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Tennessee football’s top 10 impact players for 2020

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Offensive lineman Trey Smith #73 of the Tennessee Volunteers warming up before the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Offensive lineman Trey Smith #73 of the Tennessee Volunteers warming up before the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

These are the 10 most important Tennessee football Volunteers for this year.

Five of the 10 best impact players for Tennessee football from the 2019 season are gone. Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway, Daniel Bituli, Darrell Taylor and Nigel Warrior may have been the best players on the team, and they’re all gone.

That leaves a major opening on Rocky Top for new top-tier players to step up. Although Jeremy Pruitt lost a lot of key talent with those guys, he has built up his depth significantly entering this year with very few other starters gone and a top 10 recruiting class coming in.

Because of all that, Tennessee football may be more of a team this year with fewer standout superstars. That could end up being better for them if the coaches do their job and the right players perform up to their potential.

On a much different scale, back when they were a powerhouse, this is similar to what happened from 1997 to 1998. The Vols lost a ton of key talent in Peyton Manning, Leonard Little, Terry Fair, Marcus Nash, Trey Teague and Jonathan Brown. However, they were deeper in 1998, and that’s why they went from just winning the SEC title to winning the national title.

Still, even with more depth, you have to have impact players, and in this post, that’s what we’re going to break down. After all of our coverage involving the players who could break out, win postseason awards and can’t afford to be lost, it’s time to just look at the best players.

Our criteria for this post is simple. We judge the players by how good we project them to be. This, unlike most other posts, does not take into account system or depth at the position the player plays. It only evaluates their potential talent.

Some of the names are obvious, and some are based on a projection. All of these guys, however, could be stars this year. So let’s go ahead and break down who they are. These are Tennessee football’s top 10 projected impact players for the season.

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