Tennessee football: Surprises from Vols season-opening depth chart

5. Will Albright named starting long snapper

In the past two years, Tennessee football has lost Elijah Medford and then Riley Lovingood. That left Jeremy Pruitt with a gaping hole at long snapper this year, and he had two guys to fill the role. Matthew Salansky is a returning walk-on who would seem to have experience in the system, and with no true special teams coach, the job might have been his.

However, Will Albright, a true freshman, won the job. As a two-star who actually signed with the Vols’ 2020 recruiting class, it’s not the most shocking news, to be fair. After all, Albright is a rare case of somebody getting a scholarship to play such a position, something you certainly don’t see that much. It’s proven, however, that snapping and holding matter.

Two of Brent Cimaglia’s misses last year and the drop-off in punting had to do with issues snapping the ball. Lovingood was still reliable, but something happened to him during parts of the season. A 6’1″ 220-pound graduate of Greeneville High School in Greeneville, Tenn., Albright has to take on that role this year, and with that comes a lot of pressure.

As of now, Joe Doyle is still penciled in as the holder, but don’t bet against UConn Huskies transfer Brett Graham there. The main story, though, is Albright. If he can immediately step in and produce at a high level, Cimaglia will likely continue his elite kicking. Failure to do so could prove disastrous for the Vols.