Tennessee’s starting opportunity at left tackle is coming into a little more focus following Sunday’s second preseason scrimmage inside Neyland Stadium.
What began earlier this month as a competition among Jeremiah “JJ” Crawford, Dayne Davis and Gerald Mincey appears to be down to Crawford and Mincey or a combination of those two. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Crawford played in 10 of 13 games for the Volunteers last season after arriving from Butler (Kansas) Community College, while the 6-6, 337-pound Mincey transferred from Florida last December on the heels of vying in 10 contests for the Gators.
“Those guys are continuing to compete, and that’s not going to stop after today,” Vols second-year coach Josh Heupel said during a news conference. “That will happen all the way up to kickoff, and I anticipate both of them playing during the course of a football game throughout the season and certainly in week one.
“Who gets the majority of that and what the breakdown is we’ll continue to evaluate.”
Crawford played 135 offensive snaps at either right or left tackle last year, including a season-high 31 at right tackle in the Music City Bowl. The senior from Goddard, Kansas, also served on Tennessee’s field goal and extra point teams.