The CheckerBoard

Not as strong but he has increased his weight and vertical? That doesn't make sense to me.

Richardson said he and the rest of the Vols' players were asked to pick two or three NFL players to study on film this offseason. He said he picked Michael Roos of the Titans and Jake Long of the Dolphins.

Waggner said defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri reminds him a bit of John Chavis, who was here when Waggner arrived at UT.

"cause you can't cook, son" haha great stuff

Waggner said he's trying to learn the whole defense, but he's just working at cornerback right now.

Rivera said he didn't believe his physical conditioning was where it needed to be last season, but it's finally there this year. He said he's better equipped to shoulder a heavy workload at tight end.

Dallas Thomas said the Vols' 7-on-7 workouts this summer have been must-see events. The linemen always have rushed through their workouts to get finished and go watch the 7-on-7s. One of the highlights, he said, was when Justin Hunter was going against Eric Berry — and Hunter beat him.

Curt Maggitt, A.J. Johnson and Brian Randolph now at the podium.

Maggitt and Johnson both spoke highly of Herman Lathers, his leadership in particular. Maggitt said Lathers is a great leader, great guy to be around. Both compared Lathers to Austin Johnson on last year's team in terms of his leadership role.

Maggitt said he has been working at a few different positions this offseason, but he believes he'll start off at Sam linebacker, as we expected.

He said he thinks he'll have his hand on the ground some, too — "hopefully a lot more than last year."

That's what we're talking about!