The Vols practiced indoors on Thursday afternoon due to high winds in the Knoxville area.
Smokey gray change: After the offense donned the orange jerseys and Smokey gray helmets for the past several practices, it looks like the defense won the day on Tuesday and earned that honor for Thursday’s practice.
Fourth Down For What?: Fourth and short was the theme of one of the early open periods of practice as Butch Jones lined the starting and second-team offenses up against their counterparts.
I counted five wins for the offense in eight total reps, but given the nature of the drill, that’s a pretty good showing by the defense. Then again, with the quarterback not live, it does give the defense more of an advantage since all it has to do is tag the very elusive Joshua Dobbs or the decently athletic Quinten Dormady.
I thought John Kelly ran well in this drill, picking up a couple first downs, Malik Foreman was in great position to make one of the stops for the defense and Vincent Perry made a nice grab as well for the biggest play during that drill.
Green team: Walk-on receiver Michael Lacey and linebacker Colton Jumper were the only two in green, non-contact jerseys on Thursday afternoon.
Who stood out:
• The less experienced wide receivers: Vincent Perry and Jeff George both had good days I thought, at least in the open portion of practice. Both seem to be playing with more confidence and George, especially, seems to have taken a few steps the last few days. He still needs a lot of food and weight training this offseason, but his confidence and technique looks better overall. Perry’s just had a solid spring overall. I expect him to be a factor in the wide receiver rotation come September.
Vincent Perry gets the foot down pic.twitter.com/MaMs47fCRK
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) April 7, 2016
Jeff George keeps improving little by little pic.twitter.com/k5ekskzWwl
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) April 7, 2016
• CBs Malik Foreman and Emmanuel Moseley: These are a couple guys you probably haven’t heard as much about this spring with much of the (deserved) buzz surrounding Cam Sutton and Justin Martin at the cornerback position. But Foreman has continued to build on his strong finish to the 2015 season and certainly remains a solid option at nickelback, especially if Rashaan Gaulden ultimately ends up at safety. Moseley is a solid third corner option behind Sutton and Martin at this point.
• QB Quinten Dormady: He’s throwing the ball really well, and I like his delivery and mechanics this spring. He’s really taking advantage of this time with Sheriron Jones out and Jarrett Guarantano not on campus yet.
Accuracy drill for Quinten Dormady pic.twitter.com/3OX6rfkosr
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) April 7, 2016
• RB John Kelly: He does something every practice seemingly to catch my eye. He’ll fade into the background a bit in 2016 if Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara are healthy all year, but he has a great chance to be a big part of the future at running back.
