A few quick notes and observations from Tennessee’s practice in Neyland Stadium Saturday:
Tight Ends: One of the top storylines of the spring has been Jason Croom’s transition to tight end – and for good reason. But make no mistake about it, Tennessee isn’t just relying on Croom and rising junior Ethan Wolf to play the position. Both Eli Wolf and Jakob Johnson received several reps during their scrimmage against the defense and they both looked good from what we saw. Johnson specifically made some impressive blocks on the outside.
QB Play: In the short period of scrimmage open to practice, both Joshua Dobbs and Quinten Dormady rotated playing time during the scrimmage. And while Dobbs went 0-3 to start, he did hit Josh Smith on the sideline for a nice gain later on. Dormady, on the other hand, completed his only pass attempt buy didn’t really get the opportunity to throw the ball downfield otherwise.
The Smith/Williams Dead Horse: If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it 1,000 times. Josh Smith catches everything thrown his way and Preston Williams looks better and better every day. Smith made multiple catches in passing drills and the scrimmage that are out of reach or too difficult for other receivers. Williams showed nice hands as well in fade route drills, and he made a really impressive toe-tap catch right inside the goal line.
Big Fellas: The offensive and defensive linemen both impressed Saturday, specifically Brett Kendrick at tackle. During the scrimmage portion open to the media, the offensive line struggled at times with the defensive penetration, but overall it was a stalemate with neither side really dominating the other.
