A couple of the reason's I'm very hopeful about the young Defensive Tackles potentially being successful this year.
One is Barnett and Maggitt. Having those two defensive ends that can get to the QB takes a significant amount of pressure off of the tackles as they won't have the same pressure to get penetration into the backfield as much as they will have to hold their gaps. And obviously Khalil and Tuttle have the strength and size to hold their gaps more than any players we have had at Tennessee in a long time even though they are just freshmen.
Two is the secondary speed and Jalen Reeves-Mabin. The pass defense should be pretty solid but more importantly the secondary will be faster and I don't think many teams are going to try to challenge Tennessee wide with Barnett and Maggitt setting the edge and speed in the secondary and JRM making plays. So teams should try to challenge the Vols right up the middle providing lots of opportunities for the DTs in the running game.
One is Barnett and Maggitt. Having those two defensive ends that can get to the QB takes a significant amount of pressure off of the tackles as they won't have the same pressure to get penetration into the backfield as much as they will have to hold their gaps. And obviously Khalil and Tuttle have the strength and size to hold their gaps more than any players we have had at Tennessee in a long time even though they are just freshmen.
Two is the secondary speed and Jalen Reeves-Mabin. The pass defense should be pretty solid but more importantly the secondary will be faster and I don't think many teams are going to try to challenge Tennessee wide with Barnett and Maggitt setting the edge and speed in the secondary and JRM making plays. So teams should try to challenge the Vols right up the middle providing lots of opportunities for the DTs in the running game.
