Tennessee Football's depth chart for the Alabama game
A look at Tennessee Football’s official depth chart for Saturday afternoon’s game against Alabama, scheduled for a 3:30 Eastern Time start on ABC. Here’s how the Vols will line up against the Crimson Tide:
Quarterback
| Starter | Nico Iamaleava |
| Backup | Gaston Moore |
| Backup | Jake Merklinger |
Nico Iamaleava is 94-for-143 (.657) for 1,219 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. He has rushed 44 times for 135 net yards and has one rushing touchdown. Iamaleava is averaging 203.1 passing yards per game and has a quarterback rating of 149.3.
Gaston Moore has appeared in three games in mop-up duty, completing 11 of 16 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Jake Merklinger is 6-for-9 for 48 yards and has rushed seven times for 30 yards.
Running Back
| Starter | Dylan Sampson |
| Backup | Cam Seldon |
| -or- DeSean Bishop | |
| -or- Khalifa Keith | |
| -or- Peyton Lewis |
Dylan Sampson has rushed 118 times for 699 yards and 15 touchdowns. DeSean Bishop has ran 48 times for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Peyton Lewis has 17 carries for 118 yards and Cam Seldon has seven carries for 47 yards in three games. Seldon has not played in the last two games and was listed this week on the Tennessee injury report as questionable.
Wide Receivers
| Starter | Dont’e Thornton -or- Chris Brazzell II |
| Backup | Nathan Leacock |
| Starter | Bru McCoy -or- Kaleb Webb |
| Backup | Mike Matthews |
| Starter | Squirrel White -or- Chas Nimrod |
| Backup | Braylon Staley |
Dont’e Thornton leads Tennessee in receiving yards and touchdowns, catching nine passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Bru McCoy 14 receptions for 209 yards and Chris Brazzell II has 16 catches for 210 yards and a touchdown. Squirrel White has a team-high 20 catches for 230 yards.
Tight Ends
| Starter | Ethan Davis |
| -or- Miles Kitselman | |
| -or- Holden Staes |
Holden Staes has eight catches for 60 yards and a touchdown at tight end and Miles Kitselman has six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Ethan Davis has seven catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Offensive Line
| Left Tackle | Lance Heard -or- Larry Johnson III |
| Left Guard | Andrej Karic -or- Jackson Lampley |
| Center | Cooper Mays |
| Backup | William Satterwhite -or- Vysen Lang |
| Right Guard | Javontez Spraggins |
| Backup | Shamurad Umarov |
| Right Tackle | John Campbell -or- Dayne Davis |
Tennessee’s regular starters on the offensive line are Cooper Mays at center, Andrej Karic at left guard, Javontez Spraggins at right guard, Lance Heard at left tackle and John Campbell at right tackle. Heard returned at Arkansas after missing two games and was listed this week as probable on the injury report.
Dayne Davis started at left tackle in place of Heard at Oklahoma and Larry Johnson replaced John Campbell at right tackle after Campbell left the game with an injury.
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Defensive Line
| Starter | Bryson Eason |
| -or- Omarr Norman-Lott | |
| -or- Daevin Hobbs | |
| Starter | Omari Thomas |
| -or- Elijah Simmons | |
| -or- Jaxson Moi |
Defensive End
| Starter | Dominic Bailey |
| -or- Tyre West | |
| -or- Jayson Jenkins | |
| -or- Tyree Weathersby |
LEO
| Starter | James Pearce Jr. |
| -or- Joshua Josephs | |
| -or- Caleb Herring | |
| -or- Jordan Ross |
Weakside Linebacker
| Starter | Arion Carter -or- Kalib Perry |
| Backup | Jalen Smith |
Middle Linebacker
| Starter | Keenan Pili -or- Jeremiah Telander |
| Backup | Edwin Spillman |
Cornerback
| Starter | Jermod McCoy -or- Jordan Matthews |
| Backup | Wiliam Wright |
| Starter | Rickey Gibson II -or- Jalen McMurray |
| Backup | Kaleb Beasley |
Safety
| Starter | Will Brooks -or- Christian Charles |
| Backup | Edrees Farooq |
| Starter | Andre Turrentine -or- Jakobe Thomas |
| Backup | John Slaughter |
Star
| Starter | Christian Harrison |
| -or- Boo Carter |
Senior linebacker Keenan Pili and Will Brooks lead the team with 29.0 tackles each. Pili is done for the season after tearing his ACL on Florida’s first possession Saturday night, though the injury is not reflected on Tennessee’s online depth chart.
Pili had 1.5 tackles for and two quarterback hits before the injury. Arion Carter has 27.0 tackles, with seven solo and 16 assisted, to go with an interception. Brooks also 1.5 tackles for loss, an interception and three passes broken up.
Carter and Joshua Josephs both have a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss, just ahead of Tyre West and James Pearce Jr. with 4.0 each. Omarr Norman-Lott leads the team with 2.5 sacks while Pearce and West have two each.
Pearce leads the Vols with five quarterback hits and Josephs has a pair of fumble recoveries and forced fumbles. McCoy leads the team with four passes broken up.
Special Teams
| Placekicker | Max Gilbert |
| Backup | Josh Turbyville |
| Punter | Jackson Ross |
| Backup | Josh Turbyville |
| Kickoff | Josh Turbyville |
| Backup | Max Gilbert |
| Longsnapper | Matthew Salansky |
| Backup | Bennett Brady |
| Holder | Jackson Ross |
| Kick Returner | Cameron Seldon -or- DeSean Bishop |
| Punt Returner | Squirrel White |
| -or- Jermod McCoy | |
| -or- Boo Carter |
Max Gilbert is 11-for-12 on field goals with a long of 45. He missed a 53-yard attempt late against NC State. Jackson Ross has punted 24 times for 1,071 yards with two touch backs, seven fair catches, eight downed inside the 20 and six that went 50 or more yards.
Squirrel White has returned seven punts for a total of 112 yards, averaging 16.0 yards per return. Jermod McCoy has four punt returns for 57 yards and Boo Carter has caught two for 55.
