Greg Emerson will also be steadily in the Vols’ rotation in 2020. He totaled 30 tackles and two sacks in his redshirt freshman season in 2019. The West Tennessee native was asked to step into a bigger role after Gooden’s injury, and that starting experience should benefit him and his position group in 2020. Also keep an eye on rising redshirt freshman Elijah Simmons. At 6-foot-2, 340-pounds, Simmons came to Knoxville already as one of the strongest players on the roster out of Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville.
Simmons only saw action in three games in 2019 to preserve his redshirt, notably in the goal-line package that saw the Vols hold Kentucky with a fourth down stop to seal a 17-13 win over the Wildcats. Despite the depth of upperclassmen in front of him, Simmons should take another step forward in 2020.
Rising junior John Mincey and senior junior college transfer Savion Williams will bring even more size and depth to the Vols’ defensive line.
Tennessee will bring on three more defensive linemen in the 2020 class, in Dominic Bailey, Omari Thomas and Reginald Perry.
Thomas was a huge get for Tennessee out of Memphis, and the 4-star, 6-foot-4, 319-pound prospect had offers from major programs across the country. Bailey is the only defensive lineman already on campus as an early-enrollee, and Tennessee fans will get a glimpse of the 6-foot-3, 293-pound 4-star Baltimore, Md. native in the 2020 Orange and White spring game.
Pruitt and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker came to Knoxville with the mission of adding beef to the Vols’ defensive front, and they have accomplished that as Tennessee heads into 2020. Possibly the deepest unit on the roster returning every starter from 2019, this unit will be incredibly important to Tennessee’s success along with a much-improved offensive line unit.
2021 will be a challenge as Tennessee attempts to replace a senior-loaded defensive line, but the opportunity is there in 2020 for this group to make a huge impact.