Tennessee football had to use the transfer portal to retool its defensive secondary following a massive exodus in December. Josh Heupel and the Vols were able to bring in some players to help build the secondary for the 2024 season, but it remains Tennessee’s Achilles heel.
ESPN placed Tennessee 16th in its top-25 rankings, placing them ninth in the SEC standings. The Vols presently behind Georgia at No. 1, Texas at No. 4, Ole Miss at No. 6, Missouri at No. 7, Alabama at No. 9, LSU at No. 12, and Oklahoma at No. 14. Tennessee will face three of the teams ahead of them in the rankings this season, thanks to the new scheduling arrangement.
ESPN’s Chris Low recognized the secondary as the most lingering issue from the spring, as well as the primary cause for its existence. Tennessee lost a lot of secondary players and had to fill in voids via the portal, which could be a problem for the Vols once the SEC season begins.
“The Vols lost their top six defensive backs from a year ago, some who were multiyear starters, so there’s not really a veteran presence on the back end,” says Low. “But a handful of defensive backs return who played major snaps during the latter part of the 2023 season, including cornerbacks Rickey Gibson III and safety Andre Turrentine and Jourdan Thomas, who’s primed to take over at the hybrid “star” role.
“The biggest addition to the portal was Oregon State cornerback Jermod McCoy, who earned Freshman All-America honours a year ago. Temple transfer Jalen McMurray was one of Tennessee’s most consistent cornerbacks in spring, while true freshman Boo Carter and Middle Tennessee transfer Jakobe Thomas are two new faces to keep an eye on at safety.”
Tennessee’s defence will struggle most this season in the secondary. With newcomers forming bonds with younger players such as Boo Carter, it will be intriguing to watch who emerges as the best secondary defender and who becomes the Achilles heel.
If Nico Iamaleava can get the offence going early in the season, it could help offset the defensive issues until the secondary settles in. If the offence can perform well early in the season, it may be enough to improve the secondary ahead of conference play and may not be as significant a concern as it appears until we begin playing football.
This will be a key element in Tennessee’s early-season game versus North Carolina State, who will contend for the ACC Championship this season. The test against the Wolfpack will help Heupel and his coaching staff discover problems early in the season, before SEC play begins.
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