The mailbag is brought to you by Mid Tenn Ford. They are Middle Tennessee’s oldest Ford Dealer, and they offer a full line of Ford Trucks, Vans, SUVS and Crossovers. They have both a light and heavy duty Service Department to get you back on the road when needed. Call 1-888-409-0306 today for your no-obligation price quote from their sales department.
We answer your best questions about Tennessee athletics and anything else in our weekly mailbag, Insider Mailing.
“Who will be the O&W Game MVP this year? And will Pruitt’s MVP be like Butch’s and not actually make a difference during the season?” – Mark
Nathanael: That’s a fair question. Whether it was Aldon Hill or Jeff George, the “standout” from Tennessee’s Orange & White Game under Butch Jones rarely seemed to do anything during the season. I think the lone exception was Josh Malone, but his big O&W Game performance might’ve come in 2015 instead of 2016, I don’t really remember. I do wonder who will stand out this year, though. I think it will be an offensive player because I think the defense will take it a little easier. But I don’t think the MVP this year will be a “bust” like in years before.
Will: I’ll go with Marquez Callaway. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch the ball against a bad secondary. Runner up will be either Brandon Johnson or Latrell Williams.
“With everyone talking about JG and Chryst being the starting QB this fall, how much of a chance does McBride or Shrout actually have?” – @htcoock1999
Nathanael: I would give Shrout a zero percent chance of starting in 2018 unless every QB in front of him gets injured. This should be a redshirt year for him. Although last year should’ve been a redshirt year for McBride too, but we saw what happened there. I think McBride will also have a very low chance of starting this year too. Maybe this will be his redshirt year too with only Chryst and Guarantano being the only quarterbacks to see any action this fall. That would be a good thing for Tennessee.
Will: I don’t think either of them have a shot. I’d give Guarantano a 55% chance to win the job with Chryst right behind him at 45%. This is still JG’s team, in my opinion.
“Are we making a bowl game this year? Will our recruiting class be top 20? Be straight with me.” – @CjRobinson9
Nathanael: I’m going to say yes to both of those, and I feel a lot better about the second one than the first. I do think Tennessee sneaks into a bowl game with a 6-6 record this year, but it’s also April We’ll see how I’m feeling in August. But I think Tennessee’s 2016 class will easily be inside the top 20, and I think it will end up inside the top 15 and could even be a top 10 class.
Will: There’s certainly a much better chance of this recruiting class breaking the top 20. I think that’s a given at this point. I’d say the Vols have equal chances of making a bowl game as they do recruiting a top ten class. Both are achievable, and both will likely happen in my opinion.
“How concerning is it that no bigger CB’s are seriously considering us at this point?” – Dylan
Nathanael: I wouldn’t look into it too much at this point. We’re not even five months into Pruitt’s tenure as Tennessee’s head coach, and the Vols haven’t shown anything on the field yet to prove they should be beating out teams like USC, LSU, Florida, and others for top defensive backs. They’re pursuing several top guys at safety and corner both right now. Four-star safeties Jalyn Phillips and Jaylen McCollough are two names to watch on that front, and four-star cornerbacks Devin Bush, Woodi Washington, JUCO Elijah Blades, and Adonis Otey are also considering Tennessee. The Vols have offered 42 corners and 24 safeties in the 2019 class, so they’re making the secondary a huge priority.
Will: It’s still early. I’d trust Pruitt to find a few under the radar guys he likes as well. He recruited Alontae Taylor as a cornerback to Alabama despite most schools wanting him to play wide receiver. That being said, I’d bet on him landing at least one big time recruit in the secondary.
“Too early for ‘Warrior for Heisman’ campaign?” – @neylandmafia
Nathanael: Nah, never too early for that. Doubt he’ll be considered at all, but I do think Warrior could be in for a big year.
Will: He’ll certainly have a lot of tackles given the inexperience in front of him at corner. But a lot of those tackles will come after 40+ yard gains.
“Penny is tearing it up on the recruiting trail and we play Memphis. What are we really doing with the two open scholarships?” – Pete
Nathanael: Right now, I think you’re looking at Tennessee probably only bringing in one player for the 2018 class and using that other scholarship for the 2019 class. And the only name that makes sense to me in the 2018 cycle is Richmond grad transfer guard Khwan Fore. The Vols have been looking at former MTSU power forward commit Carlos Curry, but I don’t know if they’ll take him or not. Xavier Johnson, a former Nebraska commit, is also a name Tennessee has shown some interest in. But I think UT will just go with a fifth-year guy for the 2018 cycle and save that other scholarship for the 2019 class because that class could be an extremely good one for Tennessee.
Will: Again, give it time. At least one of those spots will be filled with a grad transfer. This team desperately needs a point guard to back up Bone and take over once he leaves. I believe Barnes will find his guy, even if it isn’t the splashiest move.
