The Tennessee defense will be down a starter when it faces Clemson in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on December 30.

Senior linebacker Jeremy Banks, who has played in 48 games with 19 starts since joining the Vols in 2018, announced late Saturday night in an Instagram post that he will not play in the bowl game and instead prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Banks signed with former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s first signing class in 2018.

A four star prospect out of Cordova High School in Memphis, Banks took reps at running back as a freshman at Tennessee, recording 185 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 52 carries before transitioning to defense full time in his sophomore season in 2019.

Banks had his best season in 2021, tallying 128 total tackles with 5.5 sacks. He finished his senior camping with 53 tackles.

With Banks now unavailable for the bowl game, the Vols’ linebacking corps includes leading tackler Aaron Beasley, Solon Page III, Kalib Perry, Juwan Mitchell and Elijah Herring.

*****

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @JNichols_2121, @ByNoahTaylor, @TylerIvens, @RealTBannerman, @JacobPolacheck, @RyanTSylvia.