Tennessee football: 10 Vols with injury concerns for 2019

Riley Locklear hasn’t suffered any season-ending injuries. And he is a little further down in the Tennessee football offensive line rotation with less playing experience than Nathan Niehaus and his role as a backup to K’Rojhn Calbert in this past spring’s Orange and White game.

However, Locklear has been a player the Vols need to rely on. Jeremy Pruitt, again, needs everybody who can contribute, and Locklear was forced to contribute in 2017 after the rash of injuries up front. He then saw action when he could last year.

So he’s a valuable lineman the Vols don’t want to lose. And he’s the first guy on our list miss a significant part of the 2018 season due to injury. Locklear battled a torn meniscus that forced him to miss half the season. He then was limited in the spring in similar fashion to Niehaus, which could be why he was further buried in the depth chart.

Simply put, the Vols are at risk with Locklear being in the rotation. He’s a potentially key player who has recently battled injuries, and that can become a major issue. Like Niehaus and Calbert, Locklear could be an injury or two elsewhere away from starting for UT.