7 way-too-early predictions for Tennessee's offense in 2022
In 2021, Tennessee’s offense was a serious problem for opponents. The Vols averaged 39.3 points per game, 7th-best in the nation. They racked up 474.9 yards per game, ranked 9th in the country.
Josh Heupel’s system has worked everywhere he’s been, and it certainly is getting the job done with the Vols. This was a far cry from the offenses that plagued the abbreviated Jeremy Pruitt era.
True, they will sorely miss wide receiver Velus Jones Jr., who was just picked in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Also, offensive lineman Cade Mays was taken in the 6th round by the Carolina Panthers. But there is enough talent on that side of the ball for the Vols to continue to rack up points.
Time to present 7 way-too-early predictions for the Vols’ offense in 2022.
1. Hendon Hooker will be one of the SEC’s most efficient quarterbacks
In 2021, Hooker completed 68.2% of his passes, threw for 2,945 yards, and had a 31-to-3 TD pass to INT ratio. Those are numbers that will be tough to match.
But Hooker will have a lot of help and his upcoming achievements will put his name up there with Alabama’s Bryce Young in the top echelon of SEC quarterbacks.
What’s the ceiling? Well, the Vols haven’t had a 3,000-yard passer since Tyler Bray threw for 3,612 in 2012.
Kentucky is the only other SEC program that hasn’t produced a 3,000-yard passer in that span. Both programs are in good shape to end that drought in 2022, but look for Hooker to have an easier time clearing the the mark.
2. Jabari Small rushes for over 1,100 yards
When Tiyon Evans left the program late last season, he was the Vols’ leading rusher. Turns out, Tennessee didn’t miss him that much. The best of those who picked up the slack was Jabari Small.
The rising junior finished the season with 797 rushing yards, including a whopping 180 yards against Purdue in the Music City Bowl.
The Vols will give Jaylen Wright and Len’Neth Whitehead their touches, and Hooker will certainly get his share of rushing yards.
But Small will be the go-to guy in the Tennessee rushing game. He’ll become the first Vols RB to crack 1,000 yards since Jalen Hurd in 2015.
3. Cedric Tillman leads SEC in receiving
Perhaps no one player benefited more from the Heupel’s hiring than wide receiver Cedric Tillman.
Fairly anonymous during his first 3 years in Knoxville, Tillman caught 64 passes for 1,084 yards and 12 TDs in 2021, all team highs.
No, Tillman isn’t a secret anymore. And yes, he will get even more attention with Jones now with the Bears. But Tillman will be Hooker’s primary option and will have every opportunity to build on those stats from a year ago.
4. Tight ends grow in offense
Heupel is a smart guy. He finds ways to get players open better than just about anyone in college coaching. He also knows that he needs to find ways to involve his most talented players.
Princeton Fant and Jacob Warren are 2 of the Vols’ top 4 leading pass catchers. Yes, they play tight end and are extremely valuable blocking in the rushing game. But I expect their combined catches this season to go up from 34 in 2021 to at least 50 in 2022.
5. Jalin Hyatt doubles his receptions
It isn’t that Jalin Hyatt has struggled … it just feels like there is so much more that he could contribute as he enters his 3rd season.
Hyatt went from 20 catches in 2020 to 21 grabs in 2021. Last season Tillman and Jones received most of the opportunities, but Hyatt should be a bigger part of the passing game this season. Look for him to make at least 42 catches this season.
6. Tayven Jackson moves to 2nd on depth chart
Joe Milton won the starting quarterback job in 2021, only to see Hooker take the gig and never give it back.
Tennessee knows it has in Milton, but they really want to see what true freshman Tayven Jackson can do. We didn’t get to watch Jackson perform in the Orange and White Game as the spring scrimmage was canceled this season. But Jackson by many accounts was impressive this fall.
At some point in the 2022 season, he will be the first call should the need arise.
7. Vols will surpass 2021’s scoring 39.3 points per game average
This is easier said than done. Opponents will have had a full year to get used to facing Heupel’s offense. And UT will face some good defenses along the way.
I just think that this offense will continue clicking at historic levels. Hooker, Small, Tillman, plus an experienced offensive line should equal at least 40 points per game this fall. That would be historic.
The program record for points in a season is 473 in 2016. That team averaged 36.4 points per game. The 1993 team set the record for the highest scoring average in a season (42.8). That squad scored 471 points in 11 games.
Similar to UF with AR, UT has got to keep Hooker healthy and upright. It starts and ends there on offense for them.
#truth, also the defense needs to add and develop quality depth.
actually Phil the vols gave up a ton of sacks last season and did what they did on offense. So not so sure they wont still put up big numbers even with a high number of sacks again. But they absolutely need to reduce them for hookers health if nothing else. The offense should be absolutely lethal. But, to me, our success starts and ends with defense. We can put up 40 per game but if we give up 42 we lose. I like what Heup and co have done to date and I am really interested to see how the team develops over the long haul, like 3-5 years. I have to see defensive improvement to expect an overall improvement in the W-L record. The secondary really has me concerned. We will outscore opponents but I would like to see coach protect that D a little bit more than last season.
With the added depth, and experience, this should be less of a factor this year. They got to Hooker a lot last year but did not effect scoring production as much. Your going to get more sacks or tackles for losses with a dual. The D appears much improved compared to last year at this time. Don’t be surprised if the D is the big shocker of the season.
All these predications are easily doable. None of them seem to0 high to obtain. Hooker and Tillman will be the key pieces for us this year and I would put them near the top of the SEC for returning QB/WR combo for 2022. Go Big Orange.
He got everything right but the last paragraph..lol. The most points a TN squad has scored in a single season is 511 last season.. The 2021 TN team also scored the most points in the fewest amount of minutes. I expect TN will beat their own 511 mark this season.
I love the Vols, but Point #2 is a terrible take. We struggled not having Tiyon Evans as the feature back. Smalls is good but he doesn’t have elite speed and was hurt quite a bit because of the workload. We lit up Missouri with Video Game numbers because of Tiyon Evans. Once Tiyon left, our running efficiency took a nose-dive.
To an extent but when you look at the running for the entire season, it was still in the upper SEC. Remarkable for a team that had as many issues going into last season. Evans really only had a couple of productive games before he had injury issues.. The bulk of last season’s running ability wasn’t due to Evans, he missed far too many games. Anytime you can effectively throw the ball, that helps build your running game. Usually its the other way around but it’s hard to cover the run when everyone is expecting pass or RPO’s. Evans is a run between RB, not so much run you over back. We’ll see how we fair with bigger backs added this season.
Small*** not Evans
Evans was the type of back Heupel needs; Fast and elusive. Heupel spreads the defense creating space. Need backs that can take advantage of the space and keep D-lineman honest in their gaps.
I’m still saying we need an elite back to have an upper echelon SEC team. Heupel runs the ball more than people give him credit. He isn’t as ‘pass first’ as people think.
From what I’ve heard, Small has put on weight and strength. I also like Justin Williams as an option for us.
Heupel worked miracles in his first year. Truly amazing. A better defense would equal more stops, which means more opportunities for the offense. Will be interesting to watch, for sure.
Morpheus: What if I told you that the Vols could be better on offense in 2022, but didn’t increase the win total from 2021?
Can this offense go out and make 3 yards, on the ground, on 3rd and 2 inside the opponent’s 10? Tennessee has had lots of fireworks. Can they execute the fundamentals of the game.
Put another way, if this team doesn’t have another gear besides superhighverymuchfastscoring, then this defense will be challenged to do THEIR part to win games. We saw that against Kentucky and Purdue-which were very similar except in the outcome.
They gotta get over the hump and beat some above average teams this year. His signature win is still Kentucky in a squeaker and that just isn’t going to get er’ done in Knoxville.
Agreed. Hoping to catch FL and LSU breaking in new coaches and figuring out rosters. That would go a long way toward a 9-3 or even 10-2 season. Not expecting us to beat GA or Bama, yet (:
You definitely won’t beat Kentucky next year.. keep overlooking us and counting it a W. See you in the Neyland trailer park next year.
Get back to me when you bet teams like Purdue.. In the Music City Bowl for crying out loud!
Yall said we wouldn’t beat tall in Lexington last year either, what happened again?
He’s talking about basketball…oh wait never mind
blueman this isnt the bold predictions article. 82-26-9 including 8-2 over the last 10, with some of our worst coaching in history, says nope.
Honestly anything is possible in may. You guys should have a good team. So will we. It will likely be another close one.
Um, considering we’ve only beaten them once in Knoxville since the Reagan administration (and only twice at home), I’d wait a little longer before being that brash, at least until we see what our secondary looks like, because they torched our corners last year.
Knocking off UGA or Bama would be huge. But yes, realistically it could happen but would be in the realm of a huge upset still.
I think Pitt is winnable and beating Florida would go a long way. Other than that, win the games you are supposed to win and the Vols will have a good season.
Like Drinkwitz, Heupel will have to change enough to thwart the film study of yearly opponents. I say good work in 2021 but every year he has to operate with more of his own recruits. I’m withholding judgement till I see the 2022 version.
Coach H has shown he wins wherever he goes with whatever he has. Anyone who thinks Vols won’t be 10-2 this year doesn’t know football. They nearly were last year. At UCF, Huepel came within one possession of beating LSU, who went on to become “GOAT” team the next year with the same players. While at UCF, he humiliated Kiffin twice in head to head battles. He took a 3rd string QB and coached him up to where he now is at Oklahoma. This guy is the best coach in the country. In the past, his teams run and throw nearly 50/50 with great success. He took a team that lost more good players to portal than any other team in America and made a great success out of it. Saban wouldn’t have won 4 games if he’d been coach at Tennessee last year. We have a real coach (finally) on The Hill. Getting great players has never been a problem at Tennessee and never will be, but we haven’t had the coach who can constantly improve their game. Now we do. GBO
vol1…You need to look up the meaning of the word “Reality” in terms of your beloved head coach, Josh Heupel. You seem to have forgotten his UCF teams records got worse every year he was head coach there. He inherited a loaded team and could not continue in terms of victories. “Reality”