All offseason, Tennessee football coaches and players talked about how good an offseason Daevin Hobbs has had. The expectation was clearly that he could step into a sizable role and be a game-wrecker up front on the interior of the defensive line. However, injury derailed this to start the year.
Hobbs suffered a lower-body blow during fall camp and was ruled out for the opening stretch of the season. He finally made his return to action in the Vols’ sixth game of the year, when they hosted Arkansas. UT took a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, but held on to win by just a score of 34-31.
Hobbs had a good outing in his debut, though. He recorded five tackles, one of which was solo, to go along with a sack that forced a fumble.
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According to PFF, Hobbs played in 34 of 78 defensive snaps for Tennessee in the win. This was the third most of any interior defensive lineman, behind Jaxson Moi and Bryson Eason.
Hobbs was given a 64.4 grade for his game. That’s an above-average mark on the site. His strongest area was as a tackler, where he graded at 74.9. In the run game, he was given a 63.3 grade. As a pass rusher, he was at 61.5.
After the game, Vols head coach Josh Heupel gave his thoughts on what the junior defensive tackle gave the team.
“Daevin, I just felt like he was going to play really well for us,” Heupel said. “His comeback, our medical team, strength team and him did a great job getting prepared for when he was gonna be cleared. Played well tonight.”
Next, Tennessee will travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama. The Vols and Tide will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET with the game airing on ABC.
