With nine Tennessee football players selected named Preseason All-SEC, the Volunteers are proving to be a complete team going into 2016.
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Never mind that the Tennessee Vols have nine overall preseason All-SEC selections, tied with the LSU Tigers for second to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Never mind that they are tied with the Tide for first with three first-team Preseason All-SEC selections on defense.
The real story behind Tennessee’s nine All-SEC selections is how spread out they are.
The Vols have a player selected from every single unit on All-SEC teams with the exceptions of wide receiver and tight end.
Let’s start with defense.
The first-team All-SEC defense features a Tennessee football player on the defensive line, Derek Barnett, at linebacker, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and in the secondary, Cameron Sutton.
Alabama can stake that claim as well, to be fair. But the fact that we are back comparing Tennessee’s depth to Alabama shows that, from a talent perspective, Butch Jones has the program back to where he wants it.
On offense, the Vols have an All-SEC player where Alabama and LSU don’t: at quarterback in Joshua Dobbs. In fact, an All-SEC quarterback is worth about three players at one position since it is far and away the most important position in football.
They also have a running back on the list in Jalen Hurd and on offensive lineman in Jashon Robertson. One of the biggest controversies, ironically, is that more Vols weren’t on the list. A strong case could be made that Coleman Thomas also belongs on one of the three teams.
Then we get to special teams.
Evan Berry is on the list as a kickoff returner, Alvin Kamara is on the list as a punt returner, and Trevor Daniel is on the list as a punter.
So if Tennessee’s selections are skewed to one unit, it is the return game. But that’s just two players, and quite honestly, when you have that elite of a return game, it can have a bigger impact than the offense or the defense.
The punting game shows the Vols are expected to have no weaknesses on special teams this year.
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And the overall selections show them to be possibly the most complete team in the conference, even if they don’t have the most.