Vols practice notes compilation

[wayne]

"Arion Carter looks fantastic

McCoy had a case of the drops

Thornton looks like a machine

Still concerned about O Line

Linebacker room is good and growing for once

Nico looks good

 

[wayne]

"Mincey working with the 2s after starting last year is also interesting. I wonder if it's a motivation thing or they just got a better tackle"

"Vols' best route is someone taking Hadden's spot "- this is discouraging

 

[wayne]

"Here's the thing. For years I've seen clips of Ohio State practices, Alabama practices, and I've always been like damn it must be fun to have an elite team at camp.

Hit me today that that was exactly what I was watching. Vols are legit. Vols are back. This is a Top 10 fall camp happening right now

Vols NEED to cement their chair at the table this year

Can you imagine Neyland if Vols are 1 loss and Georgia is 0 loss to decide the East in Nov.? It'll be bigger than Bama game. That's what they're playing for

Here's my day 1 overreaction take: The season, 10 wins vs 12+ wins, will fall on the OLine more than any other position. They just make me nervous. "

 

[wayne]

Defensive note

"If last last year's defense was a 5 or 6 out of 10, this year's defense has a real shot of being 7 or 8 out of 10."
BIgger, Stronger, and Faster.
We will not have Alabama and Georgia level defense. However, we may look more like SCAR era Spurrier defenses. Consistently good enough for 3rd or 4th best in the conference."

 

[wayne]

"The front 7 is going to be really good this year, better than last year, especially LB talent and depth. I think CBs are going to be fine, really like Slaughter. Safety is my only real concern. I just hope McCullough has greatly improved or gets overtaken as starter."

 

[PalsPal]

They're in pads only. How did the Oline mess that up?

And I'm not worried about Bru dropping a few passes.

 

[UCStandSitter]

"Arion Carter looks fantastic

McCoy had a case of the drops

Thornton looks like a machine

Still concerned about O Line

Linebacker room is good and growing for once

Nico looks good

Get that boy some stick um

 

[wayne]

Another note: Mincey has been working with the 2's at left tackle. Some have hinted this might be the coaching staff trying to get Mincey's attention since he refuses to move over and play right tackle.

 

[THEdonkey0515]

I heard the receivers had a rough day my first thought was Millton is still throwing 112mph and has no touch.

Someone said carter put on 20 pounds since UT signed him, and that it seemed to be pure muscle.

Seems to be trying to figure out the Oline moving some people around.

 

[PalsPal]

I heard the receivers had a rough day my first thought was Millton is still throwing 112mph and has no touch.

Man, don't say that. Gives me flashbacks of JG.

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

I heard the receivers had a rough day my first thought was Millton is still throwing 112mph and has no touch.

Someone said carter put on 20 pounds since UT signed him, and that it seemed to be pure muscle.

Seems to be trying to figure out the Oline moving some people around.

 

[cbhunter]

Man, don't say that. Gives me flashbacks of JG.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

View attachment 189119

I can't stand to see him him.

 

[cbhunter]

I can't stand to see him him.

I fully expected him to play his 10th season at UT

 

[7mm08]

I fully expected him to play his 10th season at UT

He is doing commercials for Kleenex ! Big cry baby!

 

[wayne]

Cooper Mays to miss several weeks for surgery. Believed to be a sports hernia. Not expected to play until after the Florida game.

 

[volboy]

Cooper Mays to miss several weeks for surgery. Believed to be a sports hernia. Not expected to play until after the Florida game.

Hopefully be back sooner
Per report after today's scrimmage
"Josh Heupel said #Vols center Cooper Mays had a minor procedure yesterday and they expect him to be back by the opener, but will miss a couple of weeks as a result."

 

[Displaced_Vol]

Cooper Mays to miss several weeks for surgery. Believed to be a sports hernia. Not expected to play until after the Florida game.

Someone on a UT board posted earlier today he had a minor procedure but they were hopeful he'd be back by opener…I sure hope that's the case.

 

[Displaced_Vol]

Someone on a UT board posted earlier today he had a minor procedure but they were hopeful he'd be back by opener…I sure hope that's the case.

Or… what @volboy said right above me!

 

[wayne]

Biggest take-away from 2nd scrimmage: this O-line without Mays is as bad as Alabama's qb situation.

I was at the scrimmage. Nothing earth-shattering and AP might've already covered some of it, but here's what I saw:
OL, L-R: Campbell, Karic, Lane, Spraggins, Crawford.
Lane's first snap was at Joe's shins and he had another snap later that Joe had to jump to catch, and was then forced to scramble as a result. I went in thinking Lane might be serviceable. He's not. He's atrocious and will cost us at least 10 points per game for every week he plays. Overall, the OL did not generate much push. I was hoping Mincey would've been far enough along at RT to start settling in, but he consistently ran 2-3 string. Every time Joe was at QB, Crawford or Davis were at RT.
RB's were fine given the circumstances. Seldon has excellent burst through creases. He's gonna be great. Castles is settling in nicely in the Fant FB/TE hybrid role. They ran a few situational series starting at the offense's 1 YL. Nico wound up taking a safety during his turn. Not much protection and he had to scramble quite a bit during his series. If you see Joe practice, it's impossible to walk away No-Joe. He's impressive and was sharp all day.
First WR unit was Bru-Squirrel-Keyton but Thornton came in at slot for Squirrel the next time through and played a ton. Leacock looks the part but stumbled out of a break once or twice that cost receptions. Kaleb Webb looked smooth. Great double-move for a TD. Bru looks like he's in better shape than last year. Slightly leaner.
Defensively, I feel good about our group up front. Thomas-Eason-Simmons-Lott are a good rotation at DT. Simmons's early leg injury knocked him out but didn't appear too serious. He stayed on the sideline with his cleat off and ice on his knee. I feel good about Baron-West at DE, and Josephs looks ready at Edge. He's put on at least 20 lbs of muscle. Pearce also looks the part but my guess is Josephs has a little better bend right now. Arion Carter saw a lot of snaps with Herring at LB. Looked good. Didn't see Pili out there. In the secondary, Hadden was in a boot and did not play. Walker also didn't play but you couldn't tell why - probably just nicked up. They let Navy Shuler go live for one or two series. On one scramble the defender lightly shoved him OOB and BJM jumped all over the defense screaming "He's live!" furious about the lack of physicality that one play.
The final play of the scrimmage was Telander picking off Nico. Telander drifted back and made a good jump. Only turnover of the day.
Charlie Campbell is a tiny human but kicked well.
The most impressive performance was unexpectedly from Jackson Ross. He would roll to either side to rugby punt, but would punt with the foot of the side he was rolling to. Boomed them with both feet.