Tennessee football: 10 bold predictions for Vols 2020 spring practice

7. JJ Peterson will break out at inside linebacker.

We mentioned Henry To’o To’o emerging as the leader of the defense for Tennessee football with the departures of Daniel Bituli and Nigel Warrior. That’s pretty obvious because of how committed the coaches will be to him as well. After all, they pushed him into that leadership role early on and down the stretch of last season without any hesitation.

However, Jeremy Pruitt, Derrick Ansley and Brian Niedermeyer need another guy to step up at inside linebacker with Bituli gone. They secured two four-star commitments there, but neither will be early enrollees. Meanwhile, Quavaris Crouch is going to miss all of spring ball due to injury. Shanon Reid and Will Ignont left the program.

That leaves JJ Peterson and Solon Page III as the guys who get all the reps. Page has been a part of the program for a while and, while being steady, hasn’t really broken out yet. As a result, this is Peterson’s time to shine. Remember, Peterson was a late enrollee in 2018, and he spent last year still picking up the system. Now, he is in prime position to receive lots more reps.

Once a four-star linebacker, this is his chance to shine. Peterson will also push himself with more pressure coming his way, as in addition to Page playing and Crouch set to return in the summer, the Vols are heavily pursuing FCS All-American transfer Jabril Cox. If Cox chooses Rocky Top, that will be even more competition. Peterson will push himself to break out in response to that.