Tennessee took a big hit in the transfer portal with the loss of Henry To’oto’o and Quavaris Crouch.

The Vols return Jeremy Banks as the most experienced linebacker. Banks had 38 career tackles. The rest of the returning linebackers have 57 total career tackles.

Tyler Baron is listed as an outside linebacker but look for the talented sophomore to play more off the edge and the same for Bryson Eason who’s listed at 290 pounds as a linebacker.

Roman Harrison has experience but it’s been as basically a defensive end. Harrison is now playing inside linebacker. Aaron Beasley returns after being suspended in the off season. Morven Joseph enters his sophomore season as an inside linebacker as he looks to find his home in this defense.

To replace the production lost, Tennessee hit the transfer portal for help landing Juwan Mitchell from Texas and William Mohan from Michigan. In 21 games at Texas, Mitchell had 101 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 5 PBU’s.

Mohan had 1 tackle as a freshman for the Wolverines.

Bryon Young is one of the best stories in college football. From trying out to be a walk on at Georgia Military to picking the Vols from a dozen other offers, Young is a true rags to riches story on the gridiron. The raw athlete flashed his skills in the spring and how quickly he can polish up his techniques is the question because he’s going to play early and often.

Tennessee also signed Aaron Willis who enrolled in January, but was suspended for spring practice because of a dorm room incident.

It’s their athleticism. This group of linebackers may not be the biggest but they are athletic which is important in a space game.

It will be interesting to see how Aaron Beasley fits into this defense. He was making real strides in the spring before he was suspended. The former running back and safety moves well.

Tennessee is expected to be in a lot of 4 man fronts so a 4-2-5 look is quite likely which means defensive coordinator Tim Banks has some competition and some flexibility at the position.

Just the lack of experience. Mitchell is the most experienced in the group but he’s never played in the SEC.

This is a young, inexperienced group in a new system which means some are going to have to learn on the job and mature quickly.

The other question is who leads this group. Mitchell is the most productive player, but he’s only been here a couple of months. Banks is a fiery competitor but can he lead the position and be counted on daily.