Three 'incoming' players who could have an impact for Tennessee next season

Tennessee fans who want to feel good about incoming players in the 2018 recruiting class should think outside the box.

The box is limited to signees. But there are other incoming players from outside the box.

Chance Hall, Darrin Kirkland Jr., and Todd Kelly Jr. all sat out the 2017 season with injuries. All three should return next fall. And all three were categorized as four-star recruits by at least one recruiting service when they signed. Kirkland and Kelly were consensus four-star recruits.

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Imagine the fan excitement if Tennessee suddenly added three four-star recruits to the current class. Better yet, these “recruits” have experience.

Kirkland made the All-SEC freshman team in 2015 and has started for Tennessee ever since when healthy.

Hall made freshman All-American in 2015. Like Kirkland, his starting status has been altered only by injuries.

Kelly made the All-SEC freshman team in 2014 and has started 16 games at safety. In 2016, his first full season as a starter, he had a team-high 71 tackles, forced a fumble and had two interceptions. He’s also a team leader.

Not only are Hall, Kirkland and Kelly productive players. They will add depth at positions of need.

You would expect Kelly to reclaim his starting safety position alongside Nigel Warrior, one of UT’s best athletes. Kirkland could team with Daniel Bituli to give the Vols a nice one-two punch at inside linebacker. And if Pruitt runs a 3-4 base defense as he did at Alabama, Kirkland and Bituli could be on the field at the same time.

A healthy Hall could be Tennessee’s most welcome addition, though. In a troubling 2017 season, no area was more troubled than the offensive line, which was decimated by injuries. Only freshman star Trey Smith managed to stay healthy.

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Smith began the season at guard but moved to tackle due to attrition. I’m sure UT quarterbacks would be just fine with Smith and Hall manning the tackle positions next season.

That leads to another potential returnee, former starting quarterback Quinten Dormady, who started the first five games of the season. When his play declined, then-coach Butch Jones replaced him with Jarrett Guarantano. Dormady later underwent shoulder surgery.

No one would be surprised if he transferred. But maybe, he will be more inclined to stay after the coaching change.

Guarantano is more mobile than Dormady. Will McBride, who started one game as a freshman when Guarantano was sidelined by an injured ankle, is the best runner of the three.

However, if Tennessee goes to a pro-style offense under Pruitt, a running quarterback won’t be as important as in the zone-read option. UT’s only quarterback signee offered a hint that the Vols were headed in that direction.

“I’m a throw-first guy,” quarterback JT Shrout told News Sentinel sportswriter Blake Toppmeyer the day he signed. “I’m not a dual-threat, run-around guy like Michael Vick for sure.”

That description also fits Dormady. But he not only has a strong arm, he has experience.

And he could give Tennessee another returning starter who was once a four-star recruit.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.