Vols Football: Who Has Impressed, Needs Improvement Through Week 2

Chris Weatherd was supposed to come in and potentially start immediately. He has looked anything but SEC ready so far. PHOTO: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Needs Improvement: Chris Weatherd

This may be a little unfair to JUCO transfer linebacker Chris Weatherd since he only joined the team right before the fall camp started, but he has yet to live up to his billing as a likely starter for the Vols.

Weatherd came in as the most experienced new linebacker in the 2014 recruiting class, and it was his experience at the junior college level that was supposed to separate him from talented freshman Dillon Bates and returning linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin.

So far, Weatherd has looked less than stellar. He has had some trouble defending the pass, and he is clearly still learning the defensive schemes, much like the rest of the newcomers on defense.

While the assessment of Weatherd may be a little unfair due to his late arrival, he still has not shown observers the potential he allegedly possessed coming into the fall. He has the tools to improve, however, so it may only be a matter of time before he cracks the two-deep depth chart.