Offseason position analysis: Quarterback
- Wyeth Wilson
- May 20, 2015
- 2 min read
Coming out of spring practice, quarterback will be the most secure position heading into the summer.
Junior Josh Dobbs is the clear starter, and true freshman Quentin Dormady is the definite second-string.
Tennessee exited last season knowing that Dobbs would be the starter, but that doesn’t mean spring practice didn’t feature a quarterback battle.
Dormady and fellow freshman Jauan Jennings enrolled early and competed for the backup job, and even though it wasn’t formally announced that Dormady had won the second-string job, his performance in practice and in the Orange and White Game indicated that he was ahead of Jennings.
The wild card at the quarterback position is 2015 four-star signee Sheriron Jones.
Jones was the only one of the three true freshman quarterbacks to not enroll early and participate in spring practice.
Jones, a dual threat quarterback, will be behind Dormady to start the season, but could possibly overtake him at some point.
While the battle for the backup job is interesting, the main focus at quarterback for fans in spring practice was Dobbs.
During spring practice, Dobbs took on more of a leadership role that he didn’t really have last season.
On the field, he took a step forward in his passing accuracy, which was one of the only things that was wrong with his play last season.
One of the big advantages for Tennessee knowing Dobbs is the clear starter is the fact that the rest of the division doesn’t have a clear picture at quarterback.
Missouri and Kentucky are the only teams in the SEC East that know right now who their starter will be in the fall.
"You can't put a price tag on experience,” Butch Jones said at the conclusion of spring practice. “Experience is everything, especially in this conference.
“Understanding the day-to-day, week-to-week riggers of playing in the SEC. Having Josh, I think it's healthy for our football team too. They view him as their leader.”
Dobbs is coming off of a season where he started five games and played most of another, in which he racked up 1,206 yards through the air and 587 on the ground.
His play gave the Vols a big boost in 2014, and if he can be even better this season, the Vols' season has the chance to be special.
Comments