Tennessee football’s top five juniors for 2021

6’0″ 205 pounds

With the departure of Bryce Thompson, the secondary is a huge question given its struggles last year. The good news for Tennessee football is that everybody else is back, including safety Jaylen McCollough, and there are some elite new additions as well.

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McCollough is definitely the most important junior of the defensive backs, though. Warren Burrell, a returning cornerback, could have made it on here and will be more key with Thompson gone. However, Burrell hasn’t started a full season yet. He started half of each of the past two seasons. There’s more for him to prove.

On the other hand, McCollough has started every game since the second half of the 2019 season. The graduate of Hillgrove High School in Georgia’s Cobb County battled injuries last year, like a lot of the secondary, but he still has five and a half tackles for a loss, a sack, four passes defended and 76 overall tackles, 53 of which were solo, over the past two years.

After filling in for Trevon Flowers in 2019, both are finally back and full healthy. This year, they should have much more chemistry starting together at the two safety spots, and McCollough should become an elite playmaker in the process.