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Tennessee Football: Darrin Kirkland Jr. to Start at Linebacker for Vols Saturday

By Caleb Calhoun

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The Tennessee football team will start Darrin Kirkland Jr. at linebacker linebacker Saturday when the Volunteers face the Western Carolina Catamounts.

Butch Jones and John Jancek are turning from the walk-on to the highly touted freshman.

The Vols are going to start Darrin Kirkland Jr. over Colton Jumper at middle linebacker against WCU Saturday, according to a report from GoVols online.

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The report simply stated that Kirkland was the official first-team middle linebacker according to the Vols updated depth chart. But that obviously means he is starting.

Jumper was a walk-on and the feel good story after an incredible preseason and shocking everybody by working his way into the rotation, and then he started at the position for the first two games.

But, while Jones will not admit this, Jumper’s major lapses in coverage on Saturday were glaring. When he got out of position, he simply did not have the athletic ability to get back in coverage the way he should, and Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners took advantage of that in the fourth quarter.

So the coaching staff has now made a move that should have been made at the start of the season.

Kirkland was a four-star linebacker on Rivals and generated lots of hype coming onto campus. Then, after having what was said to be a great offseason, he was everybody’s favorite to start at the position from the beginning.

This was the future of the position anyway, and with Curt Maggitt now injured, the Vols desperately need athleticism at linebacker. Jumper certainly does not provide that, making it more crucial that Kirkland gets the starting nod.

This could be a good move for the future as well. Kirkland is obviously the guy that will eventually be the full-time starter, so you might as well put him in now.

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