The Tennessee football Volunteers need to find a standout tight end soon.
If nobody steps up at tight end when Tennessee football opens the season next week at the South Carolina Gamecocks, that’s a major indictment against Jeremy Pruitt and Jim Chaney. Injuries should not be an excuse.
As of right now, Austin Pope is still not going to play. Without giving an official injury report, Pruitt confirmed the news in a press conference Thursday. That followed Jackson Lowe entering the transfer portal earlier in the week, somewhat canceling out the good news for the Vols regarding the eligibility waiver of Cade Mays.
So without Pope, who’s going to step up at the position? There’s no doubt that he’s the best run-blocker at the position, as he started every game last year alongside Dominick Wood-Anderson to be the primarily run-blocking tight end, often times lining up at fullback.
Well, given the number of people Tennessee football has recruited at the position under Pruitt and the people who have converted over to that position, the coaching staff will not have done its job if nobody stepped up. They’ve put too much of a focus on it.
Princeton Fant is the most experienced player here. The 6’2″ 240-pound redshirt junior appeared in eight games as a reserve last year. He had been converting back to the position during that time, so he should be more prepared to go this year.
Jordan Allen, a 6’4″ 241-pound redshirt senior, converted to tight end in the offseason. Once a four-star junior college transfer edge rusher, Pruitt would not have converted him to the position unless he thought he could bring value. One of those two guys should be able to step up.
Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Jacob Warren and redshirt freshman Sean Brown were both recruited by Pruitt specifically. They bring an impressive amount of size, with Warren standing at 6’6″ 248 pounds and Brown standing at 6’5″ 246 pounds. If Pruitt recruited them and they brought that size, they should be ready to play with now having experience in the system.
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New Tennessee football tight ends coach Joe Osovet, who took over as Brian Niedermeyer switched to inside linebackers coach, has been an offensive analyst with the program the past two years. As a result, he should be familiar with all these guys.
Given the way Chaney likes to incorporate tight ends into his passing game and the way Pruitt likes to run multiple players there, the coaches should have already had multiple players ready to step up. The fact that Pope’s injury revelation was back in July gave them even more time to do it.
It’s clear they need tight ends. Wood-Anderson drew enough attention as a target last year to help Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway be super-productive. At this point, Chaney’s schemes should have allowed him to identify a new target.
We already discussed Pope’s blocking abilities. Pruitt said all of the other tight ends’ blocking is at a “C” grade for now. He may just be trying gamesmanship at that point, but he should have somebody ready to go on that front.
Simply put, Tennessee football has options at tight end. If nobody is able to step up there, it falls squarely on Pruitt. Every player currently at the position was a player who moved there or was recruited by the program under Pruitt.