Tennessee football’s top five sophomores for 2022

Matthew Butler’s departure has opened up doors for other Tennessee football defensive linemen, and Bryson Eason appears to have taken a huge step forward.

There hasn’t been a lot of talk about Bryson Eason up front. Tennessee football appears set to replace Matthew Butler with a healthy LaTrell Bumphus. Kurott Garland is right behind him, and Tyre West, a highly-touted freshman, is waiting in the wings as well. With Omari Thomas, Elijah Simmons and Da’Jon Terry, there just doesn’t seem room.

Dominic Bailey honestly may have made more sense as the one returning hybrid defensive tackle, a position left wide open given the departures of Caleb Tremblay and Ja’Quain Blakely. However, taking all of that into account, this is a shot in the dark projection in Eason and what he could do.

The coaches have been touting Eason throughout the offseason, most especially at fall camp. He did have two tackles for a loss last year in limited action, and he appears to have maintained his versatility as a former linebacker who got big enough to play in the middle.

Considering the fact that Bailey hasn’t seen a ton of action yet in two years, there is competition at his role in Jayson Jenkins and Austin Lewis, and we don’t even know how much Rodney Garner even values the role, Eason has the edge. Also, Terry and Simmos are for a specific role. That means Eason could be in the two-deep rotation with Bumphus, Garland and Thomas.