Tennessee football edge rusher calls out all of college football with bold statement

Tennessee football edge rusher Joshua Josephs called out all of college football on Wednesday. He told reporters that Tennessee's defense is going to be unstoppable this year with the talent it has across the board. 

Josh Heupel and the Vols coaching staff have emphasized improving Tennessee's defense since Heupel became the Tennessee head coach in 2021. The Vols have slowly gotten better year-over-year on defense and look to make another big step forward this season. 

"No team can really stop us," Josephs told reporters on Wednesday. "Like, you can't handle what we have. The amount of rotations — we're going to be so fresh off the field. You got Big O (Omari Thomas), Big E (Elijah Simmons), Jaxson Moi, we got Bryson Eason, Omarr Norman-Lott, we got Daevin Hobbs. That's just the interior right there. 

"Six guys on the interior that's going to be rotating. And our edges? Y'all see it. You see who we got. We got James Pearce -- you can't even plan for him. We got James, we got Caleb Herring -- Caleb is a dog. We got Jayson Jenkins. He's a sleeper. Jayson Jenkins is a sleeper. Dom Bailey, for sure, Tyree (Weathersby). We got dogs everywhere. You can't really plan for us."

Josephs is right — the Vols have some high-caliber players on the defensive side of the ball, including potential No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft, James Pearce Jr. This year's defensive squad should be the best group in the Heupel era.

If Tennessee's defense comes into the 2024 season with confidence and a chip on its shoulder, it could be dangerous early in the season. It will be vital for the defense to perform early in case the offense starts slow, with redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava running the offense. 

The Vols could see both sides of the ball come out of the gates hot and win a statement game or two before they dive into their gauntlet SEC schedule this season. 

Tennessee opens with Chattanooga on August 31 but will have a couple of early-season tests. The Vols will play NC State in Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 7 and open SEC play against Oklahoma two weeks later on September 21.