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

Alexis Johnson is crucial to Tennessee football because of his size. But Shy Tuttle is crucial because he’s the only guy we know can actually play defensive tackle for the Vols. After back to back season-ending injuries in 2015 and 2016, Tuttle was finally healthy in 2017.

This past offseason was Tuttle’s first full offseason since his freshman year. Now, entering his senior year, he should be in the best football shape of his career. That lays the perfect ground-work for the 6’3″ 300-pound defensive tackle to finally reach his potential.

We know all of this. The problem, however, is that the Vols actually desperately need him to reach his potential. With Kahlil McKenzie gone, there is nobody else who is certain to be reliable at defensive tackle. Tuttle is the only guy on the roster who has proven he can play the position at this level.

Sure, Johnson is crucial to the rotation. And you have guys like Emmit Gooden and Greg Emerson for depth. But that’s just it. They should only exist for depth this year and to give guys like Tuttle a rest. The Vols can’t actually afford to lose Tuttle permanently.

That’ll make for a thinner selection of tackles, which is dangerous in a 3-4 defense, and it will force Jeremy Pruitt and Kevin Sherrer to call on an unproven guy there. Tracy Rocker’s work will be much harder. As a result, Tuttle is crucial to the unit. Tennessee football’s line will suffer without him. If you doubt that, look at what happened in 2016.