One of the concerns that emerged from Tennessee’s first fall scrimmage was the play of the defensive line.

It wasn’t that the defensive line was bad, it was more about consistency (which led to a good day for the Vols’ run game).

In the days since the scrimmage, though, the narrative about the defensive line’s performance has started to shift. Those around the program feel after watching the tape that the defensive line played better than they first thought.

“When you look at the defensive line, they’re going to continue to get better,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price on Tuesday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “Rodney Garner’s got his cattle prod out there, and he’s doing all Rodney Garner knows how to do. And in talking to some people over the last couple of days, I think when they went back and watched the film, they were way more pleased than they initially thought with the defensive line — especially with some of the younger defensive linemen.

“So I think that’s a group that continues to show promise. They’ve just got to continue to build upon what they did Saturday, which again wasn’t perfect, but it was solid.”

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs echoed those sentiments on Tuesday during an appearance on WNML’s SportsTalk.

“I think the feeling out of this [scrimmage] is that the defensive line was better on tape than probably the initial reaction of some people that saw the scrimmage take place live,” said Hubbs.

Tennessee has defensive line talent, it’s just that it’s mostly unproven. This is a group that has a lot to prove. And it’s a group that will be counting on some young players to step up.

“JJ Finch (a true freshman) is playing well,” said Hubbs. “Obviously, Jordan Norman’s got to continue to play well and do good things as a transfer from Tulane. … I think you’re looking for more consistency out of Daevin Hobbs. There’s obviously a world of talent there. He just needs to put it together every day with the kind of consistency that you’re looking for. Tyree Weathersby and Mariyon Dye, those guys have to make plays. They’ve got to show up and be more consistent. I think this is a talented group. It’s just a young group.

“Ethan Utley’s got all the talent, but how bad does Ethan Utley want it every day? I think there are choices to be made there, and we’ll see how he responds to things. He’s not been bad, but he can certainly be more consistent. And we’ll see how they go from here. The one thing I know about Rodney Garner is he’s never going to be happy. So if you’re around practice, if you have any viewing of practice, you’re gonna quickly feel like you don’t think that group’s very good. But he knows what it takes, and he’s very demanding. I think his group is doing some good things. He’s just looking for a different level of play out of them and a different level of consistency than we’ve seen.”

Tennessee is obviously going to have to be elite in the trenches to make some noise in the SEC this fall. This group will probably have some ups and downs, but it sounds like the Vols’ defensive line could be better than expected in 2026.