Butch Jones hoping 'playmakers' emerge during Wednesday's scrimmage
Later this afternoon, Tennessee will hold its first “fall” scrimmage of training camp, and fifth-year coach Butch Jones hopes a few “playmakers” emerge with the season-opener against Georgia Tech now less than three weeks away.
Over the past week of preseason practices, Jones has noted more than once that Tennessee’s defense is ahead of an offense littered with youth and uncertainty at quarterback right now.
Preseason injuries to the offensive line have also contributed to some consistency issues — with Jones notably pushing back the scrimmage from this past weekend because the offensive line was shorthanded.
“We need to establish who our playmakers are going to be on both sides of the ball,” Jones said Tuesday.
“I have a better gauge on defense right now than I do offense. It’s a lot of these younger players understanding that we’re getting close now. Game time is getting closer. You have to come out and continue to put your identity on video. Some individuals, the margin of error is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Where others are taking advantage of those opportunities.”
Tasked with replacing Josh Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Josh Malone, and even half a season’s worth of production from Jalen Hurd, it’s not a shock that Tennessee’s offense would have some growing pains during camp. The Vols averaged 36 points per game a year ago, and the only real contributors returning from that explosive attack are wideout Jauan Jennings and tailback John Kelly.
Now, Tennessee is trying to find a quarterback with an offensive coordinator who hasn't called plays at the collegiate level. Naturally, there are some question marks.
Still, there’s plenty of young talent on the roster, and it was just last week that offensive coordinator Larry Scott called the wideout group “the real surprise” of camp. It is largely an unproven group, as are the freshmen tailbacks, but Jones publicly motivating them is less of an indictment on their talent rather than stressing a sense of urgency.
When Tennessee exits Neyland Stadium today, Jones hopes he knows a lot more about his offense than before his team gets off the bus.
“By tomorrow night, we should have a pretty good gauge of where we are at as a football team,” Jones said. “What we need to concentrate on in the next week and a half. Who is going to play this year? That’s what these young players have to understand. Every rep counts — whether it’s an individual rep or a team rep.”
While Jones is stressing urgency, Tennessee needs its offensive line to return to full health to truly gauge where the entire unit stands. At times during preseason practices, Tennessee has only had seven scholarship linemen available.
In the last several days, Marcus Tatum and Trey Smith were back at practice, but senior Jashon Robertson and others remain sidelined with various injuries. Jones is “hoping” to have his full compliment of linemen available “in the next couple of days.”
“That’s kind of what we’re gearing towards,” he said.