Tag: Volunteers

Alvin Kamara, Alontae Taylor spend their bye week visiting Tennessee-Georgia game

Alvin Kamara and Alontae Taylor spent their bye week catching the Tennessee-Georgia game:

A lot of NFL players choose to spend their bye weeks in a lot of different ways. Some of them like to take a quick vacation out of town or spend time with their family, and others take the opportunity to go back to college and catch a game at their old stadium. That’s what New Orleans Saints stars Alvin Kamara and Alontae Taylor did on Saturday.

Kamara and Taylor were spotted on the Tennessee sideline for the Volunteers’ game with the Georgia Bulldogs. Both players endeared themselves to Vols fans during their time at Neyland Stadium, as did their most recent opponent: Joshua Dobbs. A college teammate of Kamara’s, the Saints running back spoke about Dobbs’ success in a quick chat with Karthik Venkataraman for WBIR Sports.

“It’s exciting, I’m happy for him,” Kamara shouted over the 101,915-strong crowd. “He’s always been a baller, he’s a gamer. So given the opportunity I knew he’d perform. It’s definitively exciting for him and happy that he’s able to excel in the position that he’s in.”

Georgia won the day 38-10, but Tennessee tried to make a fight of it. Vols running back Jaylen Wright sprang free for a 75-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage but was limited to just 15 yards on his eight subsequent carries. The usually-explosive Tennessee passing attack was smothered by Georgia’s defense.

The Saints have added plenty of talent from Tennessee in recent years, but they oddly don’t have a single Bulldog on the roster. Georgia’s top 2024 draft prospects include tight end Brock Bowers (who caught 7 passes for 60 yards) and right tackle Amarius Mims (who recently returned from ankle surgery), as well as cornerback Kamari Lassiter (who finished with a tackle and a pass deflection). Maybe 2024 is the year the Saints go down to Georgia.

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Alabama football knocks off No. 17 Tennessee 34-20

Alabama uses second-half spark to knock off Tennessee 34-20

Despite entering the halftime break facing a deficit of 20-7, the Alabama Crimson Tide walked away victorious on the third Saturday of October. The Tide blanked the Volunteers in the second half en route to a 27-0 run to secure their fifth win in conference play. Anytime you pick up a win in a rivalry game it means a lot, especially when you overcome a 13-point deficit.

After halftime, the Tide responded with a two-play drive that ended with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond. The Tide offense went on to score the next three possessions and pull away from a very good Tennessee squad.

Chris Braswell put the punctuation on the evening with a sack and forced fumble that Jihaad Campbell scooped and took back to the house to put Alabama up by 14. The Tide have earned a much-needed bye week, but will be back in action Nov. 4 against the LSU Tigers with the SEC West on the line.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Watch: 5-star WR Mike Matthews announces commitment to Tennessee

32 other programs made Matthews offers

Tennessee got a massive recruiting win on Wednesday when Parkview (Ga.) five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews announced his commitment to the Volunteers. Watch.

Going by the 247Sports composite rankings, Matthews (6-foot-1, 180 pounds) is the fourth-best receiver in his class, third-best overall in Georgia and No. 13 nationally.

Matthews plays more than wide receiver, though. He’s a genuine two-way contributor, totaling 48 catches, 1,031 yards, 10 touchdowns, 23 tackles and two interceptions last season.

Thirty-two other programs made Matthews offers, including contenders at Clemson, Georgia and USC. Tennessee’s class of 2024 now ranks No. 15 in the nation.

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Notre Dame football: Irish going hard to flip big-time SEC cornerback

The star of Notre Dame’s summer camp a year ago will be back on campus soon despite having a current commitment elsewhere.

Perhaps the best game of the 2022 college football season was Tennessee‘s epic last-second victory over Alabama. Less than a week afterward, the Volunteers received a commitment from cornerback [autotag]Kaleb Beasley[/autotag] in the 2024 recruiting cycle. 247Sports ranks Beasley as the 114th-best player in the 2024 cycle nationally and the best player from Tennessee.

Despite the commitment, Beasley has been interested in seeing what else is out there. According to many, he was the star of the show at Notre Dame’s summer camp last year, and the Irish staff has aggressively tried to get him to reconsider his current commitment.

According to a report from 247Sports, Notre Dame is one of three campuses Beasley plans to visit in the not-so-distant future. The report stated Beasley will again visit Tennessee on March 25 before checking out Auburn and finally seeing Notre Dame again on April 1.

As for the Irish, they have a pair of cornerback commitments in the 2024 recruiting class. However, they’ve gone after Beasley to the degree that Marcus Freeman recently flew to Nashville and stopped by his basketball game.

There is certainly no guarantee a flip is coming and even if it does it’s no certainty it’d be to Notre Dame. This is, however, another case of Notre Dame going to the deep end of the recruiting pool and looking to make a major splash.

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Saints schedule pre-draft visit with Tennessee OT Darnell Wright

Report: Saints among 20 teams to schedule pre-draft visit with Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright, one of this year’s best blockers

Now this is interesting: the New Orleans Saints are one of 20 teams hosting former Tennessee Volunteers offensive tackle Darnell Wright for a visit ahead of the 2023 NFL draft, per KPRC 2 Houston’s NFL insider Aaron Wilson. Wright is a projected first-round pick and one of the top blockers in this draft class, and is widely viewed as the best right tackle available.

And like many of the prospects New Orleans is flying into town, he hasn’t put together a complete athletic profile. Wright didn’t record a time in the three-cone drill or bench press at the NFL Scouting Combine or Tennessee’s pro day. The three-cone drill in particular is a critical evaluation tool for the Saints, who value it as an indicator of agility and movement skills in a tight area.

It may seem like a lot of effort to bring a prospect into town for just one drill, but the Saints have a gauntlet of exercises and classroom work they like to put players through while polishing off their scouting report. Wright can expect cognitive learning tests, position-specific maneuvers and any number of other evaluations on his itinerary when he visits the team facility. Interviews with coaches and front office personnel are also part of the process.

The Saints have been linked to several of Wright’s teammates like quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, so they could also be looking for some insight on one of them by speaking with Wright privately.

So would the Saints draft Wright if he was available in the first round? Probably so. Ryan Ramczyk has rarely turned in a full week of practice as of late while the team manages a lingering knee injury, and if they’re concerned about his two- or three-year projection, it would make sense to invest in a replacement plan much like they did when they drafted him to take the reins from Zach Strief back in 2017.

Wright has the credentials to get it done. He’s an impressive athlete who moves very well at 6-foot-5 and 333 pounds, using his 33.7-inch arms and rare 82-inch wingspan to ward off opponents trying to turn the edge. He played a career-high 507 snaps in pass protection last year and didn’t allow a single sack against a slate of elite SEC pass rushers. He’s experienced at both tackle spots and he has a history of dabbling at guard, too. Few teams invest as many early-round picks in their front five as New Orleans, and Wright is someone to watch out for on draft day.

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2023 NFL draft predictions: Saints picked as best team for Tennessee WR Cedric Tillman

2023 NFL draft predictions: New Orleans Saints picked as best team to select Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver prospect Cedric Tillman

Are the New Orleans Saints still prioritizing wide receiver after adding former Las Vegas Raiders standout Bryan Edwards to a receiving corps that includes Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed, and Tre’Quan Smith? It’s probably not as high a team need in the 2023 NFL draft as it was before Edwards signed on (joining Kirk Merritt, Keith Kirkwood, and Kawaan Baker among the players hoping to make their case in training camp), but the Saints should still consider it.

And here’s a suggestion for the best 2023 NFL draft prospect fit for them, courtesy of Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton. He likes the match of New Orleans and former Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Cedric Tillman in the third round at No. 71 overall. Here’s what was written about what might be a perfect match:

Cedric Tillman has flown under the radar because of an injury-riddled 2022 term. Playing in just six games of his senior season, Tillman caught 37 passes for 417 yards and three touchdowns.

Still, Tillman will probably land on the Day 2 radar for most teams because of his impressive 2021 campaign. In that year, he hauled in 64 passes for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns as the program’s leading receiver over Velus Jones Jr., who went No. 71 overall to the Chicago Bears in the 2022 draft.

Tillman wins with physicality before the catch, and he’s tough to bring down with the ball in his hands. At 6’3″, 213 pounds, with his ability to attack balls at a high point, Tillman should be able to move the chains on the third downs and become a red-zone threat as a rookie.

The New Orleans Saints should consider Tillman with the 71st overall pick. Derek Carr plays well with big-bodied pass-catchers, which is probably why the team worked out a restructured contract with oft-injured wideout Michael Thomas (6’3″, 212 lbs), re-signed tight end Juwan Johnson (6’4″, 231 lbs) and added 6’3″, 215-pound wide receiver Bryan Edwards (Carr’s former Las Vegas Raiders teammate) in free agency.

Tillman could be a viable replacement for Thomas if the veteran wideout continues to miss significant time because of injuries.

Furthermore, Saints wide receivers coach Kodi Burns held the same position at Tennessee during Tillman’s 2021 breakout year.

We’re fans of Tillman here at Saints Wire — he was our pick at No. 40 overall in our last collaborative staff mock draft, so there would be some celebrating if the Saints can get him an entire round later. He knows how to use his size to bully smaller defenders and he separates easily. He’s a good athlete for his size, too, and was the alpha dog in the Vols receiving corps when healthy in each of the last two years. He out-produced Jones a year ago and started out hotter than Jalin Hyatt this past season until an unfortunate injury slowed him down.

And as Moton observed, the Saints have a lot of connections to Rocky Top, up to and including Tillman’s old position coach. New Orleans has kept that pipeline open over the years, importing talents like Alvin Kamara, Shy Tuttle, Marquez Callaway, Alontae Taylor, and multiple other contributors. They know the program and the athletes it produces well, and Tillman could absolutely be on their radar in a few weeks.

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Heisman Odds Week 9: Hendon Hooker has the narrative on his side

Can Tennessee’s QB lock up the award with a win at Georgia this week?

Each week this college football season, BetFTW will take a look at the 2022 Heisman Trophy race and break down the contenders. Check back each Monday as the best college football players in the country jockey for position with both oddsmakers and bettors. Preseason odds can be found here and Week 8 here. 

Hendon Hooker’s magical season at Tennessee is starting to look like too much to overcome for the rest of the Heisman field. The odds-on favorite to capture college football’s biggest individual award isn’t a lock just yet, but that could change this week.

The Volunteers face their toughest—and arguably final— challenge yet as they visit No. 1 Georgia. If Hooker can knock off last year’s College Football Playoff champion after already out-dueling 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young, it’ll be hard for anyone else to match that resume.

Especially considering Tennessee’s final three games come against Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt—all perfect opponents for Hooker to pad his stats.

Everything is lining up for Hooker to run away with the Heisman. Now he just has to take advantage.

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Saints land electrifying Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker in 2023 mock draft

The New Orleans Saints landed electrifying Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker in the second round of a recent 2023 NFL mock draft:

It’s increasingly looking like the New Orleans Saints will be on the hunt for a quarterback again in 2023. Jameis Winston has played too much mistake-prone football and missed too much time with injuries to be a viable long-term solution, and Andy Dalton isn’t long for New Orleans either as he approaches his 35th birthday. Taysom Hill’s days as a full-time quarterback are behind him. It’ll be hard for the Saints to get their guy without a first round pick next year, but it’s not impossible.

Yahoo! Sports columnist Charles McDonald shared his take on the 2023 draft class, with an interesting pick for the Saints: Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker. Here’s what he had to write about the match at No. 44 overall, midway through the second round:

“It’s about time for the Saints to just start taking dart throws at quarterback. Hooker has had a breakout season for Tennessee and might be what the Saints are looking for in terms of big-play ability.”

Hooker was impressive last season after transferring to Rocky Top from Virginia Tech, completing 68% of his attempts while scoring 31 touchdown passes against 3 interceptions (adding 616 rushing yards and 5 touchdown runs to his total). But he’s taken a big step further through six games in 2022, improving to a 70.0% completion percentage while scoring 15 touchdown passes against a single interception, posting the highest yards per attempt average (10.7) of his career. Hooker has also stepped up as a rusher by clocking 4.9 yards per attempt (he’s averaged 4.1 in his college career).

That hardly means he’ll be successful in the NFL, and Hooker could flame out as the Vols’ season continues, but there’s a lot to like at first glance. He’s a consistent playmaker in the country’s most competitive conference who just slew a giant in Tennessee’s big Alabama upset last weekend. There aren’t many college players with more juice than him right now, and it’s exciting to think about what he could do with the Saints. It helps that New Orleans has a strong record of finding talent at Tennessee: former Vols like star running back Alvin Kamara, wide receiver Marquez Callaway, defensive tackle Shy Tuttle, cornerback Alontae Taylor, and defensive back Bryce Thompson litter the roster.

Sure, he’s on the older side for a soon-to-be rookie (he’ll be 25 when the 2023 NFL season starts) but we’ve seen older prospects like Kenny Pickett and Ryan Tannehill (both 24 when they were picked) be drafted highly and find success. To be frank, the Saints are quickly approaching “beggars can’t be choosers” territory. Neither Winston nor Dalton inspire much confidence, and New Orleans lacks the draft capital and salary cap resources to make an earth-shaking move — on paper. They were all-in on Deshaun Watson earlier this year, so maybe they surprise us again in 2023.

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Why is LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman’s logo on volunteers’ clothing at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship?

Greg Norman is everywhere.

JACKSON, Miss. — Volunteers are a vital part of any golf tournament.

They help with numerous aspects that can’t be seen on TV, like crowd control and helping to locate golf balls and keeping score. Volunteers are also given similar clothing so they can be located easily and look similar.

However, the volunteers’ clothing at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi, has an interesting logo on it.

A shark.

Or to be more specific, Greg Norman’s shark featured on his clothing brand, the Greg Norman Collection.

Nicknamed “The Shark” during his playing career, Norman is now the CEO of the LIV Golf Series, which is currently in numerous legal battles with the PGA Tour.

Sanderson Farms: Tee times, TV | PGA Tour live on ESPN+ | Odds | Round 1 updates from the Clarion Ledger

Volunteers at the Sanderson Farms Championship were sporting jackets and shirts with Norman’s logo on them. There’s a good chance most have no idea what brand the apparel is, though considering what’s happening on a wide scope, it’s quite ironic.

So, how does Norman’s logo get spread throughout a PGA Tour event?

“You want to give the volunteers a good shirt at a reasonable price, and that’s what that is,” Sanderson Farms Championship executive director Steve Jent told Golfweek. “I can’t afford to outfit them, if we want to give more money to charity, in something really high end, but you want to give them something really good. It’s just kind of saved a few extra dollars there.”

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Why is Greg Norman’s logo on volunteers’ clothing at the Sanderson Farms Championship?

Greg Norman is everywhere.

JACKSON, Miss. — Volunteers are a vital part of any golf tournament.

They help with numerous aspects that can’t be seen on TV, like crowd control and helping to locate golf balls and keeping score. Volunteers are also given similar clothing so they can be located easily and look similar.

However, the volunteers’ clothing at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi, has an interesting logo on it.

A shark.

Or to be more specific, Greg Norman’s shark featured on his clothing brand, the Greg Norman Collection.

Nicknamed “The Shark” during his playing career, Norman is now the CEO of the LIV Golf Series, which is currently in numerous legal battles with the PGA Tour.

Sanderson Farms: Tee times, TV | PGA Tour live on ESPN+ | Odds | Round 1 updates from the Clarion Ledger

Volunteers at the Sanderson Farms Championship were sporting jackets and shirts with Norman’s logo on them. There’s a good chance most have no idea what brand the apparel is, though considering what’s happening on a wide scope, it’s quite ironic.

So, how does Norman’s logo get spread throughout a PGA Tour event?

“You want to give the volunteers a good shirt at a reasonable price, and that’s what that is,” Sanderson Farms Championship executive director Steve Jent told Golfweek. “I can’t afford to outfit them, if we want to give more money to charity, in something really high end, but you want to give them something really good. It’s just kind of saved a few extra dollars there.”

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