It's still early going in camp, but there have been some impressions formed about the roster and the strength of each position group. Again, this is all early going, and it's all subject to change as one would expect. Even so, here it goes.
Linebackers: This is one group that can probably comfortably go two deep, and that's without JJ Peterson even on campus. It's also one of the most experienced positions on the roster, with 180 combined games played and 52 collective starts among the group. They have a combined career stat line of 396 tackles, 31.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, 11 passes broken up, 4 fumble recoveries, and 5 forced fumbles and average out to 6-2, 231 pounds as a whole and 6-3, 236 pounds just with the scholarship players. They've been moving around well, with Darrin Kirkland Jr. Quart'e Sapp, Daniel Bituli, Jordan Allen, and Jonathan Kongbo all being specifically mentioned over the past four practices. The rest of the likely two deep includes Darrell Taylor, Deandre Johnson, and Will Ignont. Only Johnson was ranked lower than a four star out of high school. They have the talent, the depth, and the experience to be a strength of the team. Grade: A-
Wide Receivers: Again, one of the more experienced groups on the roster, with a combined 107 games played and 39 starts between them all. As a collective, they have registered 154 receptions for 2,086 yards and 14 touchdowns for 13.6 yards per reception. The running backs and tight ends only account for a combined 38 receptions for 341 yards and a touchdown, so it's plain to see that the receivers are going to need to keep it up and step it up. Marquez Callaway, Jauan Jennings, and Brandon Johnson have accounted for 77.3% of the receptions, 83.4% of the receiving yards, and 92.9% of the touchdowns by the wideouts, so it's pretty clear who the top three receivers will be. Josh Palmer looks likely to be one of the first off the bench along with Jordan Murphy, but who will be the sixth man in the group is still up for grabs. Latrell Williams, Jacquez Jones, and Tyler Byrd are the experienced guys competing for that sixth job, but keep an eye on true freshman Cedric Tillman, who wasn't highly ranked out of high school but is coming along fast and impressing. As a group, they average out to 6-1, 190 and 6-1, 194 with the scholarship players. Grade: B+
Defensive Line: There are four options on the defensive line that look very solid, but things get rougher after that, I'm afraid. Shy Tuttle, Alexis Johnson, Emmit Gooden, and Kyle Phillips in some configuration will be the top four defensive linemen, but after that it's walk ons and underclassmen. Paul Bain has been in the program for a while and has always impressed in practices. That seems like it may payoff in playing time for the senior walk on this season. Greg Emerson was the top ranked defensive line signee in this past class, but he's still working on getting back to his old form from a bad injury prior to his senior season and he thus far doesn't look to be a factor this season. That leaves sophomores Kivon Bennett and Matthew Butler along with freshmen Kingston Harris, Kurott Garland, and John Mincey to try and round out the depth chart. Bennett has displayed some strong play in early practices and the staff seems to be challenging him to show even more. Mincey has also had impressive moments as has Harris, but the reality is that we're still talking about freshmen in Mincey and Harris. This is the least experienced group on the defense, with only 79 combined games played and 13 starts among them, but the top four is still an impressive group. The group has combined for 125 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 6 passes broken up, and 3 fumble recoveries. The good news is that Pruitt wanted to get this group bigger and that has been accomplished, with the position group averaging out to 6-3, 287 and 6-3, 290 with just the scholarship guys. Grade B
Running Backs: The numbers don't match up with how good this group appears capable of being. At any rate, they look the part fully and completely. As a group, they've only combined for 316 career carries for 1,290 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing and 32 receptions for 276 yards and a touchdown. Not exactly numbers that will set the world on fire. Neither are their 70 career games played or 7 combined starts, but the combined size of all the running backs is 5-11, 207, but that gets a big boost when it's just the scholarship running backs, jumping up to 6-1, 217. Mind you, part of that is due to my inclusion of Ja'Quain Blakely, who is listed as a tight end/fullback, but since they will be running more I-formation, it only seems fair to include the only listed fullback on the roster. Even without counting Blakely, however, they still have some size at running back with Trey Coleman (6-0, 210), Madre London (6-1, 213), Jeremy Banks (6-2, 211), and Princeton Fant (6-2, 222). There are also some smaller backs in the group with Ty Chandler (5-11, 201) and Tim Jordan (5-11, 203), but Jordan runs with power as well. Chandler is really the best of the bunch when it comes to speed, but he's not much of a power back, so it's likely to be at least somewhat running back by committee. They do seem to have that committee though. Grade: B-
Defensive Backs: Yeah, I'm going to place them this high, and the reasons might surprise you. One main reason is it's the most experienced position group on the roster in 2018, with 197 career games played and 54 starts between them all. Another is the strength and depth of the safety group with Nigel Warrior, Todd Kelly Jr., and Micah Abernathy all three having at least 13 career starts behind each of them. The three of them have all 11 of the position's career interceptions. Speaking of the position's combined stats, they also have 482 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 20 passes broken up, 6 fumble recoveries, and 5 fumbles. With or without the walk ons, the secondary group averages out to 6-0, 188, which is a good sized collection of DBs. Now, if it were just the safeties performing at this point, I'd have them lower, but Shawn Shamburger has been impressing at the Star position, the nickel in this defensive scheme. At corner, Alontae Taylor, Kenneth George Jr., Baylen Buchanan, and Bryce Thompson have all had standout moments and right now might be emerging as the top four corners this season. It's simply a group that seems to be further ahead than expected, and that's due in no small part to the emergence of two true freshmen and a JUCO transfer at corner. Grade: C+
Special Teams: Things are pretty settled as far as the placekicker and snapper are concern, with Brent Cimaglia handling placekicking duties and Riley Lovingood and Elijah Medford back to handle the snapping duties. Punter is a bit of a competition, with walk on Joe Doyle challenging scholarship freshman Paxton Brooks for the job. Neither is going to impress in the way that Trevor Daniel, Matt Darr, or Michael Palardy did over the past several seasons, but a lot of that is just going to have to come with experience, which they both lack. They need to become more consistent, and the big booming punts of last season simply aren't going to be there. As for the returners, Theo Jackson and Jordan Murphy are getting looks at punt returner. It will be interesting to see if Ty Chandler returns kickoffs again or if Jackson and Murphy will get looks there as well. Grade: C
Tight Ends: This position group is getting a boost mostly due to the addition of Dominick Wood-Anderson, who has looked like everything he was billed to be out of the JUCO ranks. He's a talented receiver and a capable blocker. Unfortunately, he is the only complete tight end on the roster. Eli Wolf is still too slight to be much help as a blocker, but he's likely the top flex tight end who can be shifted out as a slot. Austin Pope has gotten work as an H-back/fullback type as well as a tight end. Jacob Warren isn't physically ready for the tight end position. LaTrell Bumphus and Ja'Quain Blakely are true fullback/H-back types at this point. James Brown is probably 15 pounds away from helping much at tight end, and the former high school quarterback isn't likely to help much as a fullback type. That's the group. Wood-Anderson and everybody else. That does not make for a complete position group. I won't bother with the stats because they aren't worth bothering with. As a group, they've had 34 games played and one start in the college ranks. They average out to 6-4, 242, which isn't bad but is brought up a lot by Wood-Anderson's 257 pounds and Bumphus's 263 pounds. If Wood-Anderson goes down, this group becomes a frightening liability, especially as far as in-line blockers goes. Grade: C-
Quarterbacks: This is very much a case of not really knowing where else to put this group. Keller Chryst and Jarrett Guarantano seem to have really separated themselves as the top two guys, and Guarantano might be separating himself from Chryst, at least in the early going. Chryst was more comfortable in his fourth practice, but Guarantano hasn't taken any steps back. So why such a low grade? Because Tennessee has had to dip to their third quarterback plenty in the last five or so seasons, and getting down there gets very scary. Additionally, how Guarantano or Chryst will perform in a game is a concern, and a serious one. The career passing stats would make for a solid season, with a 56.2% completion percentage throwing for 3,075 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions between Chryst, Guarantano, and McBride. The group has good size at 6-3, 218, but even with the addition of Chryst it's fair to question the depth of the position beyond the top two. Things will get rough fast with injuries. Grade: C-
Offensive Line: What a shocker, right? Well, in actuality I only gave them this low of a grade because of the still limited status of Trey Smith and Chance Hall. Drew Richmond appears to have improved some and Brandon Kennedy at center is a revelation. Right guard is likely to be a competition between Riley Locklear and freshman Jerome Carvin, and both appear capable. Marcus Tatum is still not an elite tackle, but Ryan Johnson appears to hold his own filling in for Smith at left guard. Ultimately, the need for either Smith or Hall to take the reins at right tackle is a big one, and with both trying to get back to being fully cleared to play their status is the difference between barely passable and solid. Tatum, Johnson, Ollie Lane, and Nathan Niehaus shouldn't be in the mix for starting jobs but should be depth pieces, and for now they are at least names that have to be watched with the holes in the starting five. That's a big problem waiting for a clear answer. Grade: D+
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