Does Tennessee Vols football have personnel to move to a 3-4? Spring might offer a hint

This is Part II of a series examining the outlook for Tennessee at each position in advance of spring practice, which begins March 20. Today, we preview the defensive line.

Tennessee’s run defense was like paper mache in 2017. The issue started up front with a defensive line that offered little resistance.

More:UT Vols spring football: Offensive line will be a position to monitor

The Vols have a chance to hit the reset button under coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Tennessee signed six defensive linemen.

More:Tennessee Vols: Jeremy Pruitt wants a sturdy interior around which to build 3-4 defense

After Kendal Vickers graduated and Kahlil McKenzie declared for the NFL draft, the Vols will have a new look on the interior of the line.

Pruitt has said the Vols will use multiple fronts, but he talks as if he intends for a 3-4 to be UT's base defense.

Returning starters 

Jonathan Kongbo, Kyle Phillips, Darrell Taylor

Other returners

Kivon Bennett, Ja'Quain Blakely, Matthew Butler, Eric Crosby, Alexis Johnson, Deandre Johnson, Quay Picou, Ryan Thaxton, Shy Tuttle 

Newcomers

Greg Emerson, Kurott Garland, Emmit Gooden, Kingston Harris, Brant Lawless, John Mincey

Outlook

Tennessee ranked last in the SEC in rushing defense and 13th in sacks per game last season. That's not all on the shoulders of the defensive line, but the line bears a bulk of the responsibility.

The Vols return three defensive ends who started more than half the games in 2017 — Kongbo, Taylor and Phillips. They finished with similar stats, with each ranging from 27 to 35 tackles. No member of the trio had more than three sacks. It became evident how much the Vols missed Derek Barnett, who had 13 sacks in 2016 before heading to the NFL.

Phillips was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. Kongbo was the nation's top junior college prospect when the Vols landed him out of Arizona Western College. The Vols need them to live up to their billing as seniors.

On the interior, Tuttle has the most experience and has the frame to be an anchor at nose tackle. 

One prediction

Taylor takes snaps during the spring as a stand-up outside linebacker. The 254-pounder might be better suited for outside linebacker if the Vols do, in fact, move to a 3-4 system.

One to watch

Johnson, at 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, has the build to play nose tackle. The junior college transfer made 14 tackles last season — his second at UT — as the Vols' No. 4 defensive tackle. With Vickers and McKenzie exiting, he should have the chance to slide up the depth chart.

Biggest question

Do the Vols have the personnel to run Pruitt's 3-4 in his first season?

They'll need Tuttle or someone else — perhaps junior college addition Emmit Gooden, who arrives this summer — to show he is capable of being a sturdy nose tackle.

The defensive ends would need to beef up, too. Consider, Alabama's starting defensive ends for the national championship game — Pruitt operated a 3-4 as Alabama's defensive coordinator — weighed 293 and 288 pounds. Kongbo and Phillips are each listed shy of 265.

More:Spring football: Offensive line will be a position to monitor