Three potential Tennessee Volunteers breakout players for the 2024 college football season
The Tennessee Vols and head coach Josh Heupel have been building towards a special 2024 college football season for a few years now. Nico Iamaleava is primed for a breakout season in his first year at starting quarterback. The team is stacked full of seniors and experience. But in order for Tennessee to truly wow […]
The Tennessee Vols and head coach Josh Heupel have been building towards a special 2024 college football season for a few years now. Nico Iamaleava is primed for a breakout season in his first year at starting quarterback. The team is stacked full of seniors and experience. But in order for Tennessee to truly wow and get to the 12-Team College Football Playoff they're going to need breakout seasons from a few rising young players. Who will those newfound stars be this fall?
There are several potential breakout players on the Tennessee Vols to watch for this fall, but let's talk through three that could completely change the course of the season if they step their game up to the peak of their potential in 2024.
Lance Heard, Offensive Tackle
Any time you can add a former five star offensive tackle you've got to do it. Josh Heupel and Tennessee landing Lance Heard was one of the biggest transfer acquisitions in the entire country. It's no wonder all of Vols Twitter spent most of spring constantly celebrating the move.
Heard ranked Top 20 in the entire 2023 recruiting class according to multiple recruiting sites and was only available because both of LSU's current offensive tackles are going to be first round picks next spring, so Heard was going to be stuck behind them. Heard has been reportedly been developing well and will be supremely important in protecting quarterback Nico Iamaleava this year for the Vols.
Chris Brazzell, Wide Receiver
The Tennessee Vols have the deepest wide receiver room they've had since Josh Heupel got to town. Squirrel White and Bru McCoy should both ball out once again. Five star freshman Mike Matthews is already impressing early. Dont'e Thornton should be in the mix again. And now Chris Brazzell II, a transfer from Tulane, looks ready to break out too.
Brazzell was looking like a force to be reckoned with all spring long as a potential secret weapon for the Vols this season. At 6'5", 200 pounds he should be a dominant red zone weapon, but he boasts underrated body control, flexibility, and speed to create separation in between the 20s as well.
Brazzell broke out last season for Tulane for over 700 yards and five touchdowns, which accounted for about 25% of the entire team receiving offense as a true sophomore. Now as a junior he should be one of Tennessee's near every down perimeter wide receivers, potentially playing a similar role filled by Cedric Tillman just two short seasons ago.
Arion Carter, Linebacker
Even prior to last season Arion Carter was getting talked up by the Vols staff, with the linebackers coach saying that they were "force-feeding him" to get him up to speed and he was taking to it well. This spring has reportedly gone even better as Carter likely rises from less than 200 snaps in 2023 to possibly one of the two near every down linebackers in 2024 in his second year.
Arion Carter was a bit undersized when got to Knoxville, partially due to his track background, but he's now bulked up around 230 pounds, maintained his speed, and should offer a do-it-all skill set to make some game-changing plays in 2024. If he continues to grow into the leader on the second level of the defense Carter's role might become what holds that entire side of the ball together.
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And if you want to see Chris Brazzell absolutely ball at wide receiver just check out the highlight video below!
