Jonathan Kongbo, LB
Redshirt senior Jonathan Kongbo was just starting to show he had rounded a corner this season when his final year as a Vol was cut short thanks to a season-ending knee injury he suffered in Tennessee’s game against Auburn.
Against the Tigers, Kongbo had made two tackles and intercepted a pass and was showing more burst off the edge before he got injured.
Kongbo was one of the more heralded recruits in the Butch Jones era at Tennessee. He was rated as a five-star junior college defensive end, but he never lived up to that five-star billing while at Tennessee. His first year with the Vols saw him get moved to defensive tackle because of injuries to UT’s other interior linemen, and that year also saw him tweet out the now infamous picture of “soccer cleats” hanging up.
But after that tumultuous first year, Kongbo did start to show progression. Unfortunately, his final year with Tennessee ended earlier than expected.
In 30 career games as a Vol, Kongbo had 51 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, two passes defended, and an interception return for a touchdown.
