Tennessee’s fifth fall practice brought a short window for the media, but there was still plenty to pull from Tuesday morning. The most revealing work came during routes on air in the red zone, where the quarterbacks got a steady run of throws from around the 15-yard line and the ball placement told the story.
Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre handled most of the work with the first group, while Ryan Staub mixed in behind them. Mason Phillips did not take any reps in the portion that was open.
Brandon’s session stood out for how consistently he drove the ball into tight spaces. He opened with a completion to Ben Petermann on an out route, then followed with a string that showed both his arm strength and the kind of zip Tennessee wants in the red zone.
Some of the misses came on the receivers, including a pair of direct hits to Radarious Jackson that were dropped and a Tyreek King in-route that also hit the target in the chest. Brandon also had an inaccurate throw to DaSaahn Brame on a back-pylon shot and sailed one high to Cole Harrison, but he connected on enough quality balls to make the point.
His best throw of the day, in my opinion, was a back-pylon strike to Trent Thomas. He also hit Braylon Staley on a seam shot with contact at the back of the end zone, then later found Ian Duarte the same way.
Brandon finished with completions to TK Keys, JaColby Cooper, Luca Wolf and Cole Harrison, among others.
MacIntyre put together a clean, productive set of throws of his own. He completed passes to Travis Smith Jr., Jack Henry-Jakobik, Cole Harrison, Drake Martinez, Joakim Dodson, Lane Cope, Mike Matthews, Luke Thompson and DaSaahn Brame.
A couple of his throws on back-pylon looks to Harrison and Martinez were completed, though both seemed like balls that would need a little more elevation against a live defense. He did have an inaccurate throw to Trent Thomas and a seam shot to Lane Cope that sailed high, but he also showed good touch on a seam throw to Dodson with contact at the back of the end zone.
Staub got fewer reps, but he was sharp when he was called on. He completed throws to Deon Hardin, Luca Wolf, Ian Duarte, Nathan Roberts and Tyreek King.
The lone incompletion in his group came on an out route to Drake Martinez that was dropped. Hardin also made a strong catch on one of Staub’s throws that sailed high.
The biggest takeaway from the quarterback work was simple: the ball was getting on receivers in a hurry, and a lot of the incompletions were tied to drops rather than poor throws. Brandon showed off the velocity that can matter when windows shrink near the goal line, while MacIntyre stayed accurate and firm, even if Brandon looks a touch ahead if you’re comparing pure arm speed. Staub was steady in his own work with the depth-chart group.
Elsewhere on offense, Radarious Jackson wore a red non-contact jersey and had a rough morning. In the three reps I saw, he dropped two accurate passes and the third was so far off-line that Brandon and Jackson may not have been on the same page.
TK Keys was one of the cleaner standouts in the viewing window. The true freshman’s release and footwork popped right away, and his quickness off the line looked advanced. It was the kind of showing that makes you think he could be in for a strong freshman year.
Up front, Ed Baker stood out just by being hard to miss. He has the size to fill out the interior of the line, though he’ll need to add strength. David Sanders Jr. and Ory Williams continued to work together, which still points toward those two as the tackles to watch.
Defensively, Ty Redmond returned after missing the early part of camp because of an illness. He was dressed and padded up, but he looked limited and seemed to be working back toward full conditioning.
Tre Poteat and Qua Moss both continued to draw attention. Poteat’s fundamentals look much improved, and with Jadais Richard injured, he now looks like the likely CB3 behind Redmond and Kayin Lee. Moss, meanwhile, looked like a veteran moving with ease at nickelback, and his experience there gives Tennessee a real boost.
The linebackers were working on shedding blocks, and TJ White stood out in that drill from a size and strength standpoint, especially for a true freshman.
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