Vols Football: Notes From 2nd Day of Spring Practice

Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs runs through a drill with running back Jalen Hurd during Tuesday’s practice. PHOTO: Nathanael Rutherford

The Tennessee Volunteers took Haslam Field for the 2nd time this week for their 2nd spring practice on Thursday afternoon. While the team didn’t run through many drills during the open periods today, the Vols still showed off some of their skills in the brief time they were on the field.

Here are some notes from today’s spring practice:

• The Vols quarterbacks took part in a couple drills today that tested their reaction time. The last drill of the day saw all 3 scholarship QB’s and walk-on Devin Smith test their release speed and ability to look off their primary receiver. The quarterbacks also threw deep outs to wideouts and tight ends.
• Wide Receiver Pig Howard made a great 34-yard catch on a perfectly thrown ball by Joshua Dobbs in the deep ball drill. Josh Smith also made a catch, but he was out of bounds and drew criticism from wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni.
• Cam Sutton also showed off his hands during practice today, bringing down a nice catch during the quarterback session.

Observations

Freshman QB Quinten Dormady looked to have the quickest release of the quarterbacks today during the timing drill mentioned above. He was able to take the shotgun snap and quickly throw to the given target and used a compact motion to throw the ball quickly. Jennings was the slowest of the three, and Butch Jones and offensive coordinator Mike DeBord made him run through the drill a couple additional times to work on his timing.

Redshirt freshman Neiko Creamer definitely looks the part of a tight end with his 6-3, 233 lbs frame. All he needs to do now is work on his hands and field vision a bit more, as he let a deep ball sail over his head during the throwing session. Ethan Wolf still looks like a future NFL draft pick even without pads on, adjusting to a deep ball and bringing it down with both hands.