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Tennessee football: What Kaemen Marley at WR, Julian Nixon at TE means for Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Football Defensive Back Trevon Flowers during Media Day in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.Kns Tennessee Football Media Day
Tennessee Football Defensive Back Trevon Flowers during Media Day in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.Kns Tennessee Football Media Day /

3. Safety spots are locked up.

The two main positions for Kaemen Marley were safety and wide receiver. Running back was also on there, but he had the body more for the other two spots. With Tennessee football starting Marley out at wide receiver and the coaches thinking he has a better chance of playing there, it clearly means that the safety spots are locked up.

This was an expectation early on. Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough both started every game last year. McCollough hasn’t lost his starting spot since he was inserted into the rotation in the middle of the 2019 season. Flowers came back from a season-ending injury in 2019, which is why McCollough came in to begin with, and had his best season.

Now, there was a bit of a question as to whether or not there would be more competition here. After all, the secondary did struggle last year. However, that was largely due to injuries that McCollough and Alontae Taylor were dealing with.

This year, Josh Heupel, Tim Banks and Willie Martinez seem completely confident in these two to handle the safety roles. There are even other guys who could compete for the roles in Theo Jackson, who will likely play nickel, Cheyenne Labruzza and Tyus Fields. It’s locked up enough, though, that Marley wouldn’t have started.

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