Tennessee’s seventh fall practice brought the first real hint that Saturday’s scrimmage could start sorting out the quarterback picture.
The Vols were back on the field Friday morning, and the media portion of practice centered on red-zone routes on air. No quarterback clearly separated himself, but Ryan Staub delivered what looked like the cleanest throw of the day before Tyreek King couldn’t haul it in at the back pylon. Even with the drop, King showed up well in the session, adding a nice catch earlier in the period.
Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre both put together strong work. Their throws were on target and came out with good zip, and while there were a few balls to the back of the end zone that might have needed a little more height in an actual game, neither quarterback gave much reason to complain about how they looked overall.
The receiver groups were laid out with Radarious Jackson now out of the red non-contact jersey and working at X alongside Travis Smith Jr., Deon Hardon and Jack-Henry Jakobik. On the other outside spot, Z, the reps went to Mike Matthews, TK Keys, Nathan Roberts and Ben Petermann, with Smith also appearing to slide over for a rep there late. At slot, Braylon Staley, Joakim Dodson, Tyreek King, Ian Duarte and Lane Cope rotated through.
Tight end reps went DaSaahn Brame, Luca Wolf, Cole Harrison, Trent Thomas and Drake Martinez. Ethan Davis still wasn’t part of the portion open to the media. The order wasn’t something to overread, but Wolf getting reps before Harrison and Thomas stood out as a sign of trust in the freshman.
Up front, Tennessee appeared to split the offensive line into a few different groups, including a center unit featuring Sam Pendleton, Nic Moore and Antoni Ogumoro. Pendleton has the job this year, but Moore continued to look like a player the Vols could count on down the line or if Pendleton were ever unavailable.
On defense, Ty Redmond was back with the cornerbacks, though he worked with a coach instead of another player during the portion observed. He still looks to be working his way back from illness, and the situation didn’t seem alarming. Kayin Lee and Tre Poteat handled the paired reps.
The linebackers went through Oklahoma drill work with a ball carrier and defender starting on their backs. Jeremiah Telander did a good job of containing and wrapping Arion Carter on the first rep.
Brayden Rouse nearly got around Edwin Spillman, but Spillman used his strength to control the rep with an arm tackle. Jordan Burns beat Amare Campbell with a hard step left before cutting right and getting past him.
Grier Short was met quickly by TJ White on the final rep watched. It wasn’t full tackling, just getting to the right spot and wrapping up.
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