Tennessee football edge rushers 2022 preview: Vols’ biggest defensive advantage

Biggest questions at edge rusher

1. How good can Byron Young be with a full season?

As we mentioned on the slide of returning starters, Byron Young was an explosive playmaker for Tennessee football last year and filled up the stats sheet with really only eight games of significant action. Now, with a year to himself, could he be an All-American? Will he set records for Tennessee football? That’s all possible.

2. Who will be second on the depth chart behind Young?

Last year, this spot was Tyler Baron’s, but we mentioned the roller coaster of the offseason and Roman Harrison getting more praise from the coaches. Harrison also played more down the stretch of the season. As a result, either could be the No. 2 guy, and that could end up being key given our final question.

3. Will multiple edge rushers play on the field at one time?

Tim Banks really split time between Young, Baron and Harrison on one side of the field last year. However, with Caleb Tremblay and Ja’Quain Blakely gone, there’s a chance he uses two edge rushers this year. That would give them all a chance to have an impact and bring on the freshmen. It’s possible that’s his strategy going forward.

Final take

Josh Heupel’s offensive schemes will create shootouts, forcing teams to throw it a lot. Tennessee football may have defensive issues elsewhere, but that system plays right into their hands, as they have the weapons at edge rusher to generate an elite pass rush.

Taking that into account, this unit is exactly where it needs to be. Young, Baron and Harrison will all play more this year and make for a three-headed monster. Banks won’t have two edge rushers on the field all the time, but he’ll do that a lot. This will be the main strength of the defense.