The Tennessee Vols have perhaps the single most dominant edge rusher in the entire country in James Pearce. Pearce led all power conference edge defenders last season in pass rush pressure rate, getting to quarterbacks well over 20% of the time. But who is going to step up on the opposite side of the line from Pearce in 2024? Tyler Baron transferred to Louisville. Roman Harrison wrapped up his college career last fall.
Josh Heupel shared his thoughts on the edge defenders stepping up alongside James Pearce in his interview with Greg McElroy on the Always College Football podcast today.
"On the edges, I really like the growth. We're extremely, long, athletic [with] ability to bend [and] affect the quarterback. Joshua Josephs is going into year three. Played a bunch of football for us. He's the best he's been inside of our program and has had a great spring. Caleb Herring, a young guy that's continuing to develop off the edge. Tyre West & [Dominic] Bailey, those guys continue to climb in who they are and their understanding and ability to play at a high level."
Heupel continued to speak on his overall confidence in the entire defensive front group, but seemed especially pleased with the depth on the edges.
Joshua Josephs has been making plays all spring, and even though he was the team's fourth edge defender in 2023, he seems to have asserted himself as the go-to second edge behind James Pearce. His career 11% pass rush pressure rate needs to improve, but Josephs is going to get the first crack at a high-snap impact role this fall.
Caleb Herring is a former Top 100 recruit out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He was incredibly raw and lean when he came in last year, but now that he's added weight he's likely going to be an early rotational pass rusher for the Vols in 2024.
The order in which Heupel talked up the edge defenders wasn't really a surprise. As some super fans following along this spring have clearly begun figuring out the pecking order just based off spring practice reports (as you can see in the post from Sullen Serf below). It's good to hear that the practice progress fans have been hearing about is real.
With both Tyre West and Dominic Bailey both apparently taking their games to the next level, and the experience they both bring (both with 200+ snaps last fall) as depth at the edge position, the pass rush looks perhaps even deeper than it was a year ago.
If James Pearce Jr. continues his nation-leading pass rush dominance and one or two more edge rushers emerge alongside him like coach Heupel clearly expects, Tennessee is going to be a fierce force to be a dealt with in the SEC.
Be looking for more Tennessee Vols coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
And you can check out more from the interview on the Vols' edge rusher rising stars here in the YouTube video below with Greg McElroy and coach Heupel on the Always College Football podcast.
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