There’s more excitement about Tennessee’s defensive line than perhaps an other position group on the Vols’ roster entering the 2024 season.
After recruiting well across the defensive line of scrimmage over the last few years, the Vols have high end talent and have blended it with elite depth. Meeting with the local media earlier this week, junior LEO Josh Josephs discussed Tennessee’s defensive line glowingly.
Allow him to excite you about the Vols’ front four ahead of Josh Heupel’s fourth season as head coach.
“No team can really stop us,” Josephs said. “You can’t handle what we have. Even the amount of rotations, we’re going to be so fresh on the field. We have Big O, Big E, Jaxson Moi, Bryson Eason, Omarr Norman Lott, Daevin Hobbs and that’s just the interior. Those six guys on the interior that’s going to be rotating. Then on the edges. Y’all see who we got. We got James Pearce, come on dude. You can’t even plan for him. We got James. Caleb Herring. Bro, come on. Caleb is a dog. We got Jayson Jenkins. I’m telling y’all, he’s a sleeper. Jayson Jenkins is a sleeper. Dom Bailey for sure. Tyre (West and Weathersby). We got dogs everywhere so you can’t even plan for us, honestly.”
Joshua Josephs has transformed himself heading into the 2024 season.
But here’s why he feels so good about the Vols’ defensive line as a whole ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/42leLV7iRy
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) August 7, 2024
The depth is crucial because of the nature of the defensive line. It’s a physically exhausting position to play during games and defensive line coach Rodney Garner has rotated frequently throughout his career. That’s all on top of the inevitability that injuries are for an entire defensive line unit.
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What Josephs role specifically will be this season is unclear because he plays the same position as Pearce. But one way that both could be on the field together is third down pass rush packages. That package was strong for Tennessee a season ago and could be elite this season.
“You can’t double him (Pearce) or chip him because you have me on the other side,” Josephs said of the third down package. “And if you want to put a guard on me you have Omarr or Dom(inic) Bailey on the three tech(nique). You can’t do nothing with that. Offense see us, they see all us out there and they’re scared. Everybody is worried. It feels good when we’re all out there.”
Tennessee’s defensive line is stout. Just ask Josh Josephs.
