Brad Cottam has waited three years to get his big chance.

He added 30 pounds to what used to be a skinny, 6-foot-8, 230-pound frame.

He worked hard on becoming more physical at an always-demanding tight end position at the University of Tennessee.

Now he's getting that shot.

"This whole spring and summer he has come leaps and bounds," first-year tight ends coach Matt Luke said after the Vols' Monday morning practice. "He's going to create some mismatches for some people and I'm looking for him to have a breakout year."

Cottam, a junior out of Evangelical Christian School in Memphis, is finally injury free.

A shoulder that kept him out of spring practice prior to the 2005 season is healthy and he's taking advantage of his increased size and speed.

"I'm not nervous at all," Cottam said. "I'm ready because this is what you come here to do, to play.

"I want to be in the game as much as I can."

Cottam played in all 11 games as a sophomore and all 13 games as a redshirt freshman, but his combined stat line from both years featured two catches for 34 yards (as a freshman) and one special-teams tackle last season.

He's ready to become much more involved in 2006. Offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe vows an increased presence from the tight end position.

"We're using three wide, four wide, two tight ends and we're using everybody a lot," Cottam said. "We understand the concepts so we can go in and play a wide receiver spot or anything.

"Everybody knows the offense and everybody is comfortable with each other. The quarterbacks have confidence in all of us so we're all gelling together really well."

It showed Saturday for Cottam.

After having a couple of missed opportunities and one big play in UT's first major scrimmage, Cottam made one of the most impressive grabs of the night Saturday.

He hauled in a 39-yard pass from quarterback Erik Ainge. On the play, Cottam got behind UT's secondary and was wide open before making an over-the-shoulder grab down the right sideline.

"That was awesome," Luke said. "We've had two scrimmages and he has made two plays of over 20 yards in each of those scrimmages.

"That's nice to see those guys making plays."

Cottam hopes it's just a sign of things to come, especially going into tonight's third and final major scrimmage.

Tennessee hasn't really utilized tight ends as a weapon since Jason Witten was patrolling the position in 2002.

"They're working us hard in practice, we're doing a lot in scrimmages and we're producing," Cottam said. "So we should be able to do it in a game."

That's music to a lot of Tennessee fans who remember Witten running wide open down the middle of the field.

Chris Brown returns as the starter at tight end and Brad's little brother, Jeff, is a 6-8 freshman expected to see the field this season.

"We'll definitely play three, and maybe four depending on how Luke Stocker comes on," Coach Luke said. "With any injuries, Luke will have to step in there and play. His effort has been good, but he still has some stuff to learn technique-wise, as any freshman would."

The only thing Luke wants to see is continued development in Brad Cottam's run blocking.

"We talked about that this morning, just him taking it to the next level," Luke said. "He has everything any tight end coach would want.

"He's a big target, he runs great routes, and he just has to keep working on the run game."

It's not easy getting all 6-foot-8 low enough to stop a hard-charging defensive end.

"That's a part of his game he's working on and getting better at every single day," Luke said. "Being 6-8, it's hard to stay low, but his attitude is very good and he obviously creates mismatches in the passing game. He just has to keep working on the run game.

"The sky is the limit for him."