On Monday morning, Tennessee football was back in action at practice. During the session open to the media, former Vols Joey Aguilar, Jalen McMurray and William Wright were in the building, as well, with Pro Day scheduled for tomorrow. Alvin Kamara was also in attendance and was talking to Josh Heupel.
Also, a broad thing to note, you could hear crowd noise being piped in from the press conference room just outside the facility after the periods open the media were closed.
Here is my full notebook.
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Offense
Quarterbacks didn’t throw any routes on air during the periods open to the media again. Same takeaways as usual, you can tell the difference in arm strength and the zip on the ball when George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon are throwing. No quarterback will be named in the spring, but as far as the physical traits, those two continue to stand out.
Went over to watch the offensive line today, as well. David Sanders Jr. is just a completely different-looking player right now compared to this time last year. You’d expect that from a freshman to sophomore jump, but he’s moving extremely well for how much weight he’s put on.
Tight ends were working on blocking on the far end, as well. The evolution of Ethan Davis from a pass-catcher to an all-around tight end is pretty incredible. Standing next to Dasaahn Brame, his size is staggering. That does say a bit about Brame, though, who will need to continue to improve as a blocker and gain some weight.
Defense
There was a lot of work on passing coverages with presnap motions and dropping into zones among the safeties and linebackers. Again, not reading too much into the order of reps or even positions, but the first group was TJ Metcalf and KJ McClain at safety and Dejuan Lane at STAR. Second was Edrees Farooq and Isaiah Hardge at safety.
The defensive line went outside, so I couldn’t get a good look at them. However, Mariyon Dye is another guy who has stood out physically. Certainly looks the part of a contributor at defensive end.
