Tennessee has a big void to fill along the defensive line this season.

Former Vol defensive end Matthew Butler is off to the NFL to play for the Las Vegas Raiders. His departure leaves a big hole in Rodney Garner’s room. Not only from a production standpoint, but more importantly, from a leadership standpoint.

“I’ll be honest with you, that’s a big void,” Garner told the media earlier this week. “We probably took it for granted, how valuable (Butler) was. I don’t know that we fill that role. I think we just have to keep pushing the guys to keep straining, to see who is going to rise to the top.

“Some of them, it’s easier to lead when things are easy. But when we’re faced with adversity, who is going to be that guy who is going to stand in there and be the guy that (says) you get behind me, I’ll show you the way. We really don’t have that yet.”

One guy who is trying to step up and fill Butler’s shoes is Tyler Baron. The junior played on the edge over his first two seasons with the Vols, but slid inside during spring practice in order to play more along the line.

“I do think Tyler has gotten better,” Garner said. “He’s been more consistent, I would say, starting in the spring. He’s practiced more than he’s ever practiced before. So you would think by being out there on the field and working everyday, then you’re going to improve. And we’ve seen improvement from him.

“He’s got to continue to improve on the little things. When we’re sitting there watching the film, if you’re going to be a true edge rusher, you can’t put two hands on the tackle. I mean, he’s got to learn to rush with one hand, be able to flip his hips and turn the corner. He’s got to stop making himself short by turning and putting two hands on the guy — now he’s not creating any pass rush.”

Baron credits Garner for the reason he’s been more consistent this offseason.

"He's helped me mature a lot, more mentally than anything,” Baron said. “Just having a different outlook and being more conscious of everything I'm doing. Attention to detail has been a big thing for me and just being disciplined. He's been preaching those to me since day one and I think this summer and this spring was just the first time I really took his words and put it in action. I just continue to do that and just trust in him."

Baron has played in 23 games and started five contests over two seasons. He’s tallied 51 career tackles with 10 tackles for a loss and five sacks.

Last season as a sophomore, the former four-star out of nearby Knoxville Catholic played in all 13 games with five starts. Baron started the first four games of the season, but didn’t start again until the Vols’ loss to Purdue in the Music City Bowl.

As a more mature player, and in a different role, Baron believes he’ll be more consistent this season.

“I definitely love my new role,” Baron said. “It’s a little bit different working more inside in some of our pass rush lanes than last year, as well as working at strong side (defensive) end. But I think it’s really going to help us in terms of getting to the quarterback. Just keeping everybody in good pass rush lanes.”

Baron is as excited for his new role as he is with the depth that he claims has been developed over the offseason.

Garner didn’t have many options to go to last offseason when Josh Heupel’s first-year defense was wearing down. Those depth issues haven’t been completely solved over night, but players like Baron taking a step forward would be a huge development for the defense.

"Saying I'm pleased would be an understatement,” Baron said of the depth. “I’m excited about how much depth we have and how many guys we'll be able to rotate in this year. Keeping everybody fresh. When we come out, I don't think there will be any drop-off.

“It’s better whenever you can put as many guys in the game as possible. Coach Garner preaches to us that keeping us all fresh, we’re better in numbers. Having so many guys, having 12 guys you can put in the game, I think it really helps keep everybody fresh. It mixes up the looks the offensive line is going to get and giving them different body types to go against is really beneficial.”

Tennessee will open the season on Thursday, Sept. 1 against Ball State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.