Tennessee football: 5 Vols 2018 seniors who had the best careers

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Paul Bain, Defensive Lineman

It’s hard not to respect a walk-on who’s forced his way into the rotation at defensive line, but that’s exactly what Paul Bain did for Tennessee football. Similar to Alexis Johnson, he’s a guy who took a huge step forward under Jeremy Pruitt. Now, Bain does only have eight tackles on the year. But he has one and a half tackles for a loss, and he’s recovered a fumble.

His big thing has been provided much-needed depth up front so the unit can play deep into games. Bain has made other notable plays throughout his career as well to at least warrant a mention. Remember, he blocked the field goal against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 2017 that would have won them the game. So he’s been productive and has splash plays to his name.

Jonathan Kongbo, Defensive End/Linebacker

This is one of the saddest stories among Vols seniors. Jonathan Kongbo committed as a five-star junior college defensive end the same year Alexis Johnson did. But for two years, the coaches misused him, forcing him to line up in the middle too often because of lack of depth. As a result, the weight he had to put on slowed him down as Jeremy Pruitt moved him to outside linebacker this year.

But Kongbo was beginning to arrive, and he had five tackles against the Georgia Bulldogs before coming away with an interception against the Auburn Tigers. Then he suffered a season-ending injury. That injury ended any chance at a senior-season revival for Kongbo, but he deserves a mention nonetheless.