Tennessee football: This 2022 position battle begins with bowl practices

Extra bowl practices can help in many ways, but one of the underrated ways is that they can give coaches an early look at future position battles. That’s especially the case if a player has opted out of the bowl game, and Tennessee football is in that situation.

The Vols are losing plenty of guys after 2021, including Velus Jones Jr., Theo Jackson, Kenneth George Jr. and Matthew Butler. It’s likely they lose Cade Mays, and it’s possible they lose Cedric Tillman. However, Alontae Taylor’s departure will have the biggest impact on the team.

After the end of the season, the cornerback announced that he would not take advantage of another year due to the COVID eligibility ruling. Instead, he will enter the NFL Draft and opt out of the Music City Bowl. That means a position battle at cornerback in 2022 has already begun.

With Jackson and George certainly gone after this year, Heupel and Tim Banks can spend the bowl practices alternating Brandon Turnage and Kamal Hadden at the position. Both players saw action for Tennessee football at nickel this year when Jackson was hurt, but one of them will likely be a full-time cornerback next year.

It’s likely both play next year, one at cornerback opposite Warren Burrell Jr. and one at nickel. However, earning the full-time starting cornerback position would definitely be ideal for either of them, and these bowl practices can give one a head start.

Heupel and Banks have to figure out which player they will start in this game, as George is a situational cornerback. Beyond just those two, though, the Vols have De’Shawn Rucker and Doneiko Slaughter, both of whom are capable of seeing action at cornerback or nickel.

At least three of those guys will be key rotational players next year, with at least two likely being starters. That means these practices to figure out who starts in place of Taylor are also practices to figure out who has the same role next year.

This is why opt-outs aren’t a bad thing. If your team isn’t playing in an important bowl game, if a player on that team is definitely leaving and if the bowl game won’t affect that player’s draft status, it helps everybody for him to opt-out. He can focus on the draft, and the team can get a head start on finding his replacement.

Such a position is where Tennessee football finds itself right now. Based on how they looked this past year, the best bet is that Turnage gets the nod while Hadden, Slaughter and Rucker are in competition at nickel. We’ll find out more with these bowl practices.