’s going to get more first-team work the rest of the spring. It may not wind up in a starting spot, but it’ll certainly be valuable experience for his development and could end with him among Tennessee’s top options off the bench. The Vols are missing some of their top guards and he stands to benefit depending on how he goes about the rest of the spring.
Inge was big on body position and he used a unique delivery to teach it to freshman Edwin Spillman.
p.brownSignee Carson Gentle was in attendance watching defensive line drills ahead of his arrival on campus in a couple of months.
r.callahanTennessee has a pretty strong group of visitors on campus for its practice this morning, led by five-star Class of 2025 WR Caleb Cunningham of Ackerman, Miss. Top247 WR Phillip Bell of Mission Viejo, Calif., is also visiting the Vols today, along with Top247 CB Shamari Earls of Chester, Va., and four-star OL Dontrell Glover, a former Alabama commitment from Fairburn, Ga.
The Class of 2026 prospects in attendance include four-star Class of 2026 CB Samari Matthews, a top-100 prospect from Cornelius, N.C., and Class of 2026 OL/DL Noah Clark of Durham, N.C