Tennessee football: Ranking position groups for 2020

Here is our ranking of Tennessee football Volunteers units for this year.

With 18 of 24 starters returning (including kicker and punter), a top 10 recruiting class and a six-game winning streak to close out the 2019 season with an 8-5 record, Tennessee football looks a lot more loaded at different positions than last year. It’s a big reason for the hype behind the Vols.

Although their schedule is set to be much more brutal, confounded by the adjusted 10-game SEC-only slate, they look to clearly be in much better shape to handle it with much more depth. Jeremy Pruitt’s third team on Rocky Top should actually put up a fight now with some of the elite teams.

However, it’s also common knowledge that Tennessee football’s losses were significant, as the six starters they lost were all among the most important players on the team. They may have been the six biggest impact players.

Given the fact that some of these starters were at specific positions, particularly on offense, it’s pretty easy for us to separate the different position units by tiers this year. Ranking them, though, is an entirely different story.

Our breakdown this year will have 10 position groups, including four on defense and five on offense. Special teams well be considered one overall unit. If the position has a specific coach, it will make its way onto this list.

In determining which position groups are better we have a variety of criteria. Obviously, production from last year and level of returning talent matter the most. However, addition by transfers and recruiting will also come into play.

Based on some of the changes and departures, the top groups on this year’s team represent a dramatic change in the makeup of the program from where it was when Pruitt took over. So let’s go ahead and break that down. This is our ranking of all 10 Tennessee football position units heading into the 2020 season.