Tennessee football’s tight end rotation has looked much the same in Josh Heupel’s first three seasons as head coach. During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Princeton Fant and Jacob Warren split snaps almost fifty-fifty. The same was true a season ago with UC-Davis transfer McCallan Castles filling Fant’s role after he left for professional football.
But now with Castles and Warren both gone, Tennessee is staring down a completely new situation at tight end. Redshirt freshman Ethan Davis has a chance to change the outlook of not only that group but how Tennessee uses its tight ends.
Tennessee’s tight end rotation could expand to three players this season with Notre Dame transfer Holden Staes and Alabama transfer Miles Kitselman as well as Davis. Davis may not be the first tight end on the field for Tennessee this season, but his skillset as a pass catcher makes him the most compelling tight end on the roster.
“Ethan did a really nice job. The tight ends in general handled themselves really well,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on Friday night following the Vols’ first fall scrimmage. “Ethan Davis made some really nice plays over the middle of the football field. Excited about what he’s done, but also what the entire group has done.”
Tennessee’s social team shared one of the nice plays Davis made in the scrimmage when he hauled in a touchdown pass from Nico Iamaleava.
making plays in Neyland@nico_iamaleava8 🤝 @davis1ethan#GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/DCni08vXeh
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) August 10, 2024
Davis is an elite pass catcher for a tight end and it’s something that’s been evident in his young career. He made plays during the Orange-and-White game ahead of the 2023 season and even caught a pair of passes despite redshirting his freshman year.
That impressive pass catching ability was what made Davis a highly touted high school prospect. The collarbone injury that ended his senior season combined with his slender frame made it extremely difficult for him to make an impact in his freshman season.
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But after gaining 15 pounds in the offseason, Davis looks better equipped to hold up against the rigors of playing in the SEC.
“I feel like I really haven’t missed a beat, and that’s credit to our strength staff,” Davis said about adding weight. “I mean, I put the weight on and they do the rest. They mold me like, ‘okay, this is your body fat now, so now we are going to get it down to here, if we are going to get this stronger we are going to get this stronger.’ They have done a really good job with taking care of me in that field.”
If Davis can hold up as a run blocker, the sky is the limit for what he can do. Tennessee hasn’t used its tight ends often in the pass game between the 20s under Heupel, but they haven’t had a tight end with Davis’ skillset. Davis could be the tight end that changes that dynamic and adds a wrinkle to an already explosive offense.
Tennessee likes what they’re seeing from Davis to this point in fall camp.
