Nov 29, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium. The Volunteers won 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
In Butch Jones’ first two years on the job, he hasn’t had the luxury of redshirting young talent.
That’s due to the condition of the roster that Jones inherited from former Vol head coach Derek Dooley.
The Doolander left the cupboard — especially the offensive line portion of the pantry — mostly bare.
Tennessee’s aforementioned lack of depth forced Jones to play an inordinate amount of freshmen this past season.
Jones won’t be forced to play as many freshmen in 2015 as he did in 2014, thanks to the bulk of UT’s roster returning. That means that Tennessee, for the first time in several years, will have the luxury of redshirting some newcomers.
With that said here are five players the Vols should consider redshirting next season.
Keep in mind that while Tennessee won’t be forced to start as many true freshmen this upcoming season, they still aren’t where they need to be as far as depth goes. Some true freshmen will see the field early and often. But, hopefully for the Vols, not nearly as many as last season.