No. 7 Tennessee Football's official depth chart for Vanderbilt game
A look at Tennessee Football’s official depth chart for Saturday afternoon’s game at Vanderbilt, scheduled for a Noon Eastern Time start on ABC. Here’s how the Vols will line up on the road against the Commodores:
Quarterback
| Starter | Nico Iamaleava |
| Backup | Gaston Moore |
| Backup | Jake Merklinger |
Nico Iamaleava is 181-for-277 (..653) for 2,255 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. He has rushed 83 times for 275 net yards and has one rushing touchdown. Iamaleava is averaging 205.0 passing yards per game and has a quarterback rating of 148.71.
Gaston Moore has appeared in six games, completing 16 of 27 passes for 201 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Freshman Jake Merklinger is 6-for-9 for 48 yards and has rushed seven times for 30 yards in two games.
Running Back
| Starter | Dylan Sampson |
| Backup | Cam Seldon |
| -or- DeSean Bishop | |
| -or- Khalifa Keith | |
| -or- Peyton Lewis |
Dylan Sampson has rushed 231 times for 1,307 yards and 22 touchdowns. DeSean Bishop has ran 54 times for 372 yards and three touchdowns. Peyton Lewis has 52 carries for 262 yards and a touchdown and Cam Seldon has 23 carries for 118 yards in six games.
Bishop hasn’t played since being injured on his third snap in the 28-18 win over Kentucky, missing the last three-plus games. He has not been on Tennessee’s injury report this week.
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 22 passes for 529 yards and four touchdowns. Bru McCoy has 35 receptions for 432 yards and two touchdowns and Chris Brazzell II has 23 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns. Squirrel White has 33 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns.
Tight Ends
| Starter | Ethan Davis |
| -or- Holden Staes | |
| -or- Miles Kitselman |
Miles Kitselman has 19 catches for 263 yards and three receiving touchdowns, along with his 1-yard touchdown run at Georgia. Holden Staes has 15 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Ethan Davis has 12 catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
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.
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Dayne Davis started at left tackle in place of Heard at Oklahoma and both Davis and Larry Johnson have played in place of John Campbell at right tackle to times throughout the season.
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 |
Middle Linebacker
| Starter | Jeremiah Telander -or- Jalen Smith |
| 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 |
Arion Carter has a team-high 58.0 tackles, with 24 solo and 34 assisted, to go with an interception. He has 6.0 tackles for loss. Will Brooks has 50.0 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions and five passes broken up.
James Pearce Jr. has a team-high 11.0 tackles for loss, Joshua Josephs has 8.0 and Carter has 6.5.
Pearce leads the Vols 7.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hurries. Jermod McCoy leads the team with nine passes broken up, has three interceptions and 33.0 tackles.
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- Peyton Lewis -or- DeSean Bishop -or- Mike Matthews |
| Punt Returner | Squirrel White -or- Jermod McCoy -or- Boo Carter |
Max Gilbert is 17-for-23 on field goals with a long of 51. He missed a 53-yard attempt late against NC State, missed twice against Alabama, finishing 1-for-3, and went 0-for-3 against Kentucky. He bounced back with a 4-for-4 night against Mississippi State and made his only attempt at Georgia. Jackson Ross has punted 45 times for 2,007 yards with three touchbacks, 13 fair catches, 19 downed inside the 20 and nine that went 50 or more yards.
Boo Carter has taken over as Tennessee’s punt returner, fielding 12 punts and returning them for 198 yards, averaging 16.5 yards per return. Squirrel White has returned seven punts for 112 yards, with a long of 31. Jermod McCoy has returned six for 59, with a long of 23.
