Tag Archives: Kendal Vickers

In new roster release, Vols added 284 pounds: See the gainers and losers

Jordan Williams is up to 272 pounds in the latest roster release (photo by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee unveiled an updated roster over the weekend, which means we can now see “officially” what players have been saying informally for months.

The team, collectively, is considerably bigger than it was this time last year.

Individually As a whole, the Vols gained 419 pounds and lost 135 since the last roster update to net a 284-pound gain. (Although UT may have edited some players, I don’t believe the roster has gone through wholesale weight updates since August of 2013).

What stood out?

* Most of the defensive ends are bigger, including young players like Kendal Vickers and Jaylen Miller who you would expect to put on pounds.

* Coleman Thomas, a freshman who is working at first-team tackle, is up to 311 pounds. If he’s not SEC-ready, it won’t be a size issue.

* Brendan Downs is down 20 pounds to 228. Initially, I thought that might be a typo, but fellow tight end A.J. Branisel also dropped 11 pounds to 224. A strategy to make the tight ends more nimble? A coincidence? A typo? I’ll try to find out. (Update: I’m told the lower weights are, in fact, accurate as listed.)

* Receiver Von Pearson dropped four pounds but gained two inches. So there’s that. I doubt he went on a growth spurt at age 23, so we’ll try to get clarification on that too. (Update: I’m told 6-foot-3 is the official height.)

Other roster notes…

* There are a handful of new numbers. Most notably, freshman cornerback Emmanuel Moseley is now No. 12.

* Two walk-ons — linebacker Taylor Spivey and offensive lineman Jay Heins — are no longer on the roster.

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We think Tennessee has 31 scholarships to give — here’s how we came up with that number

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KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — In all the talk about Tennessee’s numbers crunch, there’s one question we don’t know with absolute certainty.

Just how many scholarships does Tennessee have to offer in this recruiting cycle?

For competitive reasons, most teams like to keep that exact number under wraps.

Tennessee, like all teams, can offer no more than 25 initial scholarships in any given year. But they can “count back” some scholarships against the previous class, provided the prospects enroll early and there is space available.

One problem in determining the back-counted scholarships is that back-counting seemingly can go on in perpetuity.

Also, there’s no way of knowing for certain which players arrive with a scholarship and which are walk-ons. That distinction may become even more confusing in this recruiting cycle.

But we can make some educated guesses. And I feel fairly confident in saying that 31 is as good a “magic number” as any this year. Thanks to colleague Daniel Lewis, who helped me hash out some of the details during a math-heavy instant-message conversation. The result was this tabulation that I transferred to a spreadsheet above.

If you just want to trust me on 31 scholarships and skip this part, I don’t blame you. But here’s the nitty-gritty:

The Vols had 22 scholarship players in the 2013 cycle (after subtracting Jabo Lee and adding late signees Johnathon Johnson and Kendal Vickers).

They were able to count three of those back to 2012. The 2012 class had 23 scholarship players (including the gray-shirted Tino Thomas), and was able to count one against 2011.

This is where it becomes confusing, and this is where I think UT’s 2014 maximum grew from 30 to 31. Thomas was gray-shirted and pushed into the 2012 class because Derek Dooley didn’t think there would be room in the 2011 class. As it turns out, however, some very late academic casualties opened up a couple more slots that would have allowed Thomas to enroll. So after back-counting two early enrollees to 2010, UT had only 24 initial scholarships in 2011, allowing the Vols to count back one scholarship from 2012.

The trickle-down effect of that academic casualty in the summer of 2011 action may have led to an extra scholarship in 2014.

Of course, Tennessee may sign more than 31 on Wednesday. But that’s another story.

A look at Tennessee’s 2013 class: Who played, who will take a redshirt (chart)

Receiver Johnathon Johnson goes up for a catch during warmups at Missouri earlier this year (photo by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Two members of Tennessee’s 2013 class played in all 12 games this year.

One is easy to guess. The other is much more difficult.

Freshman cornerback Cameron Sutton was likely the most pleasant surprise of the hastily assembled 2013 class, starting every game and emerging as perhaps the Vols’ most trusted defensive back.

Who also played in every game? Freshman safety Lemond Johnson was a special teams regular, despite (as far as I can tell) not playing a single snap on defense.

(Note: Freshman walk-on Devaun Swafford also played in all 12 games. Thanks to @donnieconley for the catch).

Receivers Marquez North, Josh Smith and Johnathon Johnson also played important roles in 2013. Some who I expected to have a major impact — like tight end Woody Quinn and cornerback Riyahd Jones hardly played at all.

As Tennessee welcomes a huge signing class in 2014, it’s worth remembering how difficult it is project freshman performance. Even arriving early is no guarantee of success. Of the five players who enrolled early and went through spring practice in 2013, only one made an impact beyond special teams. That would be defensive end Corey Vereen.

 Who can take a redshirt?

Officially, six players did not take a snap and are eligible for a redshirt season: Offensive linemen Brett Kendrick and Austin Sanders, defensive ends Malik Brown and Kendal Vickers, quarterback Riley Ferguson and receiver Ryan Jenkins.

Jenkins is battling a worrisome chronic injury, so it will be interesting to see how or if he responds in spring. The linemen weren’t needed immediately and got a chance to bulk up and work out during the season. Ferguson was on call until the very end, but ultimately survived the season with his redshirt intact.

In theory, there are two more defensive linemen who would be eligible for a medical hardship waiver — sometimes called a medical redshirt — if they sustained documented injuries during the season. Jason Carr and Jaylen Miller played in only three games (all during the first half of the season).

I’m not sure UT intends to request waivers for either player, however, because coaches didn’t “sell” the hypothetical “injuries” very aggressively during the year. In fact, Carr was even mentioned as a possible option to play late in the year.

We’ll find out soon enough whether Carr and Miller enter 2014 as sophomores or redshirt freshmen.

 

Name High school Position 247Sports Composite rating Games played Games started
Marquez North Mallard Creek (Charlotte, N.C.) WR 0.9574 11 11
Joshua Dobbs Alpharetta (Alpharetta, Ga.) QB 0.9276 5 4
Jason Carr White Station (Memphis, Tenn.) DL 0.9197 3 0
Jalen Reeves-Maybin Northeast (Clarksville, Tenn.) S/LB 0.9051 11 0
Ryan Jenkins Lassiter (Marietta, Ga.) WR 0.8832 0 0
Austin Sanders Bradley Central (Cleveland, Tenn.) OL 0.8793 0 0
Riley Ferguson Butler (Matthews, N.C.) QB 0.8741 0 0
Paul Harris Frederick Douglass (Upper Marlboro, Md.) WR 0.868 5 0
Corey Vereen West Orange (Winter Garden, Fla.) DE 0.8678 9 0
Lemond Johnson Cooper City (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) S 0.8656 12 0
Cameron Sutton Jonesboro (Jonesboro, Ga.) CB 0.8625 12 12
Jaylen Miller Gaffney (Gaffney, S.C.) DL 0.8566 3 0
A.J. Branisel Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School (Chardon, Ohio) TE 0.8503 10 0
Johnathon Johnson Friendswood (Friendswood, Texas) WR 0.84 10 2
Malik Brown Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) DE 0.8387 0 0
Dylan Wiesman Colerain (Cincinnati, Ohio) OL 0.8352 10 0
Brett Kendrick Christian Academy of Knoxville (Knoxville, Tenn.) OL 0.8296 0 0
Malik Foreman Dobyns Bennett (Kingsport, Tenn.) CB 0.829 9 0
Riyahd Jones Carver High (Columbus, Ga.) CB 0.8262 2 0
Josh Smith Christian Academy of Knoxville (Knoxville, Tenn.) WR 0.821 11 4
Woody Quinn St. Margaret’s Episcopal (Calif.) TE 0.8091 2 0
Kendal Vickers Havelock (Havelock, N.C.) DE 0.7997 0 0
Jabo Lee Dillon High (Dillon, S.C.) RB

Tennessee football practice: Goodbye Daniel McCullers, Hello Dan McCullers


KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The pre-practice stretch period is a time when Butch Jones usually imparts serious messages. So there was a look of mild concern among players when he announced, “I want you to know, I cut somebody today.”

He was met by silence.

“Do you know who I cut?”

More silence.

“Look around and see who’s missing.”

Finally, players caught on. No. 98 Daniel McCullers was gone.

In his place, was No. 63.

“I want everyone to welcome No. 63, Dan McCullers to the team,” Jones said.

Everyone started clapping. The media put down their rosters and stopped  hunting for a missing player.

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Kendal Vickers is officially on Tennessee’s roster — and he’s No. 39

Kendal Vickers

Kendal Vickers (photo from KNS partner 247Sports)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Kendal Vickers, ditched by South Carolina amid concerns he wouldn’t qualify academically, is officially a Tennessee Vol.

The defensive lineman from Havelock, N.C., is No. 39 on the latest update of Tennessee’s roster. He is listed at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds.

Vickers’ arrival gives the Vols an estimated 83 scholarship players in 2013. According to the recruiting sites, Vickers is the lowest-rated prospect in the Vols’ 2013 class and the third-lowest rated on the team. However, with many veteran defensive linemen on the squad this season, Vickers is likely destined for a redshirt season before he will compete for playing time in 2014.

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Dillon Bates gives Vols a 4th linebacker in 2014 Class

Dillon Bates

Dillon Bates (photo from News Sentinel partner 247Sports)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee can still add as many another 10 to 12 players to its 2014 class, and already the numbers are starting to look more reassuring.

The late addition of Kendal Vickers to the 2013 class will give the Vols plenty of defensive linemen this year, helping to cushion the blow when at least six players move on after the season.

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Tennessee prospect Kendal Vickers announces acceptance via Twitter

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Defensive lineman prospect Kendal Vickers, a late pickup by coach Butch Jones’ staff tweeted out a photo of an important document on Monday afternoon: A certificate of admission to the University of Tennessee.

Vickers, who was nudged out of South Carolina’s signing class because of academic concerns, had promised he would be ready to enroll at UT when the second summer session begins on July 8.

The photo appears to confirm that all is going according to plan.

An end from Havelock, N.C., Vickers also considered East Carolina and North Carolina before ultimately signing with the Gamecocks. He verbally committed to the Vols on May 24, but has not signed a National Letter of Intent.