Receivers/Tight Ends
Daniel: Injuries have decimated what was a very deep-looking group in the preseason. Playing without Josh Smith, Marquez North and with a barely-healthy-enough-to-play Jason Croom, the Vols didn’t get much production from the wide receivers. The same can be said of the tight ends, which is more surprising considering they’re pretty healthy overall. Pig Howard (5 catches, 55 yards) and Von Pearson (3 catches, 12 yards) were the only two to catch a pass from this group. That’s unacceptable for this offense. Josh Malone barely saw the field and others such as Vic Wharton and Johnathon Johnson didn’t do too much to fill the void. There wasn’t a lot of separation from Vandy’s underwhelming secondary throughout the game. Howard is really the only healthy receiver consistently playing like an SEC receiver at this point with Pearson showing some flashes, but still needing to do more. Grade: D+
Houston: First off, I’d like to issue an APB for Josh Malone. Secondly, this group really struggled to create separation with Vanderbilt’s defensive backs and never made the explosive plays that many expected to see in this game. Pig Howard and Von Pearson caught eight of Tennessee’s 11 completions on the night for a total of 67 yards, and that was all the production we saw from this group. No tight ends caught a pass in this game, which was a real surprise, and they just didn’t seem to have anyone step up and be ‘the guy.’ Injuries have hurt this group all year, and Dobbs wasn’t exactly on fire, but the lack of big plays in the last two games is concerning. Grade C-
Reed: This group is extremely banged up, but the guys they had out there consistently struggled. The Vols got zero production from the tight end position, though Wolf and Ellis were solid when they were held in to block. Vanderbilt’s defensive backs manhandled the Vols receivers on the outside for much of the game. Pig Howard has been huge for the Vols this year and last night was no exception. He led the Vols with five receptions for 55 yards. Tennessee probably doesn’t go bowling without Pig stepping up after Dobbs emerged as the starter. Everyone else, including Pearson, was largely nonexistent. Grade: D
Average Grade: D+
