Tennessee opened up fall camp at the Haslam Practice Field Wednesday morning. The Vols were in helmets only but the intensity was high as Tennessee looks to get off to a strong start in August.
The media got to watch nine periods of Tennessee’s practice meaning we got to see roughly 45 minutes of practice including some competitive sessions. That will subside to 15-20 minutes the rest of the camp but allowed us to get a good look on camp’s opening day.
Here are our notes and observations from Tennessee’s first fall practice.
Offense
Tennessee’s only injury limitations were on the offensive side of the ball. No one was absent and no one (besides quarterbacks) were in non contact jerseys but Dylan Sampson didn’t participate in the team portion of practice we saw and receiver Chas Nimrod did some stretching work off to the side.
It was our first look at freshman running back Khalifa Keith who enrolled this summer. He lives up to his billing as a big physical back. Looks more like a linebacker than a running back. Excitement remains high about what Jaylen Wright can do in his junior season and the well put back is even bigger this season. Still, his size pales in comparison to Keith.
In team competition, Jabari Small got the first carries followed by Wright, Cameron Seldon, De’Sean Bishop and Keith in that order.
Not many observation to glean from offensive linemen without pads on but here’s how the depth chart worked out. First team offensive line left to right was: John Campbell, Ollie Lane, Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins, Jeremiah Crawford.
Second team line left to right: Gerald Mincey, Jackson Lampley, Parker Ball, Ollie Lane, Dayne Davis. Third team line left to right: Larry Johnson, Masai Reddick, Addison Nichols, Vysen Lang, Brian Grant.
Super senior Jacob Warren led the way as expected at tight end. Transfer McCallen Castles was the second player to receive reps and Ethan Davis was the third. Davis, who injured his collarbone in the spring game, was full go and healthy.
Nigeria native Emmanuel Okoye committed and arrived in Knoxville later in the summer. He’s starting out at tight end and looks like a million bucks out there. He could add some bulk but is shredded. Okoye is a project so there’s no need to draw massive conclusions. He did struggle catching the football.
The rotation at receiver came as expected. Ramel Keyton and Bru McCoy started out wide with Squirrel White starting at the slot. Oregon transfer Dont’e Thornton quickly got in the rotation primarily working in the slot but getting some work out wide too.
McCoy had a case of the drops on the opening day of camp.
Defense
Everyone was fully healthy and available defensively besides reserve linebacker Kwauze Garland who is out for the season.
Rodney Garner was in midseason form getting after his players on the first day of practice. Dominic Bailey and Roman Harrison led the way in defensive line drills as the seniors are looking for big season. Changing to No. 10 doesn’t make Elijah Simmons any thinner. He’s still an absolute unit who Tennessee is hoping can breakout this season.
After missing spring practice, Daevin Hobbs was fully available and active to open camp. He’s slightly smaller than I expected for an interior defensive lineman but moves well. It was also our first look at freshman edge rusher Chandavian Bradley who arrived this summer. He will benefit from a full year in the weight room but he looks like an edge rusher with a slender frame and freaky long arms.
First team defensive line during team portions left to right was: Tyler Baron, Omari Thomas, Bryson Eason, Roman Harrison. Second team: Dominic Bailey, Simmons, Kurrott Garland, Josh Josephs. Lots of substituting along the defensive front.
BYU transfer Keenan Pili and Aaron Beasley led the way at linebacker with sophomores Elijah Herring and Kalib Perry working with the second team. Freshman Arion Carter worked with the third team but I can’t imagine that stays the case for long. He looks like a junior linebacker and moves well.
In the secondary, Doneiko Slaughter and Brandon Turnage led the way at corner, Tamarion McDonald led the way at STAR and Wesley Walker and Andre Turrentine led the way at safety. Christian Charles is back working at safety after playing corner last season.
William Wright — the walk on corner who played on the final drive against Alabama — was working at the STAR spot.
More From RTI: What Tennessee Coordinators Said Before The Vols Opened Fall Practice
Receivers/Tight Ends vs. Defensive Backs One-on-Ones.
I didn’t see every single rep during this portion but here’s what I did see.
- Squirrel White beat Doneiko Slaughter on a slant and caught a pass from Joe Milton
- Ramel Keyton burnt Warren Burrell on a route over the middle and hauled in a Milton pass
- Bru McCoy beat De’Shawn Rucker on a slant but dropped the pass
- Jaylen McCollough held Donte’ Thornton on a route over the middle. Milton’s throw was on target but Thornton couldn’t haul it in
- Milton found Keyton on a slant. Rucker on coverage
- Nico Iamaleava completed a slant to Jack Jancek. Turrentine in coverage
- Iamaleava completed an out route to Collin McCastles. Burrell in coverage
- Iamaleava over threw White on a slant.
11-vs-11 Observations
Tennessee did roughly five-to-10 minutes of 11-vs-11 work but without full pads contact was limited which made it somewhat hard to gauge run game success.
Here were some highlights.
Jabari Small opened the portion with a big run up the middle. Milton was extremely accurate completing passes to White, Thornton, Jacob Warren and McCoy while throwing no incompletions. The pass to McCoy went for roughly 25 yards.
William Wright made a nice play in coverage on an accurate Iamaleava pass over the middle. Jancek picked up a first down on a screen pass from Iamaleave.
DeSean Bishop and Jaylen Wright both had medium length runs.
Third string quarterback Gaston Moore was sacked (theoretically, wasn’t actually tackled) by a number of Tennessee defensive linemen.
