Tennessee football opened up fall camp on Wednesday morning as they’re exactly one month out from opening up the 2024 season against Chattanooga. Every aspect of fall camp is important as the Vols look to get into a groove and improve before the season begins.
There’s extra emphasis on a number of spots that are up in the air entering fall camp as Josh Heupel and his staff look to iron out roles ahead of his fourth season as head coach.
Taking a look at five key position battles here.
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Left Guard
It’s not a sexy position battle but one of the closest to a true toss up at the start of fall camp. Tennessee returns three starters along the offensive line and LSU left tackle Lance Heard is a near lock to slide into that starting role in Knoxville.
But who starts beside him at left guard is up in the air. Andrej Karic had a major role last season when he avoided injury but was far from a standout performer. Fellow senior Jackson Lampley started the Citrus Bowl and turned in the best performance of his career.
Both players have relatively high floors and low ceilings and it feels like the gap between the two is small. Karic worked with the first team on Wednesday and it’ll be interesting to see if that continues. The other question is how much will Tennessee rotate at left guard once the season starts. Tennessee has done that some in the past and this is a spot that it would make sense at.
Outside Receiver
Squirrel White is a lock to start in the slot but there is plenty of competition out wide with the season a month away. Josh Heupel called it the deepest receiver room since he’s been here and there are a number of players that could start at the outside spots.
The big question here is if Bru McCoy is full-go by the start of the season. He was out on the practice field Wednesday but was limited in what he was doing— something that Heupel said they would monitor throughout fall practice.
I think McCoy plays against Chattanooga, but is he 100% and all the way in a groove? That’s a big question that could keep him out of the starting lineup. Other than McCoy, Dont’e Thornton and Chris Brazzell II are the top contenders to earn the starting spots.
But the depth is really strong and Kaleb Webb and Mike Matthews are capable of making a push too.
STAR
Tennessee’s breaking in a number of key starters in the defensive backfield and the most heated position battle this fall is at STAR.
This one feels like a three-player race at this point: junior Jourdan Thomas, redshirt sophomore Christian Harrison and freshman Boo Carter.
Thomas is the safest pick to win the battle because he’s the only one with true experience. The Montgomery, Alabama native has experience both at safety and STAR in his first two seasons where he’s combined for 28 total tackles.
Christian Harrison has played only special teams in his first two seasons at Tennessee. But after bouncing back and forth from corner and safety in his first two seasons, Harrison has settled in at STAR and could earn a real role this season.
Lastly, Boo Carter is the most intriguing of the trio because of his high upside. An elite playmaker and one of the top rated recruits in the Vols’ 2025 signing class, Carter is starting his career at STAR. He was full go in spring practice which should allow him to hit the ground running and potentially make an impact this fall.
Third Running Back
This one isn’t a starting spot, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. After losing Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small to the NFL, Dylan Sampson and Cam Seldon are locked in to Tennessee’s top two running back spots.
But after that there’s no true third running back and Heupel’s teams have played three running backs every season since he’s been in Knoxville.
The top options are true freshman Peyton Lewis, redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop and sophomore Khalifa Keith. I’m bullish on Lewis long term potential but he is young and missed spring practice due to injury. Bishop has more experience but missed his entire freshman season with an injury. Keith is the safest bet of the group due to his experience. However, his ceiling isn’t as high.
Seldon is also working back from offseason shoulder surgery and could miss the start of the season. That makes the third running back battle all the more important.
Kicker
This one isn’t a position battle that many will talk about this fall but it is an important one. Charles Campbell was solid in his lone season at Tennessee and there’s no clear replacement.
Neither redshirt sophomore Josh Turbyville nor redshirt junior JT Carver have any in game experience as they battle for the job.
The media never gets to watch any special teams work at practice so we won’t get to monitor this one much this fall. Still, it’s an intriguing battle.
