Elijah Simmons, DT
After the first week of fall camp, it looked like Elijah Simmons was going to see the field a decent amount in his first year on campus. But now that the season is almost here, that no longer seems like as much of a certainty.
The huge 6-foot-1, 340-pound Simmons looked like a perfect fit to play at nose tackle in the Vols’ 3-4 defensive system, and he still is. At least, in the future. Conditioning became a little more of an issue as fall camp progressed, and despite Simmons already being one of the strongest players on the team as a true freshman, it doesn’t look like his role will be as big as maybe some originally though.
Simmons was practicing with the scout team this past week as the Vols prepared for Georgia State. That should tell you all you need to know about where he is on the depth chart right now. That doesn’t mean he can’t play his way into a bigger role as the season goes along, but it might be better served for him to appear in a few games and take this year as a redshirt season.
