1. The quarterback battle is going to be a fun one
I know fans want quick answers to questions such as: Who has the edge? When will there be a starter named? Will both quarterbacks stick around? Are any other quarterbacks realistically in the battle? The only one of those questions I can answer at this point is the final one: It is a two-man race right now. That’s been pretty apparent to me. But outside of that, there were some things to like from both Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano in the first couple days of practice, but not a lot of clear answers.
Guarantano got a lot of the buzz the past few weeks because of his work in California with QB guru George Whitfield Jr., but it’s Dormady who looks physically different – clearly packing on a good deal of muscle even in the past few months since we’ve last seen him.
In the very limited throwing samples we’ve seen, both were a little rusty to get started, but both also settled in. Dormady has a quick, compact release and a slight advantage in hitting receivers in stride at this point. Guarantano, however, clearly has a big arm and improved accuracy. And though we haven’t seen it much this spring yet, he also has the athleticism edge. I’ve heard some internal buzz that coaches really like what they’ve seen from Guarantano so far. But Dormady also looks good from what we’ve seen. Expect this to take time and, more than anything, know that Tennessee has two really good QBs on the roster and then some decent depth behind them.
