re: VOLS Fall Camp Updates

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Quarterbacks: After the live action portion, the quarterbacks transitioned into passing drills with the wide receivers, tight ends and running backs – all at various times. They seemed much more dialed in today as a unit. I only saw seven passes hit the ground throughout the three sessions and a few of those were easy drops by the wide receivers at the beginning of their session. No balls hit the ground at all when they worked with tight ends and running backs.

It just seems that this group may finally be playing with a level of comfort in the offense that we hadn’t seen to this point. By no means have they ‘arrived’ but most of the little mistakes that plagued them earlier in the month appear to have been fixed at this point.

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As we have all been saying all offseason, I really wish Dobbs would take the reigns and claim the starting spot but he's got to earn it

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Can we win 7 with Worley? I'd rather Redshirt Dobbs if he's not not ready

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Jones: Curt Maggitt rolled his ankle a couple days ago. It's all precautionary. He'll be fine.

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Butch: Maggitt won't practice Saturday but should be "good to go" Sunday.

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Jones: Jashon Robertson is very bright, and he understands football. He's done a fabulous job, and he's pushing some of our older offensive linemen.

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Thoughts from tonight's open practice Paul's Thoughts

First off, it was definitely a practice more than a scrimmage as some have suggested/posted and it was very vanilla and scripted in what they did. But, there was some live football and here are some thoughts.

I thought Worley had a strong practice. He made some nice throws, particularly one that was in the air for about 40-yards to North down the sideline. Dobbs and Peterman both had their moments, but Worley again showed why he was the starter of this team.

The Vols' playmakers made some nice grabs on the outside. North got vertical a few times, Croom is going to be tough to handle in the red zone because you have to play both the slant and the fade. He uses his body very well in the red zone and is going to be a very tough out there. Malone had one of his better practices and continues to show that somethings clicks when he's under the lights in Neyland.


The secondary got their hands on more balls than Wednesday night and some of that was helped by the physicality of Rashaan Gaulden. Gaulden made a few plays at corner and finally looks like he's getting closer to begin fully healthy and things are starting to slow down for him. I thought Dillon Bates had a good night flying to the ball. Up front, it was unfortunate to see Saulsberry go down and leave on crutches.

Overall, several young players in the secondary and in the linebacker corps made some plays and they are continuing to progress.

I thought the defensive line got good pressure on the night and you can see why there is optimism in with the young guys. They continue to get into the backfield. They will have to do a better job on contain, but for the most part I thought they did well and there wasn't a big run by a running back or QB tonight.

The offensive line had its moments and the coaches are still searching for the right combination up front. Tonight it was, from left to right, Gilliam, Jackson, Crowder, Robertson, Kerbyson and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the starting lineup next week.

Jones said after practice tonight that moving forward on Monday they will be with their starting lineups most likely in the secondary and on the offensive line and it's trending that Robertson will be in that group somewhere.

On special teams it was fun to see them go through a punt drill where they keep the balls they caught. Devrin Young caught five balls and Jacob Carter caught six. We will have that video, too.

I thought the crowd showed well tonight, too, and it was better than last year's and really helped the event out.

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John's thoughts

Butch Jones stressed as we walked off the field that this environment tonight was a priceless experience for his team, but specifically all of the freshmen. Jones told me he went to every table of players at dinner and listened to the newcomers all take about how this would be the biggest crowd in front of which they had ever played.

The offense was largely effective, and Jashon Robertson continues to look remarkably impressive for a guy who's been at guard two weeks. Jones said he's a guy "that's going to play a lot of football for us," and Robertson is certainly contending for a starting role. His work with first-team OL has steadily increased throughout the week.

Marquez North looked really good and just extremely difficult to defend. One drill in some pass skeleton had North being defended by D'Andre Payne, and Payne has by no means had a bad camp, but it really was an unfair battle. North easily beat the coverage at the line, caught the pass and quickly turned upfield.

I thought Todd Kelly Jr. Elliot Berry and Dillon Bates stood out in the second and third levels of the Vols' defense in terms of just getting more and more comfortable and making some plays.

Derek Barnett and Dewayne Hendrix continue to show promise on the edge. Michael Sawyers can do some things in the middle, but he's one of the guys that Jones has said must improve his football conditioning. Owen Williams busted through the line of scrimmage a couple of times and showed some much-needed signs of being a more reliable contributor along the defensive interior. Making that more important was the injury to Trevarris Saulsberry, which UT folks said they feared the worst on. Saulsberry had really been battling through some nagging issues, but his body language, the work by trainers and the comments of several UT personnel made it clear there is heavy concern regarding the severity of Saulsberry's injury.

Dylan Wiesman got more action tonight than in a long time, and that was both much needed and encouraging. Wiesman is a player whom coaches will tell you privately is very much a key part of the OL's depth and rotation for this season. When healthy, Wiesman commands a spot somewhere on the field and he's got good versatility between center and guard.

Matt Darr punted the ball fairly well, both early and in some drills. I thought it was crucial that Tennessee's return specialists also were good with their ball security, especially Devrin Young and Cam Sutton.

The defense won some third-down battles, but it was another productive step forward for the offense on a night when both sides of the ball were extremely base, per Jones, Justin Worley and several others. Worley was praised not only by Jones but multiple of his teammates told me he's got a really good command and confidence right now that is rubbing off on the offense.

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