1. Offensive line play looked awful.
Yes, the lingering issue from last year remains. Tennessee football had a historically bad offensive line back in 2018, and the hope was that they would be able to take a major step forward heading into the 2019 season.
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That still may happen. Jeremy Pruitt secured a historically great offensive line class, and Wanya Morris stood out as one of the guys in that class this spring. Darnell Wright, a five-star, is arriving in the summer.
Add in the fact that Brandon Kennedy should get healthy, K’Rojhn Calbert stood out and Trey Smith is still out there, and things could get better. We should also point out that the unit was better than the defensive line throughout the spring.
But then the spring game came, and that changed everything. The offensive line was atrocious in that game. It warranted being called out by all of the coaches specifically when things came to an end, and this is a major problem.
New offensive coordinator Jim Chaney specializes in offensive linemen, so he needs to work with OL coach Will Friend as much as possible to develop this unit. What happens under the lights mattered, and it was not pretty at all in the Orange and White game.
A decent line could have gotten the Vols to a bowl game in 2018. If it’s bad like that again, they won’t take the leap they need to take in Jeremy Pruitt’s second year. The spring game did not provide much hope, and what became a lingering concern now exploded as a big issue again as a result. Fall camp needs to be all about making sure this unit is ready for the big stage.