Tennessee football: 10 Vols who should have breakout seasons in 2019

With Drew Richmond transferring, Chance Hall, Eric Crosby and Melvin McBride retiring, Nathan Niehaus leaving the program and Trey Smith’s career still in limbo, Tennessee football is wide open for help at offensive tackle. That’s where the highly touted freshmen Wanya Morris and Darnel Wright come in.

However, Tennessee football has one guy with three years of experience at the position in Marcus Tatum. Because he played sparingly his first two years, Tatum was still able to take a redshirt. But while he played in every game last year, he only started in half of them.

This year, the 6’6″ 316-pound lineman is the only guy entering fall camp fully healthy and with experience playing tackle. As a result, Jeremy Pruitt needs him to take a huge leap forward. His size is a major improvement over where he was last year, so that’s a start.

But in addition to the conditioning, Tatum should be more familiar with the pro-style. He’s the one guy offensively who should benefit the most from more experience and Jim Chaney, an offensive line guru, returning as offensive coordinator. As a result, we expect him to emerge as en incredibly reliable tackle this year, one whose experience rivals the raw talent of others.