{"id":2012,"date":"2023-04-04T23:41:57","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T04:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2023-04-04T23:41:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T04:41:57","slug":"javontez-spraggins-analyzes-where-tennessees-offensive-line-stands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/javontez-spraggins-analyzes-where-tennessees-offensive-line-stands\/","title":{"rendered":"JaVontez Spraggins analyzes where Tennessee\u2019s offensive line stands"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Tennessee<\/strong><\/a> trudges on in spring football practice, the offensive line is taking a motto to heart that has paid dividends already through coach Josh Heupel<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s first two seasons in charge.<\/p>\n

Just get a little bit better every single day.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day no matter what we do, whether it\u2019s getting down the field, or pass-blocking better, run-blocking better,\u201d senior offensive lineman JaVontez Spraggins<\/a><\/strong> explained. \u201cIt\u2019s an inch forward no matter what, all the way until we put our pads on to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tennessee\u2019s offensive line will play an absolutely pivotal role this fall, perhaps even more than normal.<\/p>\n

With starting quarterback Hendon Hooker<\/a><\/strong> now off to the NFL Draft and veteran Joe Milton<\/a><\/strong> expected to take over in his stead, the Volunteers offensive line will be tasked with keeping Milton clean.<\/p>\n

The better looks he has to operate from in the pocket, the better the chances of him making that transition reasonably seamless. And it\u2019s a big one.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s absolutely no understating how excellent Hooker was for the Vols in 2022.<\/p>\n

He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and threw 27 touchdowns against just two interceptions. His ability to play smart, safe football from a mostly clean pocket allowed Tennessee\u2019s offense to score points, build leads and continue to heap pressure on opponents as games progressed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no accident Tennessee won 11 games as a result.<\/p>\n

But replicating those kind of looks from the pocket isn\u2019t a given. Not with star offensive tackle Darnell Wright<\/a><\/strong> also off to the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Spraggins was fairly up front in his assessment of the Tennessee offensive line to this point in spring practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it was bad, I wouldn\u2019t say it was the best,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep pushing forward every day, building our limits, like stretching it, inching it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offensive lineman Ollie Lane<\/a><\/strong> provided a reasonably similar assessment<\/strong><\/a> as well after the team\u2019s first scrimmage of spring, essentially noting that there\u2019s still plenty of room for improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp front, I think that we had a pretty solid scrimmage for the first scrimmage of spring. Obviously, the first scrimmage is always there\u2019s a ton of improvement on the stuff that we need to work on,\u201d Lane said. \u201cBut I think, all in all, we are starting to play more aggressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting our technique and our footwork down, and our assignments are a lot more clearer now. We\u2019re not having a lot of mistakes as we used to. You know, the first scrimmage, there\u2019s always going to be a lot of room for improvement. But I think we came out there with the right mindset and had a very aggressive day upfront.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post JaVontez Spraggins analyzes where Tennessee\u2019s offensive line stands<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Tennessee trudges on in spring football practice, the offensive line is taking a motto…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}