Tennessee football put on full pads for the first time during fall practice on Wednesday morning, upping the ante for the Vols’ practice competition across the board but particularly on the line of scrimmage.
One of the more compelling position battles for Tennessee is at defensive tackle where the Vols are searching for a clear fourth defensive tackle.
A season ago, Tennessee’s defensive line depth was one of its strengths with the Vols playing six tackles each game. Three of those players, all in the two deep, ran out of eligibility and are on to professional football. Starter Bryson Eason and third stringers Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs are back, giving Tennessee a solid starting point.
“We feel really good about one, two, three,” Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner said following Wednesday’s practice.
Tennessee needs more than three reliable defensive tackles though. Ideally, the Vols would have six completely reliable defensive tackles like they did a season ago. But finding a clear fourth defensive tackle is an absolute necessity and creates an important competition.
“I still think we are a work in progress trying to identify who those guys are, who’s truly four, who’s five and possibly six,” Garner said. “We felt four was really coming on, four-A, four-B. Now we just got to keep moving the needle. It’s just, what, day six. So it’s a process. It’s a process.
“There’s some good stuff put on film, some good things to teach off of. Areas that they see things they need to do to improve to try to move the needle in the right direction. So I’m encouraged about the attitude and the mindset that they’re bringing. But we got to continue to push that thing, push the right way.”
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There’s no other player on the roster who has played anything close to meaningful snaps in the SEC. Former JUCO transfer Jamal Wallace is entering his second season at Tennessee after playing in just three games last season.
“Jamal is a talented big man,” Garner said. “He just didn’t have any sweat equity as a d-lineman. And then just getting hurt and not being able to put the work in to work on the nuances of being a defensive lineman and not just being a defensive lineman, being an interior defensive line. You’re taking a kid that was a safety, outside backer, dropping. When he got here, he didn’t even know how to get into a three-point stance. So you know, he needs every single day of work that he can get because he is big, he is explosive, he can run, he is twitchy. He has the traits of a d-lineman, an SEC d-lineman. But now, just putting together the mechanical, technical things that he needs to do to take that game.”
JUCO transfer Josh Schell joined Tennessee following spring practice and his minimal time on campus combined with his smaller stature makes it harder to see him contributing. Greenbrier native Nathan Robinson is another possibility as he enters his third season in Knoxville.
However, the most intriguing options are blue-chip freshmen Isaiah Campbell and Ethan Utley. It’s extremely difficult to play as a freshman in the SEC and all the more so at defensive tackle. But neither Campbell nor Utley look like freshmen and are pushing for playing time.
“Just the level of competition, the strain that’s involved,” Garner said of making the jump from high school to college. “It’s just like we were talking yesterday, they can never become great and stay comfortable. So, they got to get themselves comfortable being uncomfortable right now so they can be comfortable later. So those are the things that I am trying to put into them, put them in difficult situations, so strain them so that good stuff can come out.
Tennessee’s defensive tackles have the chance to make an early statement during the Vols’ first fall scrimmage Saturday morning.
