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

2. Safety

Tennessee football had one consistent starter at safety last year in Nigel Warrior. However, on the other side, they started with Micah Abernathy and then went to Todd Kelly Jr. when he came back midseason and finally returned to form.

However, both guys were seniors, and both guys are now gone. As a result, Warrior is the only guy returning. On top of that, despite the legacy player’s potential, he did not have a splash first year in Jeremy Pruitt’s 3-4 system.

So while one spot is certainly up for grabs, Warrior’s spot could be up as well. That’s especially true with a new defensive backs coach in Derrick Ansley, who is also taking over for Pruitt and Kevin Sherrer as the defensive play-caller and coordinator.

Simply put, safety is wide open. The only proven guy who can play the position outside of Warrior is Trevon Flowers, a freshman last year who is coming off of an injury. And there’s a chance he plays nickel to supplement Bryce Thompson and Alontae Taylor.

Anyway, what makes this position even higher on the list as a race in the spring is the number of players who will be competing for starting roles during that time. The only safeties who won’t be there in the spring that will be on the roster in the Fall are three-stars Anthony Harris and Aaron Beasley. Beasley is an athlete.

However, the best safety in this past class, four-star Jaylen McCullough, is an early enrollee. Then you have Flowers coming back and Theo Jackson who will be in the fight to start. Shawn Shamburger is another guy who will be in the mix. Georgia Bulldogs transfer De’Angelo Gibbs would be a factor but likely won’t be eligible this year.

All of these players have made a case to start somewhere at defensive back in the past, so it’s likely they’ll all get a look in the spring. And that’s enough to label this is a major position battle for Tennessee football heading into spring ball.