Tennessee football: Five players to watch for in 2021 spring game

6’5″ 257 pounds; Hometown: Knoxville, Tenn.

Of all the players expected to break out in their sophomore season, Tyler Baron leads the list. The local graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School was significant last year with three tackles for a loss, a sack and 21 tackles, 13 of which were solo in reserve time. Now, with Kivon Bennett and Deandre Johnson gone, Baron is expected to take a huge step.

Reports are Tennessee football hasn’t lost much of a step at edge rusher. It’s likely Baron is the reason for that. After all, Roman Harrison has been out in the spring. Byron Young and Bryson Eason are similar, and while Young is an early enrollee junior college transfer, Eason played sparingly last year and came away with two tackles.

All of them are going to be worth keeping an eye on, but Baron is the projected superstar. As a result, he’s the one who makes the list. Can he live up to expectations of him to dominate on the field? All signs point to him doing that.

There’s a question in Tim Banks’ system as to whether or not he’ll play up on the line at defensive end or play off a little bit, and that’s another question that could be answered Saturday. But the big question will be just how much he stands out.