A look at some of the top position battles that will continue into the weight room and summer workout sessions as the Vols prepare for fall camp.
Backup Quarterback
Top Contenders:
• (Fr.) Quinten Dormady
• (Fr.) Jauan Jennings
• (Fr.) Sheriron Jones
Outlook:
About the most certain thing we can say about this battle is that it will be won by a true freshman. That’s because Tennessee’s trio of competitors for backup to Joshua Dobbs come from the 2015 class, a cycle the Vols took three four-star quarterbacks in after the graduation of Justin Worley and the transfer of Nathan Peterman.
Dormady and Jennings made it to campus in the spring, getting a big head start in the process. “I think that is was so valuable,” DeBord said of those two getting on campus early. “You know, it’s a new language. It’s like if you’ve been in Spanish class for three years and then you walk into Latin and all of a sudden you’re hearing new language, new terms – everything is different. And so they’ve had to learn some things technique-wise, so that’s been invaluable.”
Since that time, Jennings has run into some legal questions. While that might be a slight distraction, there’s still no indication that it will jeopardize his future with the team at this point.
But if spring practice is the best indicator, it looks like Dormady who will head into fall camp with a decent lead in this competition. Jones will get his chance to impress this summer. Jennings’ upside can’t be ignored. It was Dormady, however, that had the most college-ready look during the 15 spring practice sessions – showing the most command of the offense and throwing the ball with more accuracy, zip and consistency than Jennings.
Who has the most to gain this summer:
Since Dormady and Jennings got a chance in the spring, it’s Jones’ chance to show what he can do during summer drills and workouts. It’s tough to make too many definitive statements about him until we see him live, but based on high school film, he could be a nice blend of Dormady’s and Jennings’ skill sets. As has been seen in recent cases such as Derek Barnett, freshmen don’t have to enroll early to have a big impact in the fall.
Predictions:
This is Dormady’s job to lose in all likelihood. He’s definitely a step ahead of Jennings in every aspect of the position except for pure athleticism, and Jones will remain somewhat of an unknown until fall camp.
There’s a pretty good chance that Dormady wins the backup job while the injury situation might dictate if/how much Jennings and Jones see the field in 2015 or if they redshirt.
