I know what you’re thinking. It’s gameweek. However, no one was quite as focused on games at this time last year. All the talk was about Tennessee center Cooper Mays – for good reason.
Mays was entering what could have been his final season at Tennessee last year before he was diagnosed with three hernias just before the season. That certainly changed the narrative for Mays, the Vols and their fans.
One of the Vols’ most important players was sidelined while Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel tried to play off Mays’ injury with gamesmanship. The narrative was that Mays should be ready any day, then any week, then he wasn’t ready for the Florida game, which the Vols lost.
How is Mays feeling this year?
“I just feel I feel more prepared and at ease, probably more than anything,” Mays said on The Vol Report. “I’ve done this a lot, so I know kind of where I need to be at and where I’ve got to go and what I’ve got to do. I just feel comfortable. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
Mays is a luxury the Vols might have not had if he hadn’t been hurt last season. As a fifth-year senior, Mays could have entered the NFL Draft last in April had he had the kind of season that he was hoping for. Now, Mays has a different challenge. He’s ready to go, but that can’t be said for the Vols’ entire offensive line.
The Vols will announce their starting lineup this week for the season opener against Chattanooga on Saturday. However, that might not be the end of an ongoing position battle. With the season just days away, there’s a bit of uncertainty in the interior of Tennessee’s offensive line once again.
Andrej Karic, Shamurad Umarov and Jackson Lampley are all still thought to be in contention. The Vols don’t have to completely commit to any player anytime soon as a season-long starter. They can try things out on Saturday against the Mocs, which have virtually no chance of beating the Vols in Neyland Stadium.
What does Mays think of what’s going on at left guard? Let’s start with Karic.
“I think he’s a really, really good player,” Mays said. “Played really good ball for the first half of the season last year. Then he’s only gotten better. Super, super athletic guy and can kind of feel the game around him. Sham is a guy that’s younger but still figuring it out and doing really good things, growing everyday. He’s a strong guy and has the physical tools. Then you got Lamp, who knows the system thoroughly, does the things right and is very consistent.”
That leaves the Vols with a conundrum. Karic may be the most experienced player in terms of game repetitions, so why hasn’t he secured the starting position? Umarov appears to be the Vols’ left guard of the future, but why is he still struggling with the intricacies of the offense? Lampley has all the knowledge, but isn’t as physically gifted as his competitors at the position. Does he have the ability needed to play at the SEC level?
Those are a lot of questions. However, none are as dire as the questions surrounding Mays last season. His health is gratefully not a topic of conversation.
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The thing I look back to that nobody’s talking about is five years ago this week…”Remember the Alamo”? How about “Remember Georgia State”? …