Tennessee football 2019 recap: Top 10 Vols players of the season

Now we come to a guy who is somewhat of a combination of the first two players we named. Henry To’o To’o dramatically improved throughout the season after starting off horrendous, similar to Jarrett Guarantano. However, he is also a star freshman on a team loaded with them, similar to Wanya Morris. And he is above both of them.

In Tennessee football’s opener, To’o To’o, a four-star commitment who signed on National Signing Day, was tasked with calling the plays. That’s a tall task for a true freshman in his first game, but he had no choice with Daniel Bituli hurt. A Georgia State Panthers offense led by Dan Ellington and with Shawn Elliott as head coach took advantage.

GSU torched the Vols’ defense, which is why they won 38-30. However, the very next week, To’o To’o showed insane improvement and shut down the BYU Cougars’ running game except for their one touchdown in which he took a bad angle. After that, though, To’o To’o was never a problem.

By the end of the year, To’o To’o was a Freshman All-SEC and Freshman All-American tackle linebacker. He finished the season with 72 tackles, five tackles for a loss, three quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He was a huge star, and he’s set to be the leader of the UT defense going forward. This was just the start.