Tennessee football has more depth in its defensive backfield than it does at nearly any other spot on its roster entering the 2025 season. But that depth is quickly being put to the test with a knee injury sidelining Jermod McCoy and Boo Carter’s status uncertain entering the season.
Whether Carter plays Saturday— like Josh Heupel indicated earlier this week— or not, the Vols are more like to lean on senior Jalen McMurray at the STAR spot against the Orange. McMurray has earned the first team snaps at STAR while Carter has been limited this preseason and Tennessee believes he’s poised for a big season.
“Man, we’re super excited about McMurray,” Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks said Tuesday. “He’s always been a pros pro. He’s the first one in, last one out type of guy. His leadership skills are off the charts. We love him. We’re extremely hopeful that he’ll be able to take his game to another level based on everything that we saw in the spring, everything that we saw and have seen in camp to this point. So we’re excited for him.”
McMurray was Tennessee’s third cornerback a season ago and performed well in that role. He totaled 14 tackles and four pass deflections while earning a 76.4 PFF grade in 264 total snaps.
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While McMurray spent his redshirt junior season playing cornerback, the slide inside is natural for the Maryland native. Banks and Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez pride themselves on the cross training in the defensive back room, and that’s what they liked about McMurray when they landed him out of the transfer portal two seasons ago.
The 6-foot defensive back played both safety and cornerback in his three seasons at Temple Tennessee is leaning on McMurray’s versatility this season and that places him at STAR to begin the season.
“I think the versatility he has playing star, playing corner, he’s super smart,” Banks said. “And he has really good cover skills. So we think he’s poised for a monster year.”
McMurray’s versatility means he will spend most the Syracuse game at STAR, but Tennessee could lean on him at other spots as the year unfolds. If Carter regains his footing, he’ll likely earn most snaps at the STAR spot. McMurray could slide in as a third corner while McCoy misses time. Even when the All-American returns, Tennessee can go four-deep at the spot.
Tennessee is also thin at safety after losing a number of potential contributors in the spring portal window. McMurray hasn’t worked there much during fall camp but he’s capable of playing snaps there if Tennessee needs him.
