We keep talking about the situation at defensive tackle. Well, Tennessee football is so loaded there that guys who want to have a chance to ever play should take a look at redshirting. One of those guys is Savion Williams. Last year, Williams generated lots of hype as a four-star junior college transfer. With all the transitions there, he was in great shape to potentially start.
However, even after the season-ending injury to Emmit Gooden, the 6’4″ 295-pound lineman was the odd-man out in the rotation. He appeared in seven games and proved himself to be a solid player, but he still had some developing to do. As he enters his senior season, he’s out of time to develop, so taking a redshirt would do wonders for him.
Williams may be good enough to be in the rotation this year, but Gooden is returning, and there are two other rising seniors who had starting experience last year along with two rising redshirt sophomores. They all could play a larger role than Williams, and even if he moves ahead of the sophomores, he’s clearly the fourth guy in that rotation.
Simply put, Williams could remain the fourth guy, or he could take a redshirt and come back next year as one of the feature defensive tackles. Sure, Jeremy Pruitt has the Vols loaded at that position, but there are no scholarship junior defensive tackles heading into this year. So Williams could be the only senior, and given his limited playing time last year, that could be the move.