Is there another safety valve? Waggner working with Berry : govolsxtra.com

The search for Eric Berry's sidekick is focusing on Prentiss Waggner.

Just who will line up at safety next to Tennessee's often-heroic All-American remains a mystery, but based on first-team practice repetitions, Waggner has an early lead to land the other starting safety position.

Aside from a few snaps given to junior Dennis Rogan and highly touted freshman Janzen Jackson, Waggner has been Berry's primary running mate during Tennessee's first two practices of fall camp.

"We've got to figure out here pretty soon who's going to play where and make sure we put the other guys in position to be able to play on game day," UT first-year coach Lane Kiffin said.

Kiffin continued his public mantra of competition following Wednesday's practice despite the 6-foot-2, 177-pound Waggner's consistent showing in UT's deep secondary.

"It's wide-open," Kiffin maintained. "We need consistency there because we're going to do so many things with Eric."

Hence the challenge. Berry is so versatile that the Vols plan to utilize him in every way possible.

Need an extra defender to play the run? Call Berry. How about a deep safety playing the pass? Berry's the man.

"Our disguises are crazy," Waggner said. "You'll think he's in this place and he winds up in the next place. I'm out there roaming, too."

Yet there is a commonality to UT's defensive approach with Berry and Waggner.

"Most of the time he's the guy that always rocks down," Waggner said. "Most of the time I'm just roaming free and just doing the dirty work back there."

Often the dirty work means playing the pass, which suits Waggner just fine.

The redshirt freshman from Clinton, La., turned in one of the more impressive plays of the young preseason when he picked off senior quarterback Jonathan Crompton on Wednesday.

"The quarterback really never sees you," Waggner said of playing free safety. "You can just break on the ball easy."

With a month of preseason camp remaining, the competition to be Berry's Robin is far from over. Rogan, who has started 12 games in two seasons at cornerback, is sure to get another, longer look. Jackson and freshman Darren Myles Jr. could also factor in.

Berry couldn't find a weakness in Rogan's game. Jackson and Myles have already impressed their coaches and teammates.

"They're great athletes right now," Berry said. "They just need to learn the playbook. I feel like they're going to be incredible. They come in with a lot more natural ability (than me)."

That's high praise. Of the two freshmen, Janzen has received the most significant practice snaps.

"Janzen is so physical," Kiffin said. "He's fast enough to be a corner. He's only 184 (pounds) so he could be a corner if we needed him to be. We've got a unique secondary in that we've got so many guys that can cover and play safety."

Yet Waggner seems to have surged ahead early.

"I had an impressive summer camp - hitting the weights hard and getting in the film room and going over the plays," Waggner said.

The work started long before last summer. Waggner knew who to buddy up with as soon as he arrived on campus. Berry hosted Waggner on his official visit. Waggner knew to keep in touch.

"Since then we kept in contact," Waggner said. "When I first got here - day one - we went straight to the film room and started going over plays."

Waggner describes his strengths as roaming the field and an overall knowledge of the game. He'd still like to improve in reading his keys in the running game.

He's also striving to improve his chemistry with Berry, like each of the other safety candidates.

"It's very important," Berry said. "Sometime you might bust on a play but knowing that your other safety is there to get your back, you should be fine."

And sometimes, Waggner can even save Berry from danger.

"He knows exactly what he's supposed to do," Berry said. "A lot of times he's calling out stuff in the backfield, stuff I don't see, helping me out.

"We feed off each other."