By Vince Ferrara

Here are some of my observations and notes from the fifth University of Tennessee spring football practice.

Vince’s View
*We were able to view three periods (4-6) of practice #5 on Thursday.

*I’ve said in previous practice blogs that Nigel Warrior has been really impressive. That’s continued and Bob Shoop even took it a step further by saying he’s probably been their best player. Shoop focused on his maturity and understanding of what they’re trying to do on offense.

*John Kelly continues to act like Player/Coach John Kelly. He’s the example guy for drills by running backs coach Robert Gillespie and he’s frequently coaching guys on technique when guys are doing reps.

*We have been very limited in our viewing time, but freshman 5-star OT Trey Smith looks as good or better than any of the experienced linemen. Walk Wells was really getting after guys in a blocking drill where the players have to stay engaged with a teammate, drive them then reverse while staying low below the net. The 2nd and 3rd year guys were hearing from Wells more than Trey Smith, who looks the part of a future top-notch SEC LT.

*Cortez McDowell validated something I’ve noticed and written about, that the two linebacker positions in Tennessee’s 4-2-5 base defense are very interchangeable. It looks like it’s Kirkland and McDowell as the 1s right now, with Kirkland at the Mike and McDowell at the Will. You’ll see times when they’ll adjust and McDowell will slide over to the Mike when Kirkland will slide into coverage or blitz the quarterback. Sophomore LB Daniel Bituli (MLB) and true freshman Shanon Reid (WLB) are working with the second team right now per Cortez McDowell.

*Marquill Osborne has looked strong in drills I’ve seen. I projected him to be one of the starting corners in a blog post back in January, and I have seen nothing to make me change my mind. I believe he and Emmanuel Moseley are the first team cornerbacks right now with Baylen Buchanan seeing working at nickel for the injured Rashaan Gaulden.

*VFL and NFL veteran Robert Meacham was at practice Thursday. Interestingly, he’s on the list of additional players that will workout at Friday’s Pro Day at UT.

Spend some time on our website where we’ll have blogs from Jimmy Hyams, practice reports from Josh Ward, interviews with players and coaches, videos of practice footage. Scroll through our big stories on the main page or click on the Vols tab under “All WNML stories” archived to find all of our posts saved there.