Tennessee football: 10 safest starting spots on Vols 2019 roster

Tennessee football has bodies behind Darrell Taylor at outside linebacker. The season-ending injury to Jonathan Kongbo midway through last year opened things up for the other position, and everybody in contention is returning.

Deandre Johnson is the slight favorite for No. 2 outside linebacker, but Kivon Bennett is making a push in practice, and Jordan Allen has the hype. However, what’s clear is that none of them are close to winning the top outside linebacker job.

Similar to the guys near the bottom of this list, Taylor is on here for high-profile production. Unlike those guys, though, Taylor has nobody in his unit with any sort of proven production outside of him, which is why he’s so much higher on the list. As the SEC’s leading returner in sacks for 2018 with eight and third leading returner in tackles for a loss with 11, expectations are high.

Given the fact that he also had three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, his production is at a higher level than anybody on Rocky Top. He just has to make it more consistent, as he only did it over three games, the Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores. But with another year in the 3-4, his starting job isn’t going anywhere.