Tennessee released their official “unofficial” depth chart for their Week 1 match-up against No. 17 West Virginia on Monday. And the depth chart includes a number of new faces and tons of interesting tidbits of information.
Join us as we take a deeper dive into UT’s first official depth chart of 2018 and analyze it by the numbers.
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Tennessee’s depth chart for Week 1 features nine newcomers to the 2018 roster listed as starters or co-starters. That number shows just how quickly Jeremy Pruitt and his staff have attempted to overhaul the roster with their additions to the team. This number includes grad transfers, junior college transfers, and true freshmen.
Tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson, offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson, center Brandon Kennedy, offensive lineman Jerome Carvin, quarterback Keller Chryst, running back Madre London, cornerback Alontae Taylor, cornerback Bryce Thompson, and punter Paxton Brooks are all listed as either straight-up starters or co-starters on UT’s depth chart.
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All in all, Tennessee has 11 newcomers listed in their two-deep for Week 1. That number includes the nine players mentioned above and defensive tackle Emmit Gooden and freshman defensive lineman Kingston Harris as well. Freshman receiver Cedric Tillman and linebacker Jordan Allen are listed as third-string options at their respective positions too.
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The Vols have 10 of their 25 positions on their depth chart (including special teams) listed with co-starters. Tight end, left guard, right guard, right tackle, one of the wide receiver spots, quarterback, running back, weakside linebacker, one of the cornerback spots, and punter all have multiple players listed as starters for those positions.
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Three of Tennessee’s positions on their depth chart have more than two co-starters listed at the position. Tight end, right tackle, and running back all have three players named as co-starters for Week 1.
Dominick Wood-Anderson, Eli Wolf, and Austin Pope are listed as the co-starters at tight end. Drew Richmond, Marcus Tatum, and Chance Hall are all listed as starters at right tackle right now, and Tim Jordan, Ty Chandler, and Madre London are are pegged as starters at running back.
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Tennessee’s depth chart this year doesn’t feature as many true freshman as others have in the past, but there are still four freshmen signees in the 2018 class who are listed as starters or co-starters for Week 1.
Jerome Carvin is listed as a co-starter at right guard, both Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson are listed as co-starters at one cornerback spot, and Paxton Brooks is listed as a co-starter at punter. So right now it looks like Tennessee is guaranteed to start at least one true freshman when the Vols face-off against West Virginia.
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The Vols may not be starting a lot of true freshmen, but there are tons of first and second-year players listed as starters or co-starters.
Right now, the Vols have 11 true freshmen, redshirt freshmen, or true sophomores listed as starters or co-starters on their depth chart. That number includes the four players listed above as well as offensive lineman Trey Smith, offensive lineman Riley Locklear, receiver Josh Palmer, running backs Tim Jordan and Ty Chandler, kicker Brent Cimaglia, and punter Joe Doyle.
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Tennessee’s number of young players grows even more when you look beyond just the starters and co-starters and look at the entire two-deep. Over a dozen freshmen, redshirt freshmen, and true sophomores fill out the Vols’ two-deep at their 25 listed positions.
Along with the 11 players already mentioned, the other first or second-year players on UT’s two-deep are receiver Jordan Murphy, defensive lineman Kingston Harris, linebacker Deandre Johnson, linebacker Will Ignont, defensive back Shawn Shamburger, and safety Trevon Flowers.
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The Vols have a large number of seniors starting on defense, but only a few of them are present as starters or co-starters on offense.
Tennessee has just two seniors (Keller Chryst and Madre London) listed as co-starters on offense, but the defense has five seniors listed as starters, and redshirt senior Elijah Medford is listed as a starter at long snapper. The five senior starters on defense for the Vols are defensive end Kyle Phillips, nose tackle Shy Tuttle, defensive lineman Alexis Johnson, linebacker Jonathan Kongbo, and safety Micah Abernathy.
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While Tennessee may have 17 first or second-year players in their two-deep, the Vols have just as many four or five-year players listed as starters or co-starters on their depth chart.
The Vols have seven redshirt juniors, seniors, or redshirt seniors listed as starters or co-starters on offense, eight such players named as starters or co-starters on defense, and two such players on special teams.
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Of the 39 players listed as starters or co-starters for the Vols for their Week 1 match-up for the 2018 season, only 13 were named as starters or co-starters prior to Tennessee’s first game of the 2017 season. That’s not even a third of the players from last year’s roster.
The 13 players who were listed as starters or co-starters on Tennessee’s first official depth chart for both 2017 and 2018 are Drew Richmond, Trey Smith, Jauan Jennings, Josh Palmer, Brandon Johnson, Jarrett Guarantano, Jonathan Kongbo, Darrell Taylor, Nigel Warrior, Micah Abernathy, Brent Cimaglia, Riley Lovingood, and Elijah Medford.
