One of the biggest questions surrounding the Vols this season is how will the defense perform after an abysmal 2016?
Yes, Tennessee dealt with an insane amount of injuries last year, but that cannot - and must not - be the ultimate absolute as to why they performed so badly.
Things aren’t looking so good for the 2017 season, either. The leader of the defense, Darrin Kirkland Jr. is out indefinitely with a knee injury - which is a huge loss for the Vols.
Brady Hoke was also on record just a couple of weeks ago saying the Vols still have a ton of work to do on defense, especially up front.