Football Talk: What Derek Dooley needs to do in spring practice.

1. Fix the front four– Remember during last year we talked about our front four just wasn’t that good? There’s a good chance it can get worse. Gone are Gerald Williams, Chris Walker, and Victor Thomas, and Ben Martin probably won’t play with his Achilles (I’ll be shocked if he does play). That’s four solid defensive lineman. Not all hope is lost, however. Malik Jackson is one of the best interior players in the SEC, the Vols have talented ends in Jacques Smith and Corey Miller, and incoming JUCO sophomore Maurice Couch will help big time. But the one to look for is Montori Hughes. If he can get a fire under his butt, it will help Tennessee tremendously. He can be a superstar at defensive tackle, but has struggled with effort and grades. If he can have a consistent motor and understand that grades are more important than football, Tennessee’s entire defense will improve.

2. Who will the linebackers be?– When you lose two seniors backers, it sucks. When you don’t have much talent behind them, it really sucks. When you only have one linebacker coming in who can make an instant impact, it really, really sucks. This will be the weak spot for the Volunteers this year. Thompson and Reveiz lacked athleticism, but were solid tacklers and helped stopped the run. Austin Johnson and John Propst look to be the incoming starters, but there is not much behind them. It would help if Jerod Askew started to “get it”. The physical talent is there, but it seems he doesn’t know the schemes or has shown a “want to”. If he committed to becoming a big time linebacker, this would help the linebacker corps. Propst is the guy who intrigues me most. He has okay athleticism with good size, but is best attribute is how he knows the game. Look for him to be the starter in the middle.

3. Establish an offensive identity– I’ve never seen a team change its style on the fly and then win four straight games. Doesn’t matter how bad the teams you face, but the transition from a running team, giving it to Poole 20-25 times a game, to throwing 40 times was smooth. Dooley seems like the coach who wants to run the ball consistently. But with the wide receivers on the outside with so much talent as Hunter and Rogers, and a quarterback who seems like someone who needs to get into a rhythm to be the most effective, Dooley is in a quandary. The offensive line should improve in both departments, and I’m really curious to see what Coach Dooley will let Chaney do. Should be interesting to see if they tip their hand this year.

4. Build up the offensive line depth– WE HAVE TALENT ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE AND SOME DEPTH TO GO WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When’s the last time we could say that? Obviously, line play is the most important thing in the brutal SEC. The depth will consist of a lot of young guys. However, for once, there is talent there. If the front five progresses like I think it will (where we James and Stone become All-SEC players), and the depth evolves with Alex Bullard, then we might have a pretty good offense. While Bray doesn’t need a lot of time to make good throws, the running has to get better. It really dropped off later in the year, and while Bray can sling it, balance is a great thing to have. The guards (freshmen Jerquari Schofield and Zach Fulton) need to make some strides this year.

5. Find a slot receiver – Despite all the Gerald Jones hate, the man could convert on third downs. When he went out with injury, we were abysmal on third down. He comes back, we started converting pretty successfully, and the offense was much smoother. Zach Rogers hasn’t put it all together, and do you want to rely on a freshman to be the key on third downs in DeAnthony Arnett? Probably not. We might see Da’Rick Rogers play some slot if Matt Milton takes his game up a notch. Having a solid option to take up space in the middle of the field is absolutely crucial for the development of our young passing game.

6. Who is the #2 RB? – We have candidates. Rajion Neal seems to be the likely favorite of the bunch, and showed potential last year. Tom Smith might need a year of redshirting, but could make a case. The most interesting candidate is Marlin Lane. If he is 100% from his knee injury, then he might even overtake Poole as the starter. However, Lane isn’t in camp right now. This gives Neal and Smith the advantage. Rajion Neal has really good speed, and we could really use a home run threat since we haven’t seen one since LaMarcus Coker (Excuse me as a shudder at the waste of talent he was here). Neal will hopefully step his game up and be a dangerous tailback mate to Poole.

7. Establish your program– As Derek Dooley said, this is year one. Last year was year zero. Dooley has weeded out the players he didn’t want, brought in the kids he feels can contribute to the program, and set up his philosophies. Now this is the year we see improvement. Establish that there are no more excuses within the team. It’s time to go out and win ballgames. Tell the guys that the SEC East can be won this year with the right amount of work. It’s time for the Vols to start being a prominent program again.