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Tennessee football: Ranking position groups by 2022 spring practice play

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee defensive players perform drills during Tennessee football spring practice at University of Tennessee on Saturday, March 26, 2022.Kns Ut Spring Fball 5 0532
Tennessee defensive players perform drills during Tennessee football spring practice at University of Tennessee on Saturday, March 26, 2022.Kns Ut Spring Fball 5 0532 /
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Tennessee defensive lineman Da’Jon Terry participates in a drill during Tennessee football spring practice at University of Tennessee, Thursday, March 24, 2022.Volspractice0324 1041
Tennessee defensive lineman Da’Jon Terry participates in a drill during Tennessee football spring practice at University of Tennessee, Thursday, March 24, 2022.Volspractice0324 1041 /

2. Defensive line

Losing Matthew Butler, Ja’Quain Blakely and Caleb Tremblay up front is a big deal. However, Tennessee football’s defensive line appeared to win the spring the minute LaTrell Bumphus was revealed to have returned. With a full season healthy, he should be able to fill the void that Butler left this past year.

Beyond that, though, the performances during spring ball were fine. Omari Thomas emerged as a standout performer after becoming a starter alongside Butler down the stretch of last year. That bodes well for Rocky Top since the Vols needed an immediate replacement.

Then there was the emergence of Tyre West. In the open scrimmage, West was a star. The true freshman made the offensive line look horrendous, coming away with five sacks. Taking that into account, the interior of the Vols’ defensive line played at an elite level in the spring.

That no concerns arose of Elijah Simmons and Da’Jon Terry only added to that. Now, Dominic Bailey didn’t appear to stand out, generating concerns about the hybrid defensive line role played last year by Tremblay and Blakely, but he’s still got fall camp, and Jayson Jenkins will be there by then too, so overall, this unit provided not too much to worry about.

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