Tennessee Football Week 2 Spring Practice Report

As difficult as it has been to dampen all the excitement that surrounds this spring on Rocky Top, some disappointing news provided a lowlight in the second full week of Tennessee football practice.

After a week off for spring break, the Volunteers were back on the field—mostly in full pads—this week, and most of it was spent without rising senior leader and most valuable defensive player Jalen Reeves-Maybin.

The outside linebacker and tackling machine has a shoulder injury that will keep him out the rest of the spring and into the summer months, according to coach Butch Jones (via Rocky Top Insider's Daniel Lewis). 

With nothing left to prove on the field, however, it's not that big of a deal for the Vols if JRM can return at full tilt. It just creates opportunity, and it's one that players already are responding to, according to defensive coordinator Bob Shoop:

So, as life temporarily moves on without JRM, how is the Vols defense responding? Quite well, thank you very much. Let's take a look at what happened during the second week of spring drills in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Shoop Troop Coming On Strong

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee's defense is loaded.

The Vols have talented players everywhere (including 19 former 4- or 5-star players, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings), and most of the players who'll wind up playing meaningful snaps have multiple years of being relied upon under their belts.

For those who aren't as seasoned, new coordinator Shoop has been the ideal injection. That's allowing youngsters such as Quay Picou, Quart'e Sapp, Austin Smith and Darrell Taylor to catch on quickly.

Shoop brushing up on the terminology before spring practice led to a seamless transition, Jones told GoVols247's Ryan Callahan.

"

To Bob's credit, he’s come and he's really learned the terminology, so the learning curve has really not been much in terms of schematics for the defense because we've kept the same terminology. Now, Coach Shoop has brought some different things, some different elements. I think also a mentality. The players are constantly in his office. He meets with just about every position group on his own, so he's really built those one-on-one relationships, and the players have a lot of confidence and confidence in him.

"

You don't cut loose a successful coordinator like former UT defensive leader John Jancek without having an all-star on deck, and Shoop definitely qualifies. His track record and resume speak for themselves.

So, when you hear things like the Vols defense being extremely aggressive this spring, sprinkling in a lot more blitz packages and attacking the edges, it falls right in line with what Shoop's Penn State and Vanderbilt defenses of the past provided.

Tennessee is going to be extremely strong in the secondary, at linebacker and at defensive end. If the Vols can get Shy Tuttle back healthy and have a player such as Picou step up and provide quality snaps, the defense has the chance to be very good.

UT isn't shying away from expectations, either. The Vol Films crew is churning out promotional videos starring the defense on a routine basis:

One thing it must improve upon is forcing turnovers. The Vols weren't horrible last year, getting 19 takeaways, which ranked in a tie for seventh in the league. But with all the talent and experience, it isn't good enough. 

That was an area for improvement Jones emphasized this week.

"[Y]ou need to generate turnovers, and that's an area that we need to continue to improve on from last year," Jones told Volquest.com's John Brice and Brent Hubbs. "We didn't take the ball much away on defense last year, so that’s been a point of emphasis."

Even so, that's nitpicking considering how strong UT's defense has been this spring. The Vols are clearly ahead of the offense on that side of the ball, and though Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara haven't broken much of a sweat this spring, that's still impressive.

With all the injuries UT has on the defensive line, those guys coming back could inject the needed ingredients for a championship defense.

A Duo Of Duos Still Impressing

Credit: 247Sports

Sophomore wide receiver Preston Williams is still the talk of camp, electrifying daily and turning everybody's heads.

While this isn't exactly surprising given his lofty rating coming out of high school, the 6'4", 209-pounder's emergence is refreshing for a Tennessee team that hasn't had a star receiver since Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle Patterson roamed the field.

Williams' receiving mate and classmate Jauan Jennings is also having a strong spring. 

For Williams, the game is all about finesse and playing loose. He's one of those freakish athletes that has NFL written all over him. For the 6'3", 201-pound Jennings, he's just a big, physical athlete. The former quarterback burst onto the scene last year when moved to receiver.

He could play a few spots on defense, but it looks like Jennings is going to remain on the offensive side of the ball. And in a spring where leading target Josh Malone is out, the sophomore duo (along with redshirt freshman Vincent Perry) has a big chance to earn key reps.

UT passing game coordinator Zach Azzanni told the Chattanooga Times Free Press' Patrick Brown this week that he's thrilled with the progress of the young duo who could wind up being stars on the perimeter.

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Those two play off each other well. I'm excited to have those two out there in the lineup. Those are two really good players if they can keep progressing the way we want them to progress. They're big, they're physical, they're rangy. They're very, very competitive. They play off each other well, and they don't lack confidence, either one of them. Every day they're getting a little bit better, and I'm pleased with the progress.

"

The other Tennessee tandem of little-used players who are emerging as playmakers this spring is sophomore defensive ends Darrell Taylor and Austin Smith.

For Smith, this isn't his first brush with the limelight. He played in spurts as a true freshman at the Curt Maggitt defensive end/linebacker hybrid spot under Jancek.

With Shoop now in control, he's played pretty exclusively with his hand down this spring and is making an impact, though defensive line coach Steve Stripling told Rucker he was going through some "growing pains" with the transition to the line.

Taylor was a major recruiting coup as a lanky, quick-twitch athlete who needed a redshirt year to add weight, strength and understanding of the college game. Learning time is over, and he's looking like he can help.

"When he walks in the room, he looks like a totally different person," Stripling said. "His numbers are unbelievable. He's put on so much weight. His energy level continues to be just outstanding. He's really developing."

TKJr. Tosses Shade Toward Nashville

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It's never too early in the year to get in a little jab at a rival, and Tennessee junior Todd Kelly Jr. took a harmless shot at instate rival Vanderbilt this week.

When talking about Shoop and whether or not he knew him during his time as James Franklin's coordinator at VU, Kelly said: "I knew him, but I'm at the only school in Tennessee that’s important," according to the article from Brice and Hubbs linked above. "That's all I’m worried about now."

As far as trash talk goes, it's minor, and TKJr. probably didn't mean anything by it. After all, the Vols historically dominate that series with the Commodores, and Shoop had some success against UT while Derek Dooley was there, as well as in Jones' first season.

Kelly is having a brilliant spring for the Vols under the tutelage of Shoop. Playing mostly in a reserve role during his first two seasons, TKJr. looked like an impact player. Now, he's the size of an outside linebacker but has maintained his defensive back speed.

He'll be a force in the secondary this year, and as the above quote suggests, he isn't hurting for confidence.

 Rocky Top Roundup

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• Injuries are certainly part of the story this spring, but the opportunities they've created are huge. One player who is reportedly taking advantage is redshirt junior tackle Brett Kendrick, who is using this spring with Chance Hall out as a chance to prove he can play. He may wind up battling Drew Richmond to start.
  
  "Brett Kendrick, so far, has been probably playing his best football," UT offensive line coach Don Mahoney told Rucker. "He's playing at a different level. He's playing extremely confident. He's one guy that has separated himself this early on."

• The Vols were presented with their Outback Bowl rings this week, which was a pretty neat part of the bowl swag the team got from its resounding domination of Northwestern. The school's official football Twitter account tweeted out a pic:

• Tennessee desperately needs some defensive tackle depth, and Stripling told Rucker something this week that was extremely noteworthy. Though sophomore Picou isn't a definitive rotation guy yet at defensive tackle, he's apparently making strides: "He's much more explosive than, say, Kahlil, and when he puts all that together, he's a formidable man in there. But when he doesn't, then he’s a smaller guy getting bounced around.
  
  
• Finally, everybody knows about tight end Ethan Wolf. But there's another Wolf emerging from the pack. His younger brother, walk-on Eli, is a player who Rocky Top Insider believes could carve himself a role, per Jones:

All quotes and information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information gathered from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. All stats gathered at UTSports.com unless otherwise noted.

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