Tennessee football: 10 major revelations from Vols start of spring practice

5. Defensive lineman Darel Middleton is still practicing after his arrest.

Two Saturdays ago, Tennessee football defensive lineman Darel Middleton was arrested on charges of domestic assault and public intoxication. There were questions as to how Jeremy Pruitt would handle it. After all, last year he dismissed Jeremy Banks from the team and suspended Bryce Thompson for the start of the season.

Simply put, Pruitt’s handling of these issues is clearly on a case by case basis. Well, Middleton was out on the field at practice Tuesday, and Pruitt said that the Vols were handling the arrest internally. We have no way of knowing what that means, and the guy could still face suspensions. But it’s clear that he is still on the team.

We already mentioned Emmit Gooden being limited. However, him being back and Middleton still being on the team are part of what could make for a very deep defensive line this year. After all, Middleton emerged last year with Greg Emerson and Aubrey Solomon, and there are other bodies too with experience in Kingston Harris, Kurrott Garland and Savion Williams.

Among all of those players, though, Middleton brought the height at 6’7″ 305 pounds, making him  a perfect defensive tackle for Pruitt’s system. Him being back on the field means the Vols will still have an insane rotation with different types of players to fill the two spots at tackle this year, and Middleton will be a huge part of that. However, we still don’t know if he’ll miss any games.