Tennessee football starts fall camp in a week as they enter a pivotal third season under head coach Josh Heupel.
The Vols offense — which ranked as the nation’s best a season ago — is looking to maintain an extremely high level of play without some of their top players from a season ago.
Hendon Hooker, Darnell Wright, Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman aren’t walking through that door but the Vols have talented players to replace them.
Taking a look at the five most important players for Tennessee’s offense to flourish in 2023.
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No. 5: C Cooper Mays
Cooper Mays is different than everyone else on this list. Mays has already played at a high level while starting for two seasons. He’s a Preseason Third Team All-SEC selection and is the leader of a Volunteer offensive line replacing two key starters.
But Mays is on this list because of those very things, the lack of depth behind him and his injury past. I don’t mean to indicated Mays has been injury prone because that’s not fair, but he did miss time with injuries in 2021 and Tennessee needs to avoid that this season.
With Jerome Carvin off to professional football, Mays has no clear backup. It’s probably Addison Nichols after the redshirt freshman worked there exclusively in spring practice (though Nichols could end up replacing Carvin at left guard).
Tennessee needs Mays healthy and they need him leading an offensive line replacing perhaps its top two players.
No. 4: TE Ethan Davis
Perhaps its unfair to put a freshman on a list of most important players but it feels that way entering the 2023 season. Tennessee has Jacob Warren back at tight end and the super senior is the undisputed starter. But who plays behind Warren?
Princeton Fant is off to professional football and there are no obvious returning tight ends to step up as the back up. That leaves the freshman Davis and the transfer McCallan Castles. And sure, Castles could probably perform adequately as the backup. But after spring practice it’s hard not to see Davis as the Vols’ future at tight end.
Coming off a broken collarbone, Davis more than looked the part and could be Tennessee’s best pass catching tight end right away. If he can block well enough, he’ll end up being Warren’s backup, and that creates all sorts of interesting possibilities for the Vols’ offense.
No. 3: OT Gerald Mincey
Gerald Mincey split time at left tackle a season ago with Jeremiah Crawford and was serviceable but not fantastic. He moved to right tackle in the spring and enters fall camp as the likely starter there.
The elephant in the room on Tennessee’s offensive line is Darnell Wright and Hendon Hooker being gone. Wright needed no help on the right side a season ago and was simply elite. Hooker could get out of trouble in the back field at an impressive level and at the worst typically turned a negative into a neutral.
With both of them gone, Tennessee needs real improvement from Mincey. The offensive tackle battles will be the biggest storyline in fall camp for good reason. Mincey has the talent to lock down the job on the right side and take tangible steps to being a good SEC offensive tackle.
No. 2: OT John Campbell Jr.
Let’s take a moment to analyze these offensive tackle rankings. I chose Mincey and Campbell because I think they’re the most likely starters, but this is really just whoever starts at the tackle spots whether it is these two, Jeremiah Crawford, Dayne Davis or Larry Johnson III.
I put Campbell at second over Mincey because he worked at left tackle in the spring while Mincey worked at right tackle but the difference is negligible in these rankings. Tennessee just badly needs one of them to be good.
On to Campbell, the redshirt senior started last year for Miami but didn’t perform at a particularly high level. He has the physical tools and is certainly capable. What can Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee get out of him in his final collegiate season?
Tennessee’s scheme and ability to get the ball out quickly should help him too. There’s reasons to believe Campbell can put it all together and have a great final college season. But will he?
No. 1: QB Joe Milton III
Over the next month you’ll hear media members talk about how offensive tackle and secondary play is Tennessee’s biggest question entering this season. That is incorrect.
We may know who Tennessee’s starting quarterback will be but No. 7’s level of play is Tennessee’s biggest question entering the 2023 season. There’s no disputing Milton is extremely talented, and he showed major growth in his opportunities last season compared to 2021.
But can Milton perform with consistency in big moments over the course of a 12 game season with all the pressures of being Tennessee’s starting quarterback on him? That’s the question.
Josh Heupel openly admits that Tennessee’s offense puts more on the signal caller than any other in the country. The 2023 Vols will go as far as Milton takes them.
Honorable Mention
The Tennessee Receiver Room
In the introduction I talked about Tennessee’s need to replace Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman than I didn’t include a single receiver on the list. That’s because I have an abundance of confidence in four different Tennessee receivers (Bru McCoy, Squirrel White, Ramel Keyton and Dont’e Thornton) to step up and play at a high level.
McCoy would be No. 6 on this list as he’s the Vols’ top returning receiver but, really, Tennessee needs just one guy to step up and play like a star.
That’s obviously dependent on Milton performing well, but one of those players playing like a First Team All-SEC selection would do the super senior a lot of favors.
