Tennessee Football: Week 1 Fall Camp Stock Report

Once Von Pearson was reinstated to the Tennessee football team and picked up where he left off before his suspension, the entire tone surrounding the Vols receiving corps changed.

The position group went from being a major worry to a point of excitement. 

Now, there's reason to hope that a group that is comprised of physical freaks will begin to live up to their massive expectations on the field. 

Junior Marquez North has drawn rave reviews thus far. Redshirt sophomore Josh Smith is stronger and reportedly looks closer to the player he was before a nasty high ankle sprain against Oklahoma cost him most of 2014. Jason Croom is big, strong and displaying leadership skills. Pig Howard is Pig Howard.

And on and on and on.

While Preston Williams' NCAA issues linger, another freshman—converted quarterback Jauan Jennings—is showing out. They're getting some of that swag back, too.

Nothing matters until the Vols get on the actual field against Bowling Green on Sept. 5, but a week ago with Pearson's status up in the air and with so many players returning from injury, the Vols had worries at the position.

Those have been at least temporarily alleviated during the opening week. Coach Butch Jones hasn't come out and mentioned a lot about the unit, but given all the positive comments flying around regarding individuals in the wide receiving corps, Tennessee has a bunch of talented guys playing well.

It just has to translate onto the field.

Everyday I'm Shufflin'

It remains to be seen whether the offensive line remains a liability, as it was a season ago, or if it begins to develop some consistency and continuity.

The first week of fall camp was all about the Vols trying to find their best five linemen.

That doesn't necessarily mean UT is struggling to find five viable starters. Instead, offensive coordinator Mike DeBord told GoVols247's Ryan Callahan just the opposite:

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Number one, I don’t think there's any doubt that competition always makes an individual better and a unit better, so we've got great competition there right now. And I think the biggest thing is we're just going to have to find out who the five best guys are as we go through this training camp. And we're going to have to find them fairly fast, but once we get into pads, that'll really start to show. We were in shoulder pads (Thursday), and we'll look at the tape here and start the evaluation that way. But I like the competition. I like our guys.

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Jones shuffled his linemen around more than a deck of cards—guards moving to center, tackles moving to guard, guards moving to tackle—during the first week. There is plenty of talent on Tennessee's line, but finding who fits where is something at which the Vols coaches are taking long, hard looks.

An injury to fifth-year senior guard Marcus Jackson, who has more starts than anybody else on the front, has things even more in limbo.

According to Volquest.com's John Brice and Brent Hubbs, Jackson "was held out of practice (Saturday) and is undergoing further medical examination for an upper-body injury that people in the program are worried could be potentially serious."

The article notes that sophomore Jashon Robertson and freshman Jack Jones worked at guard a day after Robertson played center. He started at guard last year. Kyler Kerbyson and Coleman Thomas worked at tackle. Regular tackle Brett Kendrick has worked some at guard this week.

Also, freshman Chance Hall, who played guard this spring, has been practicing at tackle. Star freshman Drew Richmond and redshirt junior Dontavius Blair also have been rotating in at tackle.

Your Weekly Dose of Kahlil (and More)

Jones may be sandbagging, but he called the defensive line "a very, very big area of concern" to GoVols247's Ryan Callahan this week.

That's a bit of a surprise considering how much buzz just continues to surround freshmen Kahlil McKenzie, Shy Tuttle and Kyle Phillips. Toss those guys in with starters Derek Barnett, Curt Maggitt, Danny O'Brien and others, and it makes you wonder if the comments aren't a motivational ploy.

Here's what O'Brien said to GoVols247's Wes Rucker about McKenzie this week:

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…Kahlil? Man, he's just a freak. It's great to have a guy like that in our program. He's just gonna eat up double-teams, he's gonna make plays, he's just gonna be a great player for the University of Tennessee. …Being a true freshman is one thing. But being a 340-pound true freshman, that's a little different, too. He'll get there. That's what our program is based on, is practicing hard, so when the games come, it's easy.

"

If McKenzie can learn enough of the defense to get in for a large number of plays and command double-teams, it'll free up Barnett and Maggitt to beat single coverage to get to the quarterback. That's exactly what UT needs.

He absolutely obliterated third-year sophomore Austin Sanders in a drill this week.

Then, Tuttle did the same thing in the same drill against Jackson.

Former 5-star Phillips also probably needs to have a package of plays to get his athleticism on the field. How much has he impressed so far? Tight end Ethan Wolf gushed over his speed to Rucker:

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"We watched on film a couple days ago, Kyle Phillips was running and chasing the ball down like 60 yards, and he probably ran a four-flat sixty," Wolf said. "I mean, he was moving. He looked like a wide receiver. We’ve got defensive ends that can really run, and one of those young guys (Phillips) can fly."

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Rocky Top Roundup

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• There isn't any resolution to the middle linebacker battle thus far, but redshirt junior Kenny Bynum reportedly got most of the first-team reps this week. Dillon Bates, Colton Jumper, Darrin Kirkland Jr., Gavin Bryant and Austin Smith all got reps, too.
• Jones told Callahan in the above-linked story that Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cortez McDowell could get on the field at the same time.
• Former linebacker Jakob Johnson is getting an extended look at tight end this week.
• There's no doubt who Tennessee's starting quarterback is, but that hasn't stopped Jones from mentioning several rave reviews of backup Quinten Dormady in the first week of practice (including in this article by the Chattanooga Times Free Press' Patrick Brown). Even though the Vols will have a true freshman backup, that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

All recruiting information obtained from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.