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Tennessee football: 10 Vols freshmen most likely to play early in 2018

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Tennessee football might use a lot of newcomers this year as they rebuild under Jeremy Pruitt. Here are 10 Volunteers freshmen who could play immediately.

With 21 commitments from the 2018 recruiting class on campus now and 15 other redshirt freshmen, Tennessee football has lots of young talent it can turn to if players have trouble picking up Jeremy Pruitt’s new systems. The Vols have relied on freshmen to win big in the past, and they can certainly do it again.

But despite coming in to rebuild the program, Pruitt has a lot of experienced talent on his team thanks to Butch Jones’s recruiting. These guys just need the right system to be able to thrive and maximize their talents.

On top of that, Pruitt went after lots of junior college players and graduate transfers this past offseason. As a result, Tennessee football is deeper than you might expect with experienced talent, and that could make it hard for many freshmen to see the field.

However, with Tyson Helton bringing back the pro-style offense and Kevin Sherrer working with Pruitt to install a 3-4, you have to figure some veterans will slip down the roster. The fact that Pruitt is giving everybody reps means positions are mostly wide open.

Taking that into account almost all the freshmen who are buried in our depth chart projections to open camp have an equal shot to rise above the ranks. In this post, we’re going to take a look at those players who we figure are most likely to do just that.

The uncertainty of each unit, a player’s raw talent and their experience, even as a freshman, will all come into play with these rankings. This post also takes into account those most likely to simply see action, not just start. And to be honest, anybody on the roster has a chance to get into the rotation at this point.

We’re going to include both newcomers and redshirt players. So let’s go ahead and break down the guys who could become this year’s Trey Smith. These are the 10 Tennessee football freshmen who have the best chance to see action in 2018.

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