Photos: Tennessee Athletics
Look around at local and national media and you will see article after article about the Vols defensive line being a huge question mark. That’s fair since we haven’t seen this unit play together. But let me ease your mind when it comes to this group.
Look, I get it. This unit took a step back last season. To make matters worse, a lot of the production we did have has moved on. The experience coming back is thin, and a couple of the key interior pieces have dealt with injuries. Daevin Hobbs has loads of talent, but staying healthy has been the ongoing issue. Nathan Robinson has some of the same history. That’s enough to make people nervous about the middle of the line. On the edge, Chaz Coleman’s exit doesn’t exactly scream that the Vols are about to live in the backfield on passing downs either. It’s fair if some wonder whether this defensive line will fall even farther this year and hurt this team.
I’m not buying it.
I’m a gambling man, and there’s one guy I will push my chips to the middle of the table for. That’s Rodney Garner. In the same way I don’t get overly concerned about quarterbacks under Coach Heupel’s guidance, I’m not going to sit and sweat wondering what kind of defensive line we are about to have. The man recruits well. He develops well. Players love him and will go to war in the trenches for him. On top of that, you are telling me I get a pissed off Garner and players from last year because injuries forced guys in that were still a year away from being ready. Well, guess what. That year has come. They took their lumps. They know what Saturdays in this conference look like, and they had a whole offseason under his guidance to get it right. There isn’t another coach I would rather have motivating players and fixing the problems. Maybe every player you wanted and needed to feel good about this group isn’t in that locker room. But Rodney Garner is, and that means more than people are wanting to admit.
Hobbs has the talent to be a big problem for the SEC. Line up transfer Xavier Gilliam beside him, who is turning heads and expected to have a big year. You have Nathan Robinson in the fold with experience and something to prove. On the edge, Tyree Weathersby has shown he can set the edge and play physical against the run. Pair him with Jordan Norman, the Tulane transfer who already has proven sack production, and suddenly the outside looks a lot more interesting. Have a little faith that Garner can mold the younger pieces into bigger roles and get real production out of this group. He has earned that faith from fans year after year.
You don’t have to expect this defensive line to dominate every Saturday this year, and I’m not asking you to. Technically there are more questions than answers on this defensive line as fall camp starts because we haven’t seen it in action. But we have seen Garner defensive lines at Tennessee and around the league be a force for a long time.
Look for him to remove the question mark label. And when he does, we have a real defensive foundation. Save the questions for other areas of this team.
This unit will be solid.