Tennessee football: 5 most encouraging signs from Vols 2019 spring practice

4. No drop-off at quarterback

Jarrett Guarantano is entering his fourth year with Tennessee football, as a redshirt junior, and he’s also playing under his fourth offensive coordinator. It’s only his second year in a pro-style offense, so you had to worry how things would work out for him under Jim Chaney.

However, there were enough quotes from the coaches in spring practice, and we saw enough of him in the spring game, to know that Guarantano did not have a drop-off. If anything, Chaney is allowing him to play more loosely.

Last year, under Tyson Helton, the focus was on keeping Guarantano’s completion percentage up over everything else. Chaney called more open plays for Guarantano, and the result was a four-touchdown game with 198 passing yards and becoming the MVP. Sure, he barely completed over 50 percent of his passes this time, but the production was better.

That shows that Guarantano is not likely to have a major drop-off. He clearly fit in well with Chaney’s system, and as a result, you could see him take a bigger leap this year. Learning another system meant that there was the possibility he could regress, so he deserves credit for playing well in the spring game.

Guarantano is going to be at his best if he uses his arm to make big plays and not worry as much about a high completion percentage. That’s what it looks like Chaney’s doing, which means he should take another major step forward this season.