Tennessee football: 10 players Vols can least afford to lose for 2018

Like Chance Hall, Alexis Johnson is just trying to get healthy. Unlike Hall, he has yet to prove anything for Tennessee football since he arrived on campus as a four-star junior college transfer back in 2016.

To be fair, Johnson had a legal issue that kept him out of football shape that year. He’s battled on and off injuries since then. However, he had a clean bill of health this offseason, and with the new changes to Jeremy Pruitt’s system, the Vols need Johnson desperately.

Pruitt’s 3-4 scheme focuses more heavily on size at defensive tackle. With the departure of Kahlil McKenzie, the Vols have no true nose guard. So they need as many big guys with potential as possible. And despite having proven nothing, Johnson is one of those guys.

At 6’3″ 314 pounds, Johnson is the biggest guy on the line who figures to see time in the rotation. Kingston Harris is slightly bigger at 6’3″ 316 pounds, but he has some developing to do as a true freshman. Johnson is a senior who is ready to finally reach his potential.

The Vols actually need him to reach that potential. Without it, they could suffer in running Pruitt’s and Kevin Sherrer’s defense because of lack of size up front. Tracy Rocker needs to push Johnson as much as possible as a result because in addition to him staying healthy, they just need him to show he can be reliable. That seems to be the case so far. As a result, he just has to stay on the field. And that’s why he’s crucial.