Tennessee football’s top five options to replace Matthew Butler
With eight and a half tackles for a loss and five sacks last year for Tennessee football, Matthew Butler had a breakout campaign up front for the Vols. Now, he’s gone, and while three members of the defensive line left, he was by far the most important contributor. Omari Thomas, who emerged last year, is the other returning starter.
Who will fill the void to start alongside Thomas, though? Last year, Rodney Garner would go five-deep on the interior line, as he and Tim Banks would often run three such players on a play together. As a result, there are lots of options to take Butler’s spot as the main starter.
Josh Heupel has done a good job on the recruiting trail finding those guys, and plenty of them have experience. Now fully healthy, the potential is there, but replacing an NFL Draft pick will be difficult. Here are the five best options to fill the void Butler leaves on Tennessee football’s defensive line this year.
These are the best Tennessee football Volunteers candidates on the defensive line.
5. player. Redshirt junior. 6'2 340 lbs. Elijah Simmons. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
Before getting hurt last year, Elijah Simmons was a regular contributor on the line. He figures to do the same for Tennessee football this year.
Recruited by Jeremy Pruitt to specifically play nose tackle in his 3-4 scheme, Elijah Simmons didn’t seem to have the build to play in Tim Banks’ nickel-heavy 4-3. However, he was doing just that early in the year. In fact, Simmons was a rotational lineman who could even be considered a starter during the first four games.
After that, though, Simmons got hurt and limped the rest of the way. He finished the year with one and a half tackles for a loss, a pass deflection and 11 total tackles, four of which were solo. Still, the promise was there, and it’s probably back this year.
Now, Simmons has to fight back from an injury, and Butler was more about agility, given the fact that he was under 300 pounds, With Thomas already on the line for Tennessee football and weighing 320 pounds, Simmons’ size may hold him back. However, he did lose 10 pounds, so fully healthy and lighter, he could take a huge leap.