All for Tennessee
Fansided

Projecting Tennessee football’s 2020 depth chart

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers takes a hand off from Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers takes a hand off from Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
19 of 24
Next
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

Free safety

1. Jayen McCollough; Sophomore

Last year, a key injury led to Jaylen McCullough being inserted into the starting lineup at free safety. McCullough was a four-star early enrollee out of Georgia in Tennessee football’s 2019 recruiting class and should have been the MVP of the spring game that year with two interceptions. At that point, the 6’0″ 205-pound safety proved he was a rising star.

After seeing sporadic action early in the 2019 season, McCullough became the Vols’ full-time starter against the South Carolina Gamecocks, when they were 2-5. They didn’t lose again, finishing 8-5, and McCulloug had 33 tackles, three tackles for a loss, two pass deflections and a sack. This year, he won’t have Nigel Warrior to help him out, but his potential is through the roof.

2. Tyus Fields; Redshirt freshman

With the departure of Warrior, there is an opening in the safety rotation for the Vols. We have Tyus Fields penciled in to take that backup free safety role with a couple of other guys who played free safety moving over to strong safety to replace Warrior. Once a four-star recruit out of North Carolina, Fields had the most hype of other defensive backs in the Vols’ 2019 class.

Now, incoming defensive back Keshawn Lawrence could also take this spot. If not for the shortened preseason, we may have picked him to be the guy here. But Fields, at 5’10” 186 pounds, is more familiar with the system. As a result, he’ll enter the season as the fourth safety in the overall rotation for Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley.

Home/Vols Football