The 2016 Tennessee football season opener against the Appalachian State Mountaineers is near. The Volunteers have now released their depth chart for it.
Butch Jones kicked off preparations for the 2016 Tennessee Football season opener with a press conference on Saturday, and he released the Vols depth chart in the process.
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The smell of football is in the air with this news. It’s finally back!
You can see the official Tennessee football depth chart by clicking here to go to 247Sports online.
The big story on this depth chart is the number of freshmen that Butch Jones plans to use. On offense, he’s got five freshmen in the two-deep depth chart, and he has two more on defense.
The obvious starters on offense include Joshua Dobbs at quarterback, Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara at running back, Josh Malone as one wideout, and Josh Smith in the slot.
Preston Williams and Jauan Jennings are in competition for the other receiver spot. Freshmen Marquez Callaway and Tyler Byrd will back up Malone and Smith respectively.
Ethan Wolf beat out Jason Croom for the starting tight end position.
On the offensive line, Drew Richmond won the starting job at left tackle. Brett Kendrick will start at right tackle. Freshman Marcus Tatum will back them up along with Coleman Thomas, who will also start at center.
Meanwhile, Jashon Robertson and Dylan Wiesman are the two starting guards, and Venzell Boulware and Jack Jones will back them up respectively.
Wiesman will also back up Thomas at Center.
On defense, the veterans won the starting jobs at defensive tackle, with Danny O’Brien and Kendal Vickers as the two official starters. Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle look like they’ll be the backups.
Those were a bit surprising, but the end positions weren’t.
Derek Barnett is obviously one starter at defensive end, and veteran Corey Vereen will join him on the other side. Jonathan Kongbo will back up Barnett, while LaTroy Lewis backs up Vereen.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Darrin Kirkland Jr. are the two obvious starting lineups, with Cortez McDowell set to back up Reeves-Maybin. However, Colton Jumper is set to back up Kirkland. That could be an issue.
In the secondary, Cameron Sutton is the obvious starter at cornerback. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Moseley beat out Justin Martin just for the other cornerback spot. Freshman Baylen Buchanan will back up Sutton.
Todd Kelly Jr. will start at safety alongside Micah Abernathy, who surprisingly beat out Evan Berry for the job. Berry will join Stephen Griffin and Nigel Warrior as backups there.
There are no special teams surprises with Aaron Medley at placekicker, Trevor Daniel at punter, Berry and Kamara on kickoff returns, and Sutton and Kamara on punt returns.
Riley Lovingood is the long snapper.
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As a result of this depth chart, we can expect to see lots of action from youngsters in the opening game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers.