KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's first scrimmage of this preseason, held Sunday, didn't do much to clear up the muddy picture on its offensive line.
Two of the linemen battling for positions are true freshmen. Another lineman's playing status is still yet to be determined. What has resulted is a constant tinkering of the lineup to determine the potential best five up front.
With just more than two weeks remaining until the season opener, isn't it time to settle on a group and go?
"Surprisingly, no," redshirt junior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano said Wednesday. "I think going into this camp, there has been a lot of competition and I see it every day. They are rotating ones and twos every day, and threes. We have a lot of guys that can do it. We are going to try to find the best five. I don't know if it is going to be the day before or if it is going to be this week.
"I like seeing a lot of guys rotate in; I am able to communicate and compete with a lot of the guys whenever they do come to the ones. I enjoy it, but going into things, I think they are going to narrow down and cut the crop down."
The only constant for the Volunteers' offensive line during preseason practices seems to be that senior Brandon Kennedy is firmly entrenched as the starting center. Every other position in the group appears to have two players - three in some cases - battling for position, a situation that has advantages. With offensive linemen learning multiple positions during practice, it will give head coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff options if anything happens to the eventual starting five in the Aug. 31 opener against Georgia State in Knoxville.
"Iron sharpens iron," Kennedy said Wednesday. "We definitely want to get better. Having multiple guys that can play multiple positions is really helpful once you get into the season."
Although Pruitt said Tuesday that the only determined starter on the roster is Guarantano, it appears the Vols are getting closer to settling on a starting offensive line, with some variables.
First, there's the uncertain status of junior Trey Smith, whose 2018 season was cut short due to blood clots. If Smith is cleared for contact and able to play, he is expected to be at left guard. If not, Jerome Carvin could be in line to replace him - or maybe it's true freshman Wanya Morris, who has been working primarily at left tackle.
If Morris moves over, maybe Jahmir Johnson, who has been battling with Morris at left tackle, gets the nod there. At right guard, K'Rojhn Calbert and Riley Locklear could be options. Marcus Tatum appears to be in line to start at right tackle ahead of true freshman Darnell Wright.
What is clear is that until the picture is clear for coaches, the competition will continue.
"To me, as soon as you get comfortable," Pruitt said after Tuesday's practice, "sometimes people have a hard time being at their best, so I could see as the season goes, at lots of positions, one week one guy is playing and another week a different guy is playing. Maybe we play two guys at one position, who knows? The players control that, not us. My goal, maybe we have seven or eight guys that deserve to play, so you play seven or eight guys. That has happened before, so I could see that happening. We have lots of competition on our football team, and that's why we're still doing two fields - to coach everybody up and help them develop as players, and we're going to continue to do that.
"Offensively, I see guys that show promise up front, but with that position it takes all five guys playing together up front. An offensive line, they've got to play together. It only takes one of them to mess it up. One guy messes it up, the other four do it right, it makes all five of them look bad."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.