Tennessee football roster: Projecting Vols’ 2019 2-deep depth chart
Quarterback
1. Jarrett Guarantano
Junior, 6’4″ 215 pounds
No surprise here. Jarrett Guarantano was the MVP of the Tennessee football spring game, and he held onto his starting position throughout spring ball. With a new offensive coordinator in Jim Chaney, he has a chance to reach new heights this season.
As a redshirt junior, Guarantano started every game last year and half the games of 2017. He was also the most highly touted quarterback on the roster coming out of high school. So it’s safe to say he has the most projected talent, the most experience, and the highest level of productivity from the spring. Simply put, he’s clearly the starter.
2. JT Shrout
Redshirt Freshman, 6’3″ 215 pounds
The coaches were all on JT Shrout when Jeremy Pruitt took over the program back in 2017. They loved him so much that they released two other four-star dual threat quarterbacks committed to Butch Jones from their scholarship and went for this guy despite being a three-star. But with Will McBride on the roster and Keller Chryst’s transfer, he redshirted in 2018. Now, he’s more ready.
Shrout could face a bit of a threat from newcomer Brian Maurer, who was an early enrollee and threatened in the spring. But he has the bigger arm and is more of a pure pro-style passer, a guy Jim Chaney loves in his offense. Add in the fact that he already has a year’s worth of experience practicing at the college level, and he’s definitely the favorite to be the second string quarterback.