KNOXVILLE—The Vols are nearly a week into fall camp and since there’s not an open practice tonight, we’ll be posting a series of camp-related observations the next day or so. Here are the first three.

1. If the season started today, Justin Worley would be the starter by default at quarterback. What do I mean by that? Worley, a true junior with three starts under his belt, hasn’t taken the starting job by the reins but none of the other QBs have been consistent enough to overtake him. Worley’s command of the offense is where it needs to be, but he has struggled at times with consistently executing simple passes and needs to be more productive in team drills. If the season started today, he’d be the starter even though he hasn’t been drastically better than the other Vol QBs vying for the job. If he’s going to be the starter the entire season, look for him to start distancing himself in the coming weeks.

Nathan Peterman continues to work mainly with the second unit and has shown much better command of the offense than he did in the spring. He’s been getting some first team reps in closed portions of practice. Of the Vol true freshmen, Josh Dobbs has been the most consistent and has shown good leadership abilities. He has a fluid passing motion which lends itself to accuracy but he could use some work on his footwork. That said, you can tell he got to campus a month before fellow freshman Riley Ferguson.

The game is still moving a little fast for Ferguson, but he has shown flashes and has one of the best arms on the team. If either true freshmen are going to overtake Worley or Peterman, they’ll need to start making a move soon. Tennessee offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian said all four quarterbacks have been working with the first team during team portions of practice. We’ll see if that continues. One thing we know for sure: the coaches haven’t seen enough from any of the QBs to even come close to calling the race.

2. Though running back Marlin Lane wasn’t listed on the depth chart released before fall camp, he looks primed to carry the bulk of the load for the Vols this fall. Lane showed excellent vision during spring practice and looked a step faster than he’s been during his college career. A junior, Lane averaged 5.5 yards per carry last year and he has been the most explosive back on the team thus far.

Lane and senior Rajion Neal have been sharing first team reps and Neal has all the tools to have a big season as well. Tennessee’s running backs are a little underrated heading into the season and could surprise some people running behind the best offensive line in the conference. Lane and Neal will continue to battle, and both will see their share of carries this fall, but Lane his been the most productive running back on the team to this point.

Don’t sleep on Alden Hill or Maryland transfer Justus Pickett (who has to be a candidate for an All-Name Team somewhere). Hill had a breakout spring and will give the Vols a bruising threat near the goal-line and in short yardage situations. If Pickett is deemed eligible this year, don’t be surprised to see him on the field in some capacity, especially since Tennessee’s runnings backs have struggled with injuries in the past. Pickett has demonstrated he can be productive so far this fall and the coaching staff is hopeful he’ll be eligible once the season kicks off.

3. Tennessee’s 2013 class doesn’t get enough talk. Understandably, most Vol fans have been closely following the recruiting success Butch Jones and Co. are having in the 2014 class, but the 2013 signing class is the one that can help the Vols get back to a bowl this season. Though the ’13 class finished ranked somewhere in the 20s according to most services, I’ve been VERY impressed by the Vol newcomers thus far. We’ll address several of them specifically in our next post about camp, but it’s clear this Vol team would absolutely destroy the Tennessee team you saw in the spring and a huge reason for that is the upgrade in talent the 2013 class has injected into this team.

We’ll have part two of our fall camp notes for you in the morning.