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Tennessee football: 10 things for Vols to work on during bye week

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: The Tennessee Volunteers warm up before the season opener against the Georgia State Panthers at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: The Tennessee Volunteers warm up before the season opener against the Georgia State Panthers at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

9. Skill players eluding tacklers in open space

Jim Chaney and Jarrett Guarantano have gotten a ton of flack for so many check-down passes to the running backs or designed quick screens to Marquez Callaway. However, if these players are even worth half the hype that analysts and fans have been giving them, then Chaney and Guarantano deserve no blame for that.

Tennessee football should be able to rely on its skill players in open space to elude tacklers. Callaway was a preseason All-SEC punt returner. If there’s a designed screen for him, he should be finding ways to make guys miss.

Ty Chandler has proven to be an elite pass-catcher. However, against the BYU Cougars, he consistently failed to elude the last tackler in the secondary on long running plays, and when Guarantano went to him on check-downs, he often only had to elude one guy to get a big gain, and he failed. Is that really on Guarantano?

What about Eric Gray? There has been all this offseason talk comparing Gray to Alvin Kamara. Well, if that’s the case, Gray should also be able to elude tacklers in open space on running plays into the secondary or to the outside or when Guarantano hits him on check-downs.

This was supposed to be a major advantage for the Vols heading into the year. However, Jauan Jennings, the one guy who is a pure deep threat and not meant to elude tacklers with the ball, has been the best at doing it. That’s a problem, and the coaches need to work on that.

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