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Butch Jones: “I think Jarrett Guarantano has earned the right to play some.”

Looks like we’ll see Guarantano some against UMass.

By Terry A. Lambert
NCAA Football: Indiana State at Tennessee Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of John Kelly, the Tennessee offense was really tough to watch last Saturday against the Florida Gators. Quinten Dormady had a rough outing, throwing three picks and finishing 21-39 for 259 yards and a touchdown. The offense got rolling late, but for three quarters I didn’t have much confidence in that group being able to sustain drives and score.

With a stagnant passing game and a tune-up game against UMass on tap, Jarrett Guarantano once again crept back into my mind on Sunday. Shouldn’t Tennessee give him another extended look to see if he can provide a spark?

Butch Jones and the staff are with me, to some degree.

I thought we had wrapped up the quarterback talk, but Dormady was simply too inconsistent to ignore against his first look at an SEC defense. He’s flashed some outstanding throws, but struggles getting through he reads quickly and making consistently accurate throws.

We saw Jarrett Guarantano get a look against Indiana State, but he hardly looked ready. One thing Guarantano could bring back to the offense is the threat of the run.

It’s frustrating to see these “read-option” plays remain as the bulk of the offense. Dormady isn’t the quarterback you want running those types of plays. Joshua Dobbs was outstanding in this area and the read-option became a staple of the offense.

Now it’s nothing more than window dressing with Dormady out there. With Jarrett, you’d get a little different feel. I’ll be the first to tell you that Guarantano didn’t look good in limited action against Indiana State, but they didn’t run him much.

I’d love to see Guarantano get the majority of the snaps against UMass, just to see what happens. Cut him loose — run the offense like Dobbs is back there. Why not? I unfortunately don’t have much confidence in a Dormady led attack going forward, so why not throw Guarantano out there and give one on final chance?

We know what we have in Dormady, why not truly figure out what you have in Guarantano?

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