After getting Thursday off of the practice field, Tennessee returned for a full-padded practice late Friday morning at Haslam Field. Here are some notes and observations from the offensive side of the ball:
Depth chart: The lineup we saw as the team went through walk-throughs before practice continued to show a shuffled offensive line:
1st team
LT: Jacob Gilliam
LG: Marcus Jackson
C: Mack Crowder
RG: Jashon Robertson
RT: Kyler Kerbyson
2nd team
LT: Dontavius Blair
LG: Austin Sanders
C: Ray Raulerson
RG Brett Kendrick
RT: Coleman Thomas
Butch Jones recently said that they’re doing a lot of cross-training and shuffling up front to get various guys different looks. So don’t read too much into a guy like Coleman Thomas working with the second team at this point, though it’s definitely worth noting and probably fair to say that his spot isn’t guaranteed at this point. We’ll continue to monitor that.
Obviously, Justin Worley worked with the first team and it was Nathan Peterman getting the first looks with the second team, according to what we saw. Pig Howard, Von Pearson and Marquez North got most of the work with the first-team receivers with Josh Smith, Johnathon Johnson, Josh Malone and Jason Croom among the receivers working in with the second team.
Stripe Removal: Jashon Robertson, who has been working at guard for around a week, no longer has a black stripe on his helmet. He’s been excellent at guard since coming over from defensive tackle and even got first team reps today. For those keeping track at home, Hurd, Barnett, Moseley, Wolf and Robertson have had their stripes removed.
Position swap: Neiko Creamer worked with the tight ends. He was originally recruited as an ‘athlete’ who could play wide receiver or tight end, but has worked with the linebackers since arriving on campus in spring.
Quarterback update: We didn’t see a ton of throwing from the QBs Friday, but all three seemed relatively sharp in drills throwing on air. Joshua Dobbs seemed to have a better day, only notably overthrowing one receiver.
Special teams: The punt returners, who, in this particular drill, were Cam Sutton, Malone, Howard and Jacob Carter, worked on fielding punts inside the 10-yard line. Zach Azzanni worked with them on their decision making – whether to let it bounce, field it, fair catch it or try to return it.
True freshmen Dillon Bates and Elliott Berry are still working with the first-team kickoff unit. George Bullock got the first crack at kicking off. Also of note, defensive tackle Jordan Williams got a lot of work as a long snapper during some field goal drills.
Injury update: Devrin Young went through practice in a green, non-contact jersey. Vic Wharton and Treyvon Paulk both DNP and worked in “The Hole.”
Here’s the link to today’s Defensive Notes and Observations.
