Tennessee is heading into week two and the injury situation is already starting to get complicated in the secondary. We knew the Volunteers had a bit of a wildcard with the Jermod McCoy knee injury coming into the season, but an injury to Ricky Gibson has created an early challenge for Willie Martinez and Tim Banks.
Ty Redmond, who generated a ton of buzz in fall camp, was forced into action and saw over 50 snaps of action last Saturday against Syracuse. The result? Well, he was the highest graded
player on the entire Tennessee defense, according to PFF.
The freshman cornerback is now set for extended playing time over the next several weeks as Tennessee works to get Gibson and McCoy back.
“I think the thing about Ty, he’s very focused, very locked in, like a lot of the guys,” defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said of Redmond. “The moment is not ever big for him. He’s very calm. It’s kind of his personality. So we’re not surprised how he performed. Again, he’s like that every day. He’s made a bunch of plays out here in practice, as he did when he was in high school. It’s been a continuation. But I just think the way he handles stuff, the moment is not too big and I’ll leave it there.”
That moment will be very large in two weeks as Tennessee hosts Georgia, where he more than likely will get the start alongside of Colton Hood. Tennessee has to feel pretty good about that duo on the outside, along with the Jalen McMurray/Boo Carter tandem at STAR. McMurray can obviously handle outside duties if needed, where he played much of last season. Assuming things stay on track with the Carter camp, you’d assume that Boo works into a larger role quickly.
Still, you’re one injury away from yet another freshman being forced into action in a potentially massive spot.
“Obviously we recruit here athletic kids that can be very multiple,” Martinez said of building the depth out in the secondary. “And we’ve moved around, we’ve actually practiced guys at different positions even though you haven’t seen them in games play the position. So we’re going to rely on our athleticism and some of the players that have been bouncing from left to right.”
So who exactly would that next man up be? That’s the question that not a lot of people have the answer to. Tennessee brought in a handful of defensive backs in last year’s class, which includes Redmond. However, we don’t know a whole lot about the rest of that group.
Veteran William Wright was spotted on the field in the fourth quarter, so that’s probably your next man up. Martinez also mentioned three freshmen as options.
“Whether it’s a young a young man, a young player like Tim Merritt or Dylan Lewis, they have the skill sets,” Martinez said. “So that gives us the opportunity to — Tre Poteat — that’s how we make it. Obviously we’ve got some veterans like Will Wright, who did a really good job this last ballgame. And we kind of shuffle them around.”
You can expect that freshman trio that he mentioned to see the field quite a bit this weekend against ETSU as the staff quickly works to get them some live action experience.
