With just over a month until the start of the Vols’ regular season campaign, it’s starting to feel like football season is nearly here.
Tuesday brings us a big day in the sport with Tennessee hosting its in-house media day. We’re also less than 24 hours away from the start of the Vols’ on-field fall camp, which will begin on Wednesday morning in Knoxville.
But Tuesday also begins the run of preseason Top 25 lists around the sports media world. We’ve seen way-too-early predictions and media days predictions throughout the offseason, but we’re in for an avalanche of preseason Top 25 picks over the next month.
Tennessee’s ranking on these lists should be an interesting lead-in to the official Top 25 poll before the season. While some way-too-early projections had Tennessee off the list entirely due to an uncertainty at the quarterback position, there are reasons to believe that the Vols’ defense will be one of the best in the country again. The preseason rankings should give us an idea of what the general trends are for Josh Heupel’s fifth team in Knoxville heading into the season.
Sports Illustrated put out its latest preseason rankings update on Tuesday. Tennessee landed at No. 19 on Bryan Fischer’s list.
“Some natural regression from being a fringe SEC and CFP contender is probably to be expected for Tennessee this season, but the schedule and a salty defense still keep the Vols’ floor pretty high in 2025,” SI writes.
Fischer, like most people in the college football world, has their eye on Tennessee’s quarterback battle when it comes to the Vols’ season outlook. When fall camp kicks off on Wednesday, it’ll be transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre competing for the starting gig in Week 1.
“Just how competitive the Vols wind up being is expected to come down to how much Heupel can spin his magic yarn as a quarterback guru,” Fischer writes. “The roster is in as solid of a place as it has been coming into the season in ages, and the schedule is manageable. How all that plays out is anybody’s guess, but most around Neyland Stadium would be up for allowing for all the drama of the season to be concentrated in the past instead of what’s ahead.”
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Players I’m Excited to Watch at Fall Camp
Fischer notes two key players for Tennessee in its No. 19 ranking preview, but both have question marks around them. The key returning starter is star cornerback Jermod McCoy while the key transfer player is quarterback Joey Aguilar.
When healthy, McCoy is undoubtedly one of the top cornerbacks in the sport. He’s about to go through his second year with Tennessee, third in college football overall, and is widely thought of as a potential first-round pick in next season’s NFL Draft. The issue, though, is that McCoy has been recovering from a torn ACL that was suffered during an offseason workout in January. We should know an update on McCoy’s status coming out of UT Media Day on Tuesday, but the latest report from SEC Media Days suggests that McCoy is making progress through his rehab and will be on the field at some point for the Vols, perhaps just a bit delayed through a few weeks into the season.
“Heupel may be known as an offensive-minded head coach, but the Vols defense has been the strength of the team as it has developed into one of the best units in the SEC,” Fischer writes. “McCoy has played a pivotal role since arriving from Oregon State. He might be Tennessee’s best player when it comes to NFL potential and the ability to boost a good defense into an elite one.”
Aguilar, on the other hand, is a mystery. The senior quarterback played his last two seasons at App State before transferring to UCLA for spring camp and then to Tennessee in the wake of the Bruins’ Nico Iamaleava aqcuistion from the portal. He’s a gunslinger quarterback; someone who isn’t afraid to contest tight windows and is willing to give his receivers a chance to make a play on the ball. When it works, it works. But it’s also gotten him in a bit of trouble in the turnover department at times. If he can clean some of those things up, Josh Heupel might elect to go with the newly-acquired transfer QB as his starter.
In two seasons at App State, Aguilar threw for more than 6,700 yards with 56 total touchdowns and 24 interceptions.
Fischer’s preview goes into more depth on some of the important storylines regarding Tennessee’s upcoming season, which you can read here. Behind Tennessee in SI’s day-by-day rankings update is No. 20 Missouri, No. 21 Boise State, No. 22 Southern California, No. 23 Kansas State, No. 24 Louisville, and No. 25 Oklahoma.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for complete coverage of Tennessee’s fall camp slate from Knoxville.
