The Volquest 2-minute drill: Vols wrap up week one

Tennessee continues to ramp up the physicality on the practice field as the Vols move towards full pads next week and their first major scrimmage on Thursday. And now is when the real evaluations start on the offensive and defensive lines. 

For the offensive line it’s about finding answers at tackle and left guard while defensive line coach Rodney Garner is trying to stack depth and increasing his rotation both inside and outside. 

Tennessee’s defensive line in general, but especially the edge guys has certainly caught the eye of sophomore linebacker Elijah Herring who lines up behind them every day. 

“The defensive line just has a bunch of freaks on there. It’s crazy, they are freaks of nature. You got Caleb (Herring), James (Peace Jr.), Roman (Harrison), (Joshua Josephs), and Chandavian (Bradley) on there. They are just specimens out there. The whole defensive line is just so good at their craft, and they each just have their own style of play, so it’s just great to go out there and see them play.” 

Tennessee is looking for some guys to play plays off the edge with the lost of Byron Young to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL Draft. A season ago, Young had 7 sacks and 12 total TFL’s. 

At the end of spring practice, Garner challenged his defensive ends to take the bull by the horns. 

“We definitely have the body types that we are looking for,” Garner stated. “We have to get going. We have to get the juices flowing, get the confidence going and get them the technique where they can get loose, let the hair down, let some personality come through and get the confidence where they say, “I can go out there and do it down there.”

Sophomore Joshua Josephs seems to have gotten the message. The Georgia native added 15 pounds this summer and admits he’s taking everything about playing in college more serious than a year ago. 

“I honestly feel like everyone in the LEO room has stepped up especially Roman (Harrison),” Josephs said. “I see him progressing every day. He’s really leading me personally telling me and coaching me on stuff that I should do better or could do better. I feel like James (Pearce) and I took more responsibility in our name and stepped up for what we had to do.

“I stopped playing around so much. I stopped joking and started taking things more serious. I have focused on doing the things I have to do for myself to make this team better.”

Now it’s about going out and getting it done on a consistent basis on the practice field. For more on the Vols Saturday morning workout, checkout Austin Price and Brent Hubbs in the 2-minute drill as well as observations from Eric Cain. 

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