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Tennessee football: Vols LB Darrin Kirkland Jr. to miss 2017 season

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 7: Jerell Adams #89 of the South Carolina Gamecocks scores a touchdown on a 7-yard reception against Darrin Kirkland Jr. #34 of the Tennessee Volunteers in the third quarter of a game at Neyland Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 7: Jerell Adams #89 of the South Carolina Gamecocks scores a touchdown on a 7-yard reception against Darrin Kirkland Jr. #34 of the Tennessee Volunteers in the third quarter of a game at Neyland Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football junior linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. will miss the entire 2017 season. The Volunteers now turn to Colton Jumper at inside linebacker.

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It was a rough break for Tennessee football. Darrin Kirkland Jr. underwent surgery for a meniscus injury on Wednesday. The news only got worse two days later.

According to Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Kirkland will miss the entire 2017 season due to the injury.

The junior stepped in as a freshman linebacker in 2015 and immediately settled into the inside linebacker starting spot. It was the perfect situation, and the Vols had their guy for the future.

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However, he had a bit of a drop-off in production in 2016 after missing the middle portion of the season due to injury. And he expected to come back fully healthy this year before suffering this injury.

The injury, as a result, is devastating for the Vols. They already have quite a few questions surrounding their situation at outside linebacker. Losing their starting inside linebacker only makes things worse for Bob Shoop and Butch Jones.

But filling in is Colton Jumper. Jumper and Kirkland battled for the starting role in 2015 before it ultimately went to Kirkland, who was much better.

However, Jumper shocked the world with dramatic improvements in 2016, and when he filled in for Kirkland, he became a huge over-achiever. If he makes the same strides this year that he made last year, Tennessee football will be fine with him.

Behind Jumper, it looks like Dillon Bates is going to see some action now at middle linebacker. A legacy player, Bates was a member of the 2014 recruiting class. But he’s taken a while to develop.

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Now, it looks like he’ll finally be able to see the field some. Keep an eye out for him on Monday when the Vols face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

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