Tennessee Football--Quick Look from ESPN
The following information obtained from ESPN by Chris Low.
Today, we take a look at what should be the strongest and weakest positions for Tennessee entering the 2010 season:
Strongest position: Receiver/tight end
Key returnees: Gerald Jones, Denarius Moore, Marsalis Teague, Luke Stocker
Key departures: Quintin Hancock
The skinny: The Vols’ top three pass-catchers from a year ago are all back, and that includes Stocker, one of the better receiving tight ends in the league. Stocker thought about turning pro, but elected to return for his senior season.
Moore led the Vols with seven touchdown catches. The threesome of Jones, Moore and Stocker combined for 16 touchdown receptions last season and will form the nucleus of Tennessee’s passing game in 2010, although they will have to get used to a new quarterback. Moore has terrific speed and gives the Vols a legitimate deep threat.
Jones is versatile enough to move around and play different spots. One of the Vols’ highest-rated signees, Da’Rick Rogers, will be difficult to keep off the field.
Weakest position: Offensive line
Key returnees: Jarrod Shaw, Dallas Thomas
Key departures: Chris Scott, Aaron Douglas, Jacques McClendon, Cody Sullins, Cory Sullins, Vlad Richard
The skinny: An already challenging situation for the Vols up front got a lot worse when Douglas went into first-year coach Derek Dooley’s office last week and asked for a release. Douglas, who had moved from tight end to right tackle the year before, was going to be the anchor of the line. But with him gone, the Vols essentially will be starting over. Shaw started three games last season at guard, all during the first part of the season. He’s the only player with any meaningful experience returning.
Redshirt freshman JerQuari Schofield at guard and true freshman Ja’Wuan James at tackle are both working with the first unit right now. Sophomore Dallas Thomas is the likely left tackle. As inexperienced as the Vols will be up front, depth will be an even bigger problem. They can’t afford to get anybody hurt.
SEC Sports Report is sponsored by Talking SEC Football with Jay Holgate.
More from Tennessee Volunteers
Below are the number of verbal commits through July 31, 2011 for the 2012 signing class:
1) South Carolina Gamecocks 18
2) Florida Gators 15
3) Kentucky Wildcats 13
4) Georgia Bulldogs 12
5) Vanderbilt Commodores 12
6) Tennessee Volunteers 12
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ESPN
GEORGIA
Isaiah Crowell, RB: He arrives in Athens with a ton of hype. Georgia has yet to find its feature back and Crowell has all the talent to be that player. Some think he could start by the midpoint of the season. He was the nation’s top running back and in 2010 he rushed for 1,721 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Malcolm Mitchell, WR: Mitchell played both sides of the ball in high school, but Georgia’s staff really likes what he could do at receiver. He’s a tremendous athlete and will get a chance to earn playing time for the fall, especially with some unproven receivers already on Georgia’s roster.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Jadeveon Clowney, DE: Clowney will enter preseason camp with a mound of expectations. He was the country’s top high school player last year, and even though there is a lot of talent on South Carolina’s defensive line, it will be hard to keep him off the field with his freakish ability. He recorded 162 tackles, including 29 tackles for loss, 29.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, six recovered fumbles and scored five touchdowns last fall.
KNOXVILLE NEWS- The Vols now have two less defensive tackles than they had at the end of spring. Montori Hughes, listed as a backup on the post-spring depth chart, was kicked off the team because of academic reasons earlier in the month.
Senior Rae Sykes, who went through the junior college route out of Alcoa to land a scholarship with the Vols, is not with the team “at this time” because of academic reasons, UT spokesman Jimmy Stanton confirmed Monday.
KNOXVILLE NEWS- UT will also have a pair of talented freshmen vying for playing time early with A.J. Johnson and Christian Harris on campus, and sophomore Raiques Crump will also be in the mix after leaving spring with a spot on the two-deep.
ESPN- Lane Kiffin spent 4 hours answering questions. Bruce Pearl spent 5 hours. We won't know an answer from the NCAA for 8-12 weeks.
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