Tyler Baron enters his second season at Tennessee.
The 6-foot-5, 257-pound Knoxville native played in all 10 of Tennessee’s games as a freshman in 2020. Baron totaled 21 tackles, three tackles for a loss and one sack last season.
Baron met with media after six spring practices under first-year Vols’ head coach Josh Heupel. The sophomore discussed what roles he is likely to take on under newly-hired defensive coordinator Tim Banks and line coach Rodney Garner.
“In terms of what I am going to be doing, split time playing with my hand down and playing up in a lot of different coverage situations, rushing the passer,” Baron said.
Baron’s ability of playing with his hand down and also in coverage will allow for him to be a factor in a LEO scheme.
A LEO is a tweener of a defensive end and a linebacker who can apply pressure on the quarterback as an edge rusher. The position can allow for a 3-4 scheme to have 4-3 tendencies with the same personnel. A LEO is usually on the boundary-side.
In Nickel formations, the SAM/BUCK goes to the field-side, however when a LEO is used, he goes to the weak-side and a bigger defensive end will go to the strong-side.
The JACK typically plays on the boundary-side, while the SAM is on the field-side. This is when the LEO takes place of the JACK.
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