There probably isn’t an outright savior on Tennessee’s roster that can resurrect the Vols’ offense. However, there is certainly one player that can provide something a little bit different for head coach Josh Heupel.
“He’s somebody that we plan on using more,” Heupel said of redshirt freshman tight end Ethan Davis. “A couple of weeks ago (there was a) structural change.”
That structural change that Heupel is referring to was the Vols moving to their 12-personnel, or two-tight end look. The Vols wanted more beef up front in their victory against Oklahoma. That worked as the Vols beat the Sooners 25-15.
It made sense at the time to rely on bigger and, most likely, better blockers than Davis, such as Miles Kitselman or Holden Staes. Davis is supposed to be the sleek, receiving tight end while Kitselman and Staes handle the tackle box. It might be time to take another look at that.
“Miles got a majority of it with Holden,” Heupel said, referring to the 12-personnel grouping. “We’ve got great confidence in (Davis), who we’ll continue to play moving forward.”
It’s not as if Davis has completely disappeared. He had two catches for 10 yards against Florida, but that’s a bit underwhelming considering his athletic ability. It seemed as if Davis was an emerging star when he caught a touchdown pass in the Vols’ season-opening win against Chattanooga. Davis caught two passes against the Mocs for 20 yards.
The performance against Chattanooga has proven to be the high-water mark for Davis, who caught two passes for 14 yards against North Carolina State, no passes against Kent State and just one pass for eight yards against the Sooners in limited playing time.
Davis played just 23 snaps against the Sooners and didn’t see the field against Arkansas. No one is suggesting that Davis can show up and be a superstar on Saturday when the No. 11 Vols host No. 7 Alabama at 3:30 EST in Neyland Stadium, but it’s worth taking a look. Davis isn’t the freshman who desperately needed to gain weight anymore. That was last year.
Davis is 6-foot-5 and 246 pounds. By comparison, Kitselman is 6-5 and 256 pounds. Staes is 6-4 and 248 pounds. Size shouldn’t be an issue for the former basketball player with more athletic ability than either Kitselman or Staes.
Davis would seemingly be a perfect safety valve for Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava when things aren’t going perfectly on offense. However, I certainly don’t see Davis in practice since its closed nor have complete insight as to what Tennessee’s coaches think of the former four-star prospect from Atlanta, but Pro Football Focus seems to be pretty high on him.
Davis posted a 64.5 grade against Florida, per PFF. Kitselman and Staes posted a 56.0 and 54.6 grade against the Gators, respectively. There could be another reason why Davis isn’t playing more, but it doesn’t really hold water.
Davis is just a redshirt freshman. Kitselman is a senior and Staes is a junior. However, as transfers, they don’t have anymore experience in Tennessee’s offense than Davis, who actually has more. Davis played in three games last year before donning a redshirt. Kitselman and Staes transferred during the offseason.
Kitselman has proven to be a better-than-advertised receiving tight end. The transfer from Alabama has six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Staes, who transferred from Notre Dame, has eight catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
It’s hard not to wonder what could have happened had Davis been on the receiving end of one of those catches considering his athleticism. Perhaps Heupel is concerned about playing more youth with a quarterback who is looking younger as the season goes on. That, however, seems to be the wrong way to look at things. The Vols need more playmakers on the field, especially with a recent rash of injuries at receiver, and Davis is their best option at tight end.
