Tennessee football: Top 10 Vols with 2020 NFL Draft potential
Tennessee football’s glue guys on defense this year will likely be Emmit Gooden up front, Daniel Bituli at linebacker and Nigel Warrior in the secondary. But those guys will be working to help other guys make splash place.
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And when it comes to making splash plays, nobody is going to be like Darrell Taylor. The guy’s got too many chances to leap off the screen. Moving him from defensive end to outside linebacker was a huge deal, and he had a breakout year in 2019.
Taylor had 8 sacks and 11 tackles for a loss along with 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. That came despite injuries on the other side at outside linebacker, forcing Deandre Johnson into the system and allowing teams to focus on Taylor.
This year, assuming Johnson has taken a step forward and Kivon Bennett and Jordan Allen provide depth on that side, Taylor has a chance to blow up plays on a regular basis. If he does that, nobody will be able to ignore his pro potential.
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It’s likely Taylor is the stats machine on defense for Tennessee football. So while the other defensive players are as good of prospects from a fundamentals perspective, Taylor will be making tons of splash plays that make him impossible to ignore. And that’s why he tops this list.