There are some good things about this defense, and there are some bad things about this defense. Talent is scattered throughout all defensive positions, but the results will vary. Here are my five predictions about the Vols 2017 Defense.
1) THE VOLS SECONDARY WILL ONE OF THE DEEPEST AND BEST IN THE CONFERENCE
Justin Martin, Todd Kelly Jr, Micah Abernathy, Theo Jackson, Baylen Bucchannan, Nigel Warrior, Rashan Gaulden are some of our best players on defense, and they are all safeties or corners. This group is deep, scary, and will play well. 3-star Freshman, Theo Jackson has been a nice surprise to this group. Justin Martin has finally stepped up and it looks like he is living up to what he did at his junior college. Bucchannan, like Theo Jackson, was a lower rated recruit from 2016, but seems to play above his ranking.
We also bring in Shaq Wiggins, a graduate transfer from Louisville. Many thought this unit would be bad coming into this season. The surprises in the new recruits, and development of existing players have changed that drastically. Our best defensive players are all in the secondary. We have to cater our defense to take advantage of these guys which brings me to my next point.
2) WE WILL PLAY A LOT OF NICKEL
Due to all the talent we have in our secondary, it makes sense to play more dime and nickel packages to get our best players on the field. Not only that, but our linebackers aren’t very good, which I’ll cover later. We also gave up the 4th most yards per game in the SEC last year. This unit lost Derek Barnett, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Cam Sutton, LaTroy Lewis since then. Due to having a great secondary, and a weak linebacking group, it makes since to have as few linebackers as possible on the field at a time. Bob Shoop is a smart and analytical defensive coordinator. I’m sure he will figure out that Nickel is the most effective for this group.
3) RUN DEFENSE WILL BE BAD, PASSING DEFENSE WILL BE BETTER
I don’t see any reason for optimism on our line, nor our linebacker core. Sure, we have Kongbo, who’s been very underwhelming at this point. Shy Tuttle has played well, but has battled injuries throughout his career. McKenzie has showed up in small stretches. Kyle Phillips could potentially be a surprise this season. There isn’t much depth on our defensive line, and it’s going to cause problems.
I think our run defense will be better than 104th nationally, but not much better. We are going to have major problems when we face Georgia Tech’s triple option and Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. I don’t even want to talk about Bo Scarbrough from Alabama and Derrius Gruice from LSU. We might face the best group of running backs in the entire country this season, which will only make our run defense struggles worse.
Be prepared to grind your teeth every time a ball is handed off to one of those backs. I think the quarterbacks aren’t going to have fun throwing it when they play the Vols. Our secondary will have great coverage and passing will be tough. Even with a bad pass rush, I think the secondary will be able to play great pass defense.
4)LINEBACKER GROUP IS STILL BAD
I hope this group can prove me wrong, I really do. I want this group to play well and to make our team better. However, I was already nervous about this group. Then, we lost Darrin Kirkland to a meniscus tear. Colton Jumper, a former walk-on, replaces him.
Most Vols fans aren’t excited about Jumper, but I think he stepped up and played much better in 2016. Hopefully that improvement continues and he will look like a real starter in 2017. Behind him and the MLB position is Dillon Bates, who hasn’t played well at Mike. At Will Linebacker, we have McDowell, Elliot Berry, and Sapp. I really liked how Berry played in a few games last year, and would like to see him given more chances. At Sam Linebacker with have Austin Smith and Daniel Bituli.
This group has SEC level talent for sure, but it’s raw and undeveloped. I hope one of these guys has had an amazing offseason. Until I see improvement on the field, I am very nervous about this group.
5) BOB SHOOP IS REPLACED BY BRADY HOKE AT THE END OF THE SEASON
Bold prediction here. This is assuming two things: Butch doesn’t get fired, and the season is 8-4 or worse. Shoop would see the writing on the wall and decide to move on to a better situation. Butch needs a replacement, so he promotes Brady Hoke to defensive coordinator for the 2018 season. I like Shoop, he’s analytical and smart and he can go to almost any school he wants for 2018. I see him getting the hell out of Dodge at the end of this season. This is an outlandish prediction, but predictions are right sometimes, and wrong sometimes, but we do them anyways.
I’m pretty pessimistic about this defense, but the secondary is a strong area. This group could surprise me and a few players might step up and make this one of the best defenses in the nation. This group could also do worse than I predicted and we could have a breakdown like the end of 2016. Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see this season kickoff of Tuesday and I think this will be a fun team to watch.
Check out Smokey’s predictions for the Vols offense here.
Smokey covers the Tennessee Volunteers for the SoBros Network. He loves a good backpacking trip, but hates taking a shit in the woods. Follow on Twitter: @SoBroSmokey
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