Top 10 Football Players the Tennessee Vols Can Least Afford to Lose

Jan 2, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes offensive lineman Brandon Scherff (68) gets ready to block Tennessee Volunteers defensive end Derek Barnett (9) in the first quarter of the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl at EverBank Field. The Tennessee Volunteers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Vols football team has many valuable players this year who could make a huge impact. Here are the 10 they can least afford to lose for 2015.

Based on recruiting and the number of returning starters combined with the strong finish to last year, the Tennessee Volunteers are expected to be much deeper, more talented, and simply better going into the 2015 football season.

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By now, it is very clear that the Vols have plenty of expectations going into the year, ranked at No. 25 in the Coaches’ Poll and receiving plenty of first place votes at SEC Media Days to win the East.

While Butch Jones’s Vols look to be very deep this year, they could still be in serious trouble if the injury bug bites in the wrong place, or if off-the-field issues hit in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That could turn this team from a potentially breakout powerhouse into a massive bust and simply a repeat of what happened last year.

Amidst all of the depth, there are certain players so valuable at positions so thin that their loss would make a huge difference, no matter what.

And this year, those spots are indiscriminate. They go across the trenches, at random physical positions, and among the skill players.

The Vols remain a very young and inexperienced team, so the guys on the field with experience need to remain on the field to help bring everybody else along.

Unexpected issues will come, as they naturally do. But where they happen, whether or not there are good players ready to step in after that matters.

Here we will look at the Top 10 players the Tennessee Vols can least afford to lose, based on the talent of those players and the depth of those positions.

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