Tennessee officially welcomed in 21 signees from their 2019 recruiting class, and 19 of them are true freshmen this upcoming season. A handful of those players enrolled early in the spring, and the rest joined the team over the summer and have been going through their first practices with the Vols this fall.
While the Vols have some quality veterans such as Darrell Taylor, Daniel Bituli, Jarrett Guarantano, Marquez Callaway, and Dominick Wood-Anderson at their disposal, they’ll also be counting on several true freshmen to fill some roles and play significant snaps this upcoming season. While the amount of freshmen who play and play often may not be as much as the 2014 Vols had take the field, there should still be a large amount of freshmen who have an impact on Tennessee’s 2019 season.
Some freshmen will only play in four or fewer games this season and will use 2019 as a redshirt year. Others will likely carve out roles on special teams and make appearances in blowout games. But others are more likely to have a lasting impact all season and could play vital roles on Tennessee’s roster this season.
Players like Roman Harrison, Ramel Keyton, Jackson Lowe, and Jerrod Means are certainly talented and have high ceilings for their UT futures, but whether it’s due to a logjam ahead of them on the depth chart or a need for more development, they likely won’t have the same type of impact as some of the other true freshmen in Tennessee’s 2019 class.
Here’s a look at the eight freshmen who are most likely to have the biggest impacts in their first years as Vols.
