Tennessee football: 5 key position battles for Vols 2019 spring practice

4. No. 2 outside linebacker

Darrell Taylor is the clear-cut main outside linebacker. He was a star last year and figures to be one again as he enters his senior season. Daniel Bituli is a clear favorite at inside linebacker as well, with Darrin Kirkland Jr. being a decent enough favorite as the other one.

However, the other outside linebacker is up for grabs. Deandre Johnson stepped in last year after Jonathan Kongbo went down with a season-ending injury, but in similar fashion to Jarrett Guarantano, it’s ridiculous to assume he’s just going to hold that job without any competition.

A new defensive coordinator in Derrick Ansley could have different ideas, even if he will be keeping Jeremy Pruitt’s system in place. Still, at a position designed in this system for a player to rack up big stats, Johnson started for half a season and only had 13 tackles, three tackles for a loss and two sacks.

That’s got to improve if he’s going to hold onto that. You have to assume, despite his drama, that Jordan Allen could finally emerge and make a push. There are also some newcomers who could make a push, including four-star recruit Roman Harrison, but he won’t arrive until the summer. That’s a reason this race isn’t higher.

Simply put, Tennessee football needs explosive rushers at both outside linebacker positions for Jeremy Pruitt’s 3-4 to work properly, and last year they largely only had it on one side. As a result, look to see what the coaches do at that other outside linebacker position this year. Johnson is definitely the favorite to keep the job, but he’s not 100 percent safe.