Tennessee football Smokey Points: Top 5 Vols performers vs. WVU

He missed most of 2016 due to injury and all of 2017. Then he had the tumultuous offseason that involved him deciding to leave the program only to change his mind over a weekend after a conversation with Jeremy Pruitt.

Then, on Saturday, Darrin Kirkland Jr. became one of the bright spots of the Tennessee football defense. As we said before the year started, transitioning to the 3-4 defense is very tough for inside linebackers, and that made Kirkland’s job incredibly hard.

However, he has a photographic memory and is one of the smartest players on the team. As a result, it should have been easier for him, and it clearly was. Kirkland came back with an exclamation point Saturday and led the team in tackles with 10.

Now, to be fair, he only had four solo tackles. And he had no big plays, such as interceptions or tackles for a loss. But he was often in on every play and one of the guys who knew to be in the right spots. That helped the Vols early, even though they were unable to defend the pass.

With Daniel Bituli and Quart’e Sapp along with other linebackers likely to go through a transition phase in learning this defense, Kirkland’s play is critical to the success of the team the rest of the year. There wasn’t much to say about the defense overall, but Kirkland was one of the few decent performers Saturday. So he deserves a Smokey Point for his play.