Tennessee football’s fall practice rolls on Saturday morning as the Vols hold their first scrimmage at Neyland Stadium. It’s a big day for a number of Tennessee positional competitions but none are bigger than the quarterback battle.
But Josh Heupel and his staff have a challenge when it comes to assessing the play of their quarterbacks— the Vols are down multiple top receivers.
Tennessee entered fall camp with thin receiver depth and that depth has quickly been tested. Chris Brazzell, the lone returning starting receiver from a season ago, has yet to practice during open portions of practice. Projected starting slot receiver Braylon Staley has missed Tennessee’s last two practices as well.
It would be quite surprising if either receiver participates in the scrimmage after not practicing Friday. Then there’s projected starter Mike Matthews who did practice Friday but has been banged up a bit early in camp and had a red non contact jersey on during Wednesday’s practice.
Matthews practicing Friday bodes well for his ability to scrimmage Saturday, but the talented sophomore could be a bit limited in with how much he does.
The injuries leave Tennessee with just a handful of receivers available for Saturday’s scrimmage and they’re all very young. True freshmen Travis Smith Jr, Radarious Jackson and Joakim Dodson should all be available to go as should Alabama transfer Amari Jefferson.
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Smith and Jackson have impressed in fall camp and it’s a great opportunity for them to earn early playing time with success in a scrimmage format. But for Josh Heupel and Joey Halzle, it could be difficult assessing Tennessee’s quarterbacks as they throw to receivers who project as backups.
Then on the other side, Tennessee’s top three cornerbacks all could miss the scrimmage. Jermod McCoy certainly will not scrimmage as he works back from a torn ACL. Rickey Gibson has missed Tennessee’s last two practices and Colton Hood had a red non-contact jersey on Friday.
While that won’t directly affect Tennessee’s quarterbacks, it will lessen the challenge and make it harder to fully assess the play of the quarterbacks.
The injuries at receiver will amplify the things that go into quarterback other than throwing the football. How well do Jake Merklinger and Joey Aguilar manage the offense? Whether its playing with tempo, checking into the right run plays or sliding protection, there’s a ton of things that go into playing quarterback other than just throwing the football.
Those things will be amplified in the first scrimmage as Tennessee projects to be down a pair of key receivers. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel will meet with the media following the scrimmage.
