KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee has 38 starters listed on its unofficial, subject to change projected two-deep depth chart. Obviously only 22 guys can actually start but the Vols have may co-starters listed on the depth chart with "OR" between their names. Most notably on the offensive and defensive lines where every position lists a co-starter and one D-line spot has four guys sharing the starting role.
“We are going to play a lot of bodies. I am just looking on both sides of the ball, especially on the line of scrimmage. We are going to play a lot of guys. There are some guys that have played a little bit around here and most of them have not. They need to play. I think they all deserve to play. I don’t know how much difference there is in most of them. Each one of them has their own strengths. We feel like we need to play a lot of folks,” head coach Jeremy Pruitt said at his Monday press conference.
Here are the projected starters on Tennessee's depth chart:
OFFENSE
TE Dominick Wood-Anderson (Sr.)
LT Wanya Morris OR Jahmir Johnson
LG Riley Locklear OR Trey Smith
C Brandon Kennedy OR Jerome Carvin
RG K'Rojhn Calbert OR Ryan Johnson
RT Marcus Tatum OR Darnell Wright
WR Marquez Callaway
WR Josh Palmer
WR Jauan Jennings
QB Jarrett Guarantano
RB Ty Chandler
DEFENSE
DL Darel Middleton OR John Mincey OR Ja'Quain Blakely
DL Greg Emerson OR Kingston Harris OR Elijah Simmons
DL Matthew Butler OR Aubrey Solomon OR LaTrell Bumphus OR Savion Williams
JACK LB Deandre Johnson OR Kivon Bennett
SAM LB Darrell Taylor
MIKE LB Daniel Bituli (Coach Pruitt confirmed Wednesday he will not play in the first week due to knee injury) OR Will Ignont
WILL LB Henry To'o To'o OR Shanon Reid
CB Warren Burrell OR Shawn Shamburger
CB Alontae Taylor
S Nigel Warrior
S Trevon Flowers