Tennessee was back out on the practice field on Friday afternoon after spending Thursday night practicing. The Vols weren’t in full pads again today after practicing hard last night. But the practice was still fairly physical and didn’t lack for intensity.
The media was only allowed to watch one period of today’s practice, but we were still able to see enough to give you a report from fall camp. Here are our observations from today’s fall camp practice:
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- I continue to be impressed with Kingston Harris on the defensive line. He moves so well for his huge size (6-foot-3, 316 pounds) and he’s already made several strides since the first few days of fall camp. Like I said in yesterday’s report, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him work his way into the rotation on the line this year.
- Although I don’t think he’ll see a ton of action this year on defense, I think Shanon Reid has surprised me a little bit at inside linebacker. I like the skills he brings to the table, and it’s clear from practice reps that he’s done enough to be considered in the two-deep there. I think he at least makes contributions on special teams, but he’s been a bit of a surprise for me. I still think Daniel Bituli, Quart’e Sapp, Darrin Kirkland Jr., and Will Ignont are the four main guys there, but Reid has at least looked better than I expected him to.
- Tennessee’s secondary worked on catching balls and high-pointing the ball while it’s in the air. Alontae Taylor, who was originally recruited to play receiver at Tennessee, had no problem with this drill. Bryce Thompson, who played both receiver and corner in high school, actually struggled a little with this. But all in all, I still like Thompson’s prospects at cornerback.
- Interesting note here: Brandon Davis was working a little with the safeties today in what few moments of practice we got to see. That will be worth monitoring going forward.
- As I said in a previous practice report, I think Kenneth George Jr. is improving with every practice and is developing into a player UT’s coaches are looking at more in the cornerback group. I still think he’ll just be used as a veteran depth option (he transferred in from junior college), but he’s been looking more consistent in practice lately.
- If it wasn’t for Jonathan Kongbo making the move to outside linebacker, I think Jordan Allen would be starting at that position. Right now, I think Darrell Taylor and Kongbo are the two players to beat, but I like what Allen has done with his conditioning and how he plays with aggression.
