Tennessee right guard Javontez Spraggins and defensive tackle Elijah Simmons never announced whether they’re returning to Knoxville for their super senior seasons. But with the spring semester starting this week, both Spraggins and Simmons are back with Tennessee football for the start of winter workouts, a UT spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday morning.
Spraggins is the final piece of the puzzle for a Tennessee offensive line that is returning three of five starters from the 2023 season. The Vols exited the regular season with the possibility of losing all five of their starting offensive linemen.
Left tackle John Campbell, center Cooper Mays and now Spraggins are all back while left guard Ollie lane is out of eligibility and right tackle Gerald Mincey transferred to Kentucky. The Vols replaced Mincey with highly touted LSU transfer Lance Heard who is expected to start at left tackle while Campbell will slide over to right tackle.
Former Texas transfer Andrej Karic and super senior Jackson Lampley are the favorites to fill Lane’s starting spot at left guard but there will be competition at the spot all offseason.
Spraggins was perhaps Tennessee’s best offensive lineman during the 2023 season, starting 11 games while missing the final two games of the season with an injury. An elite run blocker, Spraggins earned a 67.9 PFF grade in 699 plays making him the highest graded Tennessee offensive lineman.
The high level offensive lineman suffered a season ending injury in Tennessee’s loss against Missouri and will be sidelined early this offseason as he continues to recover from the injury.
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Simmons didn’t start for Tennessee last season but did play meaningful snaps as a rotational defensive tackle for the Vols last season. The Memphis native totaled 19 tackles, three tackles for loss, one pass deflections and 0.5 sacks.
The 6-foot-2, 340-pound defensive tackle missed the first month of the season with a lower body injury he suffered midway through fall practice before returning to the field and playing the final nine games of the season. Simmons earned a 73.8 PFF grade in 191 for the 2023 season, a mark that ranked fourth amongst Tennessee defensive linemen and first amongst defensive tackles.
Tennessee entered the offseason with a question mark at defensive tackle. Omari Thomas and Simmons were both seniors and redshirt junior Omarr Norman-Lott was out of eligibility. But Thomas, Simmons and Norman-Lott are returning for one final season.
The trio joins a defensive tackle group that includes redshirt junior Bryson Eason and freshmen Daevin Hobbs and Tyree Weathersby. Tennessee also added rising junior Stanford defensive tackle Jaxson Moi out of the transfer portal.
