Wide Receiver/Tight Ends
None of Tennessee’s receivers flashed on Saturday. Jauan Jennings had four catches to lead the group, and Marquez Callaway made two nice catches on the sideline but that was about it. The group hasn’t been bad; they just continue to be affected by the play of the offensive line. It’s hard for Guarantano to push the ball down field when he doesn’t have time to go through his progressions.
The big play in the passing game was Pope’s long haul on 4th-and-1, where he released out of the backfield uncovered, and we saw how that turned out.
Brandon Johnson and Jennings both dropped a pass.
Tennessee’s tight ends continue to rarely be used in the passing game, and against Florida, they weren’t used at all. The group didn’t catch a single pass despite Dominick Wood-Anderson being targeted on numerous plays. I’d like to see Wood-Anderson more involved in the passing game, but with the way the offensive line is struggling, I don’t know if Tennessee can afford to not utilize him in protection. The JUCO transfer had 27 positive blocks to 13 negative blocks, while Eli Wolf had 12 positive blocks to three negative blocks.
Latrell Bumphus had a nice game blocking, recording seven positive blocks and just one negative block. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bumphus receive more reps in the running game going forward.
