Arion Carter Could Be Tennessee's Wild Card
Arion Carter will play a key role for the Tennessee Volunteers defense in 2026 as the Vols have a crucial spot to fill at EDGE rusher. With Josh Heupel and Jim Knowles' defense losing Chaz Coleman this offseason someone will need to step up in his place. Although Carter plays inside linebacker, could Jim Knowles get creative in order to pressure the opposing quarterback and will Arion be his secret player?
Video Transcript
There is a player on this Tennessee defense that could be a bit of a wild card when it comes to softening the blow of losing Chazz Coleman in twenty twenty-six.
The Penn State edge rusher was supposed to headline this outside linebacker group, and now after being medically disqualified, the edge rusher spot is pretty thin for Tennessee.
But the inside linebacker spot is extremely deep right now for this defense.
So I'm looking at a guy like Ariyon Carter and wondering if Jim Knowles could utilize him on the edge in certain packages to take advantage of some athletic mismatches against opposing offensive tackles.
Ariyon Carter's future in the NFL is at inside linebacker, but this is where Jim Knowles has to get creative and has to make his money as the highest paid defensive coordinator in all of college football and find ways to manufacture pressure after losing a talented player with a ceiling as high as Chazz Coleman's.
So we'll see what Jim Knowles does.
I think he's gonna have something up his sleeve in twenty twenty-six, and I wonder if Ariyon Carter is not a part of that to find ways to get home and affect opposing quarterbacks.
