Linebackers
Daniel: The duo of A.J. Johnson and Jalen Reeves-Maybin was again all over the field. Johnson, playing against his homestate school, tallied 17 tackles and was all over the field. Reeves-Maybin added 10 stops and he spent a lot of the day in the backfield with 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. I also thought Curt Maggitt, who played a lot of snaps as the third linebacker, had maybe his best game of the season with five tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Sure, the linebackers share some of the blame for Gurley’s outburst late in the game, but I thought this group played well enough to give Tennessee a chance to win. Grade: B
Houston: They racked up a ton of tackles and made quite a few plays behind the line, but still struggled to wrap up ball carriers at times. But, again, that’s the best group of running backs that they will see all year, so they should continue to be stellar moving forward. I’m really impressed with the communication I’m seeing between the linebackers and the defensive line pre-snap. They are getting into the right looks and really helping each other out with A.J. Johnson leading the charge. Yesterday was a tough loss, but Vol fans should feel very good about this group moving forward. Grade: B+
Reed: Jalen Reeves-Maybin is going to have a great career. He was all over the field Saturday and led the Vols with 3.5 tackles for loss. He made multiple big tackles in the open field on Gurley. A.J. Johnson again showed how improved he is. He’s reading offenses and reacting much quicker. They’re among the top linebacker duos in the SEC. Curt Maggitt also had his best game of the year and played primarily linebacker. Maggitt had in his first career multiple sack game. They wore down a bit late, but that was to be expected against UGA’s physical rushing attack. Grade: B+
