Tennessee football: What do Vols QB rumors mean for Jarrett Guarantano?
Tennessee football has lots of quarterback rumors right now. Could they affect Jarrett Guarantano’s starting chances for the Volunteers next season?
Related Story: 4 things Jeremy Pruitt must do to fix Vols
Keller Chryst, a senior quarterback from Standford, has declared that he is transferring after he graduates in June. Chryst will pursue his ability for a graduate transfer opportunity, and Tennessee football is in the running.
Chryst was a highly rated quarterback coming out of high school. In fact, he ranked in the top 5 of the pro-style quarterbacks in the 2014 class. In three seasons with the Stanford, Chryst was 160-289 for 1,926 passing yards and a 19:6 touchdown-inception ratio.
The latter part of his junior season and two games into his senior season we saw an impressive stretch of games from Chryst. During that span, he led Sanford to a 5-1 record while accounting for 1,103 passing yards with a remarkable 12:0 touchdown-inception ratio.
More from Vols Football
- How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
- Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
- Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
- Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
- Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay
How does this affect returning starting quarterback, Jarrett Guarantano? If head coach Jeremy Pruitt has shown Vol fans one thing early in his tenure, it is that he won’t hesitate to do things his way. He has offered scholarships to the highest rated kids in the nation and isn’t afraid for them to be uninterested in Tennessee football. He just moves on to the next in line.
Much of Guarantano’s season was a rollercoaster ride. One thing Vol fans saw from the young quarterback was effort and passion. Guarantano was the player on the field that stood out when it came to effort. He gave 100% of everything he had in him every single snap. The effort helped improve his play on the field. We saw a different player by the end of the season.
Take his first start against South Carolina for example, Guarantano passed for 133 yards on 18 attempts with no touchdowns. Only a couple of week later against LSU, he was 13-23 for 239 passing yards with one touchdown.
There is no doubt this upcoming season could be a long one for the Vols. On September 1st, they open the season in Charlotte, N.C. against Will Grier and West Virginia’s high scoring offense. It doesn’t get any easier either. Tennessee football has a stretch of games where they play Florida, at Georiga, at Auburn, Alabama, and South Carolina. Could a quarterback like Chryst help the Vols during what might be the hardest five-game span in the nation?
Tennessee football has been silent about the potential of graduate transfer joining the Vols next season. Chryst hasn’t mentioned any schools he is considering either. However, his uncle, Paul Chryst, is the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers.
There is no need for Guarantano or his fans to worry about the possibility of Chryst joining the team. With or without Chryst on the roster, we don’t know what Pruitt has in store on the offensive side of the ball.
Next: Ranking Jeremy Pruitt's assistant coaches
However, if I were Guarantano I would welcome Chryst and any other transfer with open arms. We’ve seen how good this kid plays when competition is involved.