Tennessee football: Five positions of need for Vols ahead of National Signing Day

2. Edge rusher

Replacing Darrell Taylor will be a major challenge for Tennessee football this year. To make matters worse, Deandre Johnson and Jordan Allen are both seniors. Now, Kivon Bennett will be back in 2021, and Roman Harrison is a potential rising star on that front. But the fact still remains that UT needs to build up more depth out there.

On the inside, things are now fine. Jeremy Pruitt has Henry To’o To’o back along with J.J. Peterson, Quavaris Crouch and Solon Page III in the rotation. Meanwhile., they have four-star linebackers Martavius French and Bryson Eason out of Whitehaven in Memphis committed to them. So Jeremy Pruitt has really shored up that part of the linebacker rotation.

However, among outside linebackers who serve as edge rushers, it’s a different story. Tamarion McDonald is another four-star out of Whitehaven who fits that mold, and Tyler Baron and Morven Joseph are four-star defensive ends who can fill the role, along with three-star Reginald Perry. But they could also be needed up front in the future, as we already discussed defensive line issues.

That means that this team still needs to add more players. Pruitt clearly knew that, which is why he targeted four-star in-state prospect Jay Hardy, who committed to the Auburn Tigers and signed without the public knowing, so heavily. It looks like the time spent on Hardy set Pruitt and co. back, so they will have a hard time filling this need immediately. But it is an issue.