Author Archives: Joel Hollingsworth

A few days ago, we posted a list ranking the Vols’ offensive players who need to stay healthy for the team to have success this fall. Nobody’s gotten hurt since we posted that on Friday, so today, we’ll do the same for the defense.

Key defensive injuries in 2017

You’ll recall that the whims of fate treated last year’s similar post as sort of a sinister to-do list, starting at the top and checking guys off as they retreated to the sideline for extended absences. Eat That Frog, Fate!

First on our list last year was middle linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr., who never even suited up for a game due to a season-ending injury in fall camp. Linebacker Cortez McDowell was right behind him in the No. 2 spot, and he was out for the season after the third game with a wrist injury. Safety Todd Kelly Jr. was at No. 4, and he lasted only two games.

It wasn’t a good year for injuries on the defense, is what I’m saying. Or much else, for that matter.

Defensive players whose health is critical to success in 2018

Like Michael Scott, I’m not superstitious, just a little stitious, which is why I can write this post with only the normal preseason jitters. But if you’re medium stitious, think of it this way: We’ve intercepted the villain’s hit list, and our job, should we choose to accept it, is to keep these guys healthy and on the field. This message will never self-destruct because it’s on the internet.

Feel better? Okay, then. Here’s a list of defensive players for the Vols whose health is critical to the team’s success this fall. Knock here. Use both hands.

7. Outside linebackers Darrell Taylor and Jonathan Kongbo

Both Taylor and Kongbo have changed their official position titles from defensive end to outside linebacker, but they’ll both basically be doing the same thing as last year, which is chase the quarterback and/or frighten him into poor decisions. This is an extremely important aspect of Pruitt’s defensive scheme, but there seem to be enough bodies available behind Taylor and Kongbo to worry more about other guys at other positions.

6. Linebackers Daniel Bituli and Quart’e Sapp

If there’s any comfort on the defensive side of the ball, it’s probably at the linebacker position, and that’s largely due to how Bituli and Sapp handled things last year despite some trying circumstances. Each of them started only eight games, but Bituli led the team in tackles with 90, and Sapp added 78. There’s depth here, but having these talented guys on the field is important.

5. Inside linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr.

We’ll never know just how much difference it might have made for the defense last year had Kirkland been available to play. But when really healthy, he’s been really good. As a true freshman in 2015, he started 10 games at middle linebacker and had 66 tackles on his way to Freshman All-SEC honors. He missed much of the 2016 season and all of last year due to injury, so he’ll need to knock off some rust. But he’s been heralded as a talented guy who knows what he’s doing at a critical position. That sounds important.

4. Defensive ends Kyle Phillips and Alexis Johnson

Phillips and Johnson (also an electronics/toothpaste firm) appear to be penciled in as starters at defensive end in Pruitt’s 3-4 scheme. There are some prospects and hopefuls on the depth chart behind them, but not very much experience at all, so having these two guys available to anchor down when things are threatening to drift is vital.

3. Safety Todd Kelly Jr.

Nigel Warrior (see below) pretty much has one of the safety spots locked down, but the other one appears to be a competition between Kelly and Micah Abernathy. Even if Kelly doesn’t win the job, the former Freshman All-SEC player’s continued availability will be extremely important from a depth perspective, especially with all of the questions at cornerback.

2. Nigel Warrior

Warrior was one of only five guys who started all 12 games last season. (Abernathy, Trey Smith, Kendal Vickers, and Ethan Wolf were the others), so he’s proven to be durable. He’s also extremely good at what he does, as he’s the highest-graded player returning from last year’s team, according to Pro Football Focus.

With him at one safety spot and Abernathy and Kelly competing for the other, the defense should be fine at safety. But with questions at cornerback, the safeties are going to be critical, helping the corners when needed without leaving their own responsibilities vulnerable.

1. Nose tackle Shy Tuttle

Tuttle is the presumed starter at the all-important position of nose tackle in the 3-4, and there really doesn’t appear to be anyone seriously challenging him for the spot. As we posted over the summer, our best guess is that Pruitt wants 3-6 nose tackles on the roster, and he wants them to be between 290-340 pounds. There were serious deficiencies in the spring, but Pruitt did a pretty good job of shoring them up in the offseason, getting current players to add weight and adding new players who fit the mold to the roster. Still, most all of the non-walk-on true nose tackles behind Tuttle are fresh off the tree: Greg Emerson (true freshman), Emmit Gooden (new JUCO), and Kingston Harris (true freshman). Alexis Johnson fits the nose tackle blueprint, but is apparently slotted for end for now).

That’s pretty light on numbers and on experience for nose tackles, and with Tuttle having, through no fault of his own, so many problems with injuries in the past, it’s a fragile situation. The good news is that Tuttle is reportedly as healthy as he’s ever been heading into fall camp. If he can stay that way, it will go a long way toward making the team more competitive.

Of the many things that went off the rails the last couple of seasons for the Tennessee Volunteers, injuries have to be near the top of the list. No doubt. there were many problems, but one of the biggest was that the Vols led the nation in most starts lost each of the past two years. According to Phil Steele’s compilation, the Vols lost a remarkable 52 starts in 2016 and somehow managed to even exceed that in 2017, losing a total of 58 starts. Injury-U, yo!

You can blame me for last year if you like, as I made the mistake of tempting fate with a series of posts this time last year titled Ranking the Vols Players Who HAVE to Stay Healthy. In my defense, I did knock on wood at every period, but now I’m thinking that that composite material comprising Office Depot desks is not actually wood but just a bunch of sawdust glued together.

Yeah, it didn’t go so well on the injury front last season. Just on the offensive side of the ball, only two of the players on last year’s Injury Uh-Oh list — Trey Smith and Ethan Wolf — actually started every game. John Kelly also didn’t miss any time due to injury. He missed one game because of a suspension, but it probably didn’t have much effect on the outcome of the season.

The rest, though, was a disaster. Jauan Jennings went out during the first game and essentially missed the remainder of the season, and both Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano suffered injuries and missed significant time.

And the o-line was an absolute mess. Jashon Robertson missed two games and three other linemen — Drew Richmond, Brett Kendrick, and Coleman Thomas — missed a combined 14 games. The historically-bad 4-8 season for Tennessee wasn’t entirely attributable to injuries on the offense, but having so many key guys miss so many games certainly didn’t help.

So what about this year?

With apologies once again to the superstitious for tempting fate to hit the trifecta, here’s a list of the most important offensive players to keep healthy this season, in reverse order because we all need some additional drama in our lives. Go find an actual tree and knock the sap out of that sucker.

6. Marquez Callaway

As much as it depended on him, Callaway stepped up in the absence of Jennings last season, grabbing 24 receptions for 406 yards and 5 touchdowns for a struggling offense. He basically took over the Georgia Tech game in the season-opener. If the rest of the offensive units are at least competent enough to get the receivers involved, Callaway’s role will become increasingly important, and his health will as well.

5. Jarrett Guarantano/Keller Chryst

Jeremy Pruitt said at SEC Media Days that the quarterback race would be a four-man competition between Guarantano, Chryst, Will McBride, and JT Shrout, but he also said that he knew he needed to make a quick decision. Most believe that the race will quickly be whittled down to Guarantano and Chryst, but which one of those two guys wins the starting gig is anybody’s guess at this point. Whoever wins, it would be best for the team for him to both do well and stay healthy, but it seems like the team would still be in good hands with the runner-up if it came to that. If both of them go out, though, neither of the two potential replacements will have much experience or practice time due to the presumed early decision.

4. At least two RBs at all times

Pruitt also said last month that he believes a team needs four to six running backs on the roster, presumably due to inevitable injuries and general wear and tear over the course of a grueling season. Coming out of last year, Ty Chandler had the inside track to himself to land the starting gig after the departure of John Kelly, and Tim Jordan, Trey Coleman, and Carlin Fils-aime provided the depth.

It quickly became apparent, though, that Pruitt wants bigger bruisers in his stable, and so this offseason saw a lot of guys moving around and switching positions with the goal of Pruitt finding those four to six guys that comport with his blueprint. In addition to moving a bunch of existing guys around – including Fils-aime to defensive back and former tight end Princeton Fant to running back, Pruitt also went out and recruited Jeremy Banks and secured the transfer of Madre London.

It will be extremely important to have at least two of Chandler, London, Banks, Jordan, Coleman, and Fant healthy at all times.

3. The non-Trey Smith OL starters

As the o-line goes, so goes the offense. Trey Smith is the most important guy there (spoiler: he’s coming up), but no lineman can protect the quarterback or open holes for a running back by himself. As Will pointed out last week, Pruitt has in a very short time somehow dramatically improved the outlook for the offensive line this fall. In addition to just taking good care of Smith, Pruitt signed 4-star Jerome Carvin and added JUCO Jahmir Johnson and Alabama transfer Brandon Kennedy. Chance Hall is back as well, and if he can get himself into playing shape and stay healthy, he’s a candidate to start.

But the unit really only begins to hum once the chemistry kicks in, and that generally only happens when there’s a good bit of consistency. That means, of course, that you need the starters to remain healthy. It’s good to have depth, because it will be needed, but the more often you can play with the same guys at the same positions, the better it is for the team.

So, in addition to keeping Smith healthy and on the field, the team really needs the other presumed starters like Kennedy, Drew Richmond, Ryan Johnson, Riley Locklear, Chance Hall, and Marcus Tatum to play and stay well.

2. Jauan Jennings

As one of the two main guys whose availability for this fall was uncertain for most of the offseason, Jennings now looks like a full-go. With the receiver position so dependent on other units – receivers need a quarterback to get them the ball, and the quarterback needs both an offensive line to provide him time to operate and a complementary running game to keep the defense guessing – it’s hard to put a receiver on a list of most important players to keep healthy and on the field. But the attitude, demeanor, and mentality that tends to keep Jennings just this side of trouble is the very same thing that makes him such a special player and so important to a team that is in need of an infusion of competitive spirit. The guy is important because he’ll make plays if the rest of the offensive units are merely competent, but what makes him crucial is the contagious passion with which he competes, assuming he can keep it dialed to just the right level.

1. Trey Smith

Simply put, offensive lineman Trey Smith is this team’s best player. A Freshman All-American and Freshman All-SEC player last year, he’s already been named to this year’s preseason All-SEC First Team and added to the 2018 Outland Trophy Watch List. The mystery of the health condition that kept his availability in question most of the offseason has now been resolved, but they’ll be keeping a close eye on him and his health all season. He’ll start, and assuming he remains healthy, he’ll be a huge difference-maker as a player and leader on a unit desperately needing a bounce-back year. If not, there’s a gaping hole to fill and a gigantic vulnerability for defenses to exploit to make Tennessee’s offense look inept.