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Tennessee football 2018 report card: Grading the Vols on the whole season

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers takes a hand off from Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers takes a hand off from Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Offense

Quarterbacks: C

Jarrett Guarantano only threw three interceptions on the year, had a 4-1 touchdown to interception ratio and completed over 62 percent of his passes. For the year, that’s pretty impressive. But he only had 12 touchdowns and only 1,907 yards. Meanwhile, Keller Chryst only completed 45 percent of his passes with 450 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. The Vols averaged under 200 passing yards a game while throwing 15 touchdown passes with six interceptions. That’s efficient but nothing else. The efficiency gives this unit a C. Otherwise, it would be a D. Even with Guarantano’s nice deep balls at times, this was very limited production.

Running backs: B-

Tennessee football got lots of production from Tim Jordan and Ty Chandler. Those guys would give this unit maybe an A, even if their averages weren’t that good. They found ways to be effective all year, including in pass-catching. However, they didn’t do enough to carry this unit, the pass-blocking for Chandler was awful, and the power backs were a major disappointment. Madre London and Jeremy Banks failed consistently to pick up short-yardage gains when needed, and they couldn’t hold onto the ball. Banks has an excuse as a freshman. London was a huge disappointment. Those issues bring this grade down to a B-.

Wide receivers/Tight ends: C

Sure, the Vols saw Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway and Josh Palmer make huge plays at times. And finally, late in the season, Jordan Murphy came alive as a slot guy. But they were never consistent, which was an issue. Meanwhile, the tight end play was absolutely awful. Dominick Wood-Anderson struggled to block and never really emerged as the elite pass-catcher he was recruited to be. Eli Wolf was underused. Those guys have to get way better if the Vols are going to be a threat offensively in the future.

Offensive line: D

This unit did get better as the season went on when it came to run blocking. But it wasn’t enough, and the play was so atrocious at the beginning of the season that we still couldn’t give it anything higher than a D. Pass blocking remained an issue throughout the entire season, and running the ball well in three games is not going to be enough. These guys, however, do have a major excuse. They suffered key injuries and never really got to gel together in the preseason. So one good offseason should improve this group significantly.

Overall 2018 offensive grade: D+

You can’t have an offense outside of the top 100 and have anything that is in the C range or higher. The Vols had some nice games and played a brutal schedule, which is why we threw the meaningless plus in there. But overall, they had too many issues.

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