Tennessee Vols assistant gives major compliment to true freshman
The Tennessee Vols are in great shape right now at the quarterback position. (It's the first time that's been said in a while.) Tennessee has a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in starter Hendon Hooker. Then they have strong-armed Joe Milton as their primary backup. Milton, who is built like a tight end, looked much improved […]
The Tennessee Vols are in great shape right now at the quarterback position.
(It's the first time that's been said in a while.)
Tennessee has a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in starter Hendon Hooker. Then they have strong-armed Joe Milton as their primary backup. Milton, who is built like a tight end, looked much improved during mop-up duty in the Vols' 59-10 win over Ball State last week.
The No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart is true freshman Tayven Jackson, a former four-star recruit from Indiana who signed with Tennessee during the 2022 recruiting cycle.
Jackson is an athletic quarterback who will likely compete with Milton and incoming five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava for the starting job next fall.
Jackson saw some action against Ball State. And even though it was limited action, Jackson showed enough to impress quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle.
Specifically, Halzle liked how Jackson handled playing under the bright lights.
"With the young guy Tayven going in there, the main thing is it's tough going in there in that situation," said Halzle on Tuesday. "Just trying to operate under the lights, you want to call everything the correct way, stay in your reads the correct way, and there's always the freshman hiccups which are in there."
"What I like about Tayven is that his best practices in fall camp were in Neyland Stadium," added Halzle. "He went out there and the moment wasn't too big for him. He's a gamer, that's the type of guy he is, that's what I liked about him in the recruiting process."
I've always been a big believer in "gamers" — guys who play better than they practice.
And while I don't think Halzle is saying Jackson is a bad practice player, it's encouraging to know he turns it up a notch in big settings.
Hooker was kind of the same way last season. And I think all Vols fans remember Josh Dobbs during the Butch Jones era. Dobbs wasn't a great practice player, but he was clearly the Vols' best option on game day during his time in Knoxville.
Jackson could be the guy for Tennessee next fall. If he wins the job, Vols fans should take comfort in knowing that the moment won't be too big for him.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
