The hype surrounding the 2016 Tennessee football team is coming through loud and clear from many directions, even some five-plus months from the beginning of the season.

And unlike the past unfulfilled hype that has made cynics of some SEC fans, this time it appears to be warranted.

After all, the Vols finished the 2015 season on a six-game winning streak, and their four losses came by a combined 17 points.

The Vols return a dynamic running back duo in Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, and a defense that features a top-notch pass rusher (Derek Barnett), tackler (Jalen Reeves-Maybin) and pass defender (Cam Sutton).

That’s hype-worthy stuff.

But perhaps the most intriguing ingredient to the team, one that could take the Vols from ‘pretty good’ to ‘elite,’ is quarterback Joshua Dobbs.

Entering his senior season, there is a strong argument to be made that Dobbs is the single-most important player on any team in the SEC East.

With him playing at his best, the Vols have a chance to make a run at their first division crown since 2007 and perhaps their first SEC Championship since 1998.

Without that, they’re likely just another flawed team in a division that has been overshadowed by the SEC West for the better part of a decade.

Dobbs for Heisman?

Let’s throw caution to the wind and discuss the best-case scenario first — could Joshua Dobbs become the first Vols football player to claim the Heisman Trophy?

On the surface, that seems like wishful thinking by Tennessee fans.

Dobbs averaged just 176.2 yards passing per game last season, which ranked him eighth in the SEC, sandwiched between LSU’s Brandon Harris and Georgia’s Greyson Lambert in the rankings.

But the concept of Dobbs being in the discussion with college football’s elite may not be as far-fetched as one might think. If you’re willing to put stock into the odds market, there are only nine college football players considered more likely to win the Heisman Trophy in 2016.

So what needs to happen to elevate a player that completed just 59 percent of his passes in 2015 to the best player in college football just a year later?

Aside from leading his team to victories in most every game and continuing to utilize his feet to effectively serve as a third running back, the answer lies in his consistency throwing the football.

“I think the question with Dobbs, in terms of becoming an elite college quarterback, is that he has to become a more accurate passer,” said Daniel Lewis, Editor and Lead Writer at RockyTopInsider.com.

“In terms of him being a great runner, a great leader, a great student-athlete and all of those things that you hear about him — that’s all certainly warranted. I think he can be all of that and more. But he’s going to have to complete more passes to take that next step and become an elite quarterback.”

Perhaps a more realistic take on Dobbs’ ceiling may be SEC Player of the Year, which in itself would mean that he bested players like LSU RB Leonard Fournette and Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly.

“Tennessee had a hard time getting guys open in the vertical passing game. Preston Williams is that custom-made deep threat that you think about at 6-4 or 6-5 and some serious leaping ability.” –Daniel Lewis, RockyTopInsider.com

“If he can be more accurate and get a little bit more help from the wide receivers, I see no reason why he couldn’t be in that conversation for SEC Player of the Year,” Lewis said after citing Dobbs’ rushing abilities.

“Anything beyond that, I think that would rely on team success and the Vols maybe winning the SEC or making the playoffs or something like that. So I’m not quite ready to say he’s a legitimate Heisman candidate at this point.”

Underrated rusher, underwhelming downfield

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Now that we’ve finished dreaming about the upside of Dobbs, let’s get into the meat and potatoes of his production.

By a show of hands, how many SEC fans thought Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott was the most prolific running quarterback in the league last season?

I’m envisioning plenty of hands going up, because that’s what a 2014 season that featured nearly 1,000 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns on the ground will do for a reputation.

But, in truth, there was a compelling argument to make for Dobbs as the league’s elite running quarterback in 2015.

While Prescott was working on staying in the pocket and improving his appeal for NFL scouts, Dobbs was running designed rushing plays on his way to 671 yards and 14 touchdowns, both of which led the conference’s quarterbacks.

Dobbs showed at times, like during a 118-yard, two touchdown rushing effort in a win against Georgia, that his legs could be a game-changer for the Vols offense.

With early-round status in the NFL draft looking like a real outside shot for the future aerospace engineer, don’t expect him to abandon that approach in his final college season.

Dobbs is not without flaws. And they go beyond the previously mentioned accuracy issues.

Praising his feet as a source of offense involves glossing over the reasons that the Vols needed to rely so heavily on him in the rushing game in the first place. Tennessee struggled mightily with its downfield passing game, an area in which Dobbs must show improvement in 2016 if the Vols are to live up to their lofty expectations.

How much of those struggles fall on Dobbs’ accuracy issues? Was new offensive coordinator Mike DeBord’s playcalling to blame? What about the lack of a reliable deep threat from the Tennessee receiving corps?

“I think there’s plenty of blame to go around,” Lewis said.

“I think it’s kind a combination of the three, or ‘all of the above,’ or however you want to put it. Tennessee certainly has had inconsistency at the wide receiver position, especially when you’re talking about that vertical passing game. They’ve had a hard time getting guys open in the vertical passing game.”

Lewis said rising junior Josh Malone showed flashes of being an option in that facet of the game for the Vols, but like Dobbs, he has shown trouble with consistency to this point.

“I think Preston Williams is a name to really watch there in 2016,” Lewis added. “He’s a five-star talent coming out of high school and was injured a lot of the 2015 season. He’s kind of that custom-made deep threat that you think about at 6-4 or 6-5 and some serious leaping ability.

“Tennessee is really hoping to get him up to speed this spring as one of just three scholarship receivers that they have out on the practice field right now.”

The battle for No. 2 and an inside track at 2017

While fans and media get the luxury of spending spring practice debating the ceiling of Joshua Dobbs, the Vols coaching staff must start considering what life without him might be like.

It’s the nature of the college game. Just when you get comfortable with a quarterback’s ability to lead your offense, it’s time to replace him with another project.

Based on career statistics, one could get the impression that the cupboard is bare behind Dobbs, but the Vols are banking on a trio of touted recruits to pick up the slack.

“I think it’s going to be a really interesting battle in 2017 and that’s going to be one of the storylines we’ll be watching during fall camp,” Lewis said.

Quentin Dormady, Sheriron Jones and incoming freshman Jarrett Guarantano will be competing for not only the No. 2 spot on the depth chart in 2016, but also for the first crack at being the team’s starter in 2017.

Lewis believes Dormady, who served as the Vols No. 2 quarterback in 2015 as a true freshman, has the inside track to again backing up Dobbs in 2016 and ultimately winning the starting job in 2017.

“He’s a natural quarterback. You could see that the minute that he stepped on campus,” Lewis said. “He’s a Texas high school quarterback that is the son of a coach, and from the first snap that he took you could tell that he was very comfortable in the quarterback drills. He has a very strong arm, and is quite possible a better pure passer than Joshua Dobbs right now, he just doesn’t have the athletic upside that Dobbs has.”

In limited work, Dormady completed 13 of 22 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown in 2015.

Jones returns to the Vols this spring after a bizarre offseason which involved him transferring to Colorado and then using a rarely-utilized NCAA rule that allowed him to transfer back to Tennessee after changing his mind a short time later.

He is a former four-star recruit and could factor into the discussion after not seeing any game action in 2015.

Guarantano, who is the wildcard that could shake up the depth chart, won’t be on campus until the fall.

“I think he’s almost custom-built for Butch Jones’ offense,” Lewis said. “You can see some similarities in Joshua Dobbs what Guarantano’s able to do. He’s an incredible athlete with a really strong arm, but I think accuracy is going to be a question with him as well. Of course we won’t know where he stands in that area until he gets on campus.”