6’5″ 257 pounds; Hometown: Knoxville, Tenn.
We talked about edge rushers and where they would play on the field in this new scheme with Roman Harrison. Well, despite being a year younger, Tyler Baron stood out even more than Harrison last year for Tennessee football, and he’s already showing signs of turning into a potential superstar down the road.
A local kid out of Knoxville Catholic High School in Knox County, Baron had 21 total tackles last year, 13 of which were solo. He also had three tackles for a loss and a sack. Similar to Harrison, this was all as a backup, as Kivon Bennett and Deandre Johnson were the starters.
Baron noted that he has been playing off the line and with his hand on the ground at different times this spring, which is similar to what his expected role was in Jeremy Pruitt’s system. However, you have to think Tim Banks is going to value speed around the edges more with his base 4-3 defense, particularly since he’ll often run a 4-2-5.
Either way, Baron could be in line for a breakout year. Just that limited amount of production has him all the way up here on this list. It’s not just potential. Everybody who watched the Vols last year could see how talented he is.