Tennessee football: Five Alabama Crimson Tide to watch for against Vols

Jerry Jeudy may have been on this list no matter what. But with the suspension of Devonta Smith this week, the leading receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide, he is clearly on this list. Alabama will likely be throwing to Jeudy a lot more than usual, and that means it’s more important than usual for Tennessee football to keep an eye on him.

With Smith out of the game, the Vols might as well sell out to stop Jeudy. Sure, the Tide have other receivers. But Jeremy Pruitt has to take some risk to win, and this might be it. For the year, Jeudy has 42 receptions for 583 yards and six touchdowns, and he’s not even the team’s leading receiver. Without its leading receiver, the Vols could give him some real trouble.

Recently, UT’s secondary has come alive. There were a couple of busted plays each game early on. But the return of Bryce Thompson and even Daniel Bituli at linebacker have given the Vols safeties less to have to worry about. As a result, senior leader Nigel Warrior has emerged as a superstar, and he was critical in his team’s win last week.

On Saturday, he will have a huge role to play again. But he won’t be the only one. With Trevon Flowers out, the Vols need Theo Jackson, Alontae Taylor, Thompson, Warren Burrell and Shawn Shamburger to all play well. If they do while honing in on Jeudy, they could make this interesting.