Five best offensive players Tennessee will face in 2015
- Wyeth Wilson
- May 6, 2015
- 3 min read
Playing in the SEC will always mean facing some of the best players in the country.
While the individual talent level of Tennessee’s opponents this season is not quite what it has been in the past couple seasons, the Vols will still face several All-American type players.
Here are the five best players on the offensive side of the ball that Tennessee will face this season:
5. Jonathan Williams, Arkansas running back
Williams or fellow running back Alex Collins could be put in the number five ranking, but Williams had slightly more yards last season and 2015 will be his senior year.
Despite splitting carries with Collins last season, Williams still rushed for 1,190 yards.
Williams will be one of the many toughest tests for Tennessee’s defensive front this season, and will be an early indication of the Vols’ ability to endure a full SEC season’s worth of running attacks.
4. Sterling Shepard, Oklahoma wide receiver
Shepard torched the Vols last season in Norman for 109 yards receiving, even while going up against talented defensive back Cameron Sutton for a large portion of the game.
Shepard finished with 970 yards receiving last season, despite sitting out four games.
Shepard elected to come back for his senior season in January other than entering the NFL Draft, where he certainly would have been drafted.
When Oklahoma travels to Knoxville on Sept. 12, the matchup between Shepard and Tennessee’s secondary will be a very interesting one.
Tennessee’s secondary is much better than they were back in September of 2014, and is considered one of the Vols’ strengths this season.
They will get their first big test against Shepard.
3. Derrick Henry, Alabama running back
Henry is the latest addition to the long line of great Alabama running backs, and he has a chance to distinguish himself from an already elite group.
Henry rushed for a team leading 990 yards last season, and that was while he still had less carries than fellow running back TJ Yeldon.
In his first season as Alabama offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin was criticized for not running the ball enough at times.
And when the Tide had Amari Cooper at wide receiver, the passing game could take priority over the ground attack at times.
This season that won’t be the situation, and Henry will become an even bigger part of the Tide’s offense.
2. Samaje Perine, Oklahoma running back
On Nov. 22, 2014, Perine shocked the college football world and set a FBS record with 427 rushing yards (along with five touchdowns) in Oklahoma’s win over Kansas.
And though that game was extremely impressive, it wasn’t Perine’s only highlight of the season.
Perine finished his freshman season with 1,713 rushing yards, and is considered a serious Heisman contender for this season.
Though he wasn’t extremely affective against Tennessee last season (67 yards rushing), in this year’s game he won’t be sharing carries with other running backs.
In the 2014 edition of the Oklahoma-Tennessee game, Perine got 31 percent of the Sooners running back carries. That number is sure to be more this season.
1. Nick Chubb, Georgia running back
When eventual top-ten pick in the NFL Draft Todd Gurley was suspended and later injured last season, Chubb stepped into place.
Georgia’s running attack did not drop off without Gurley.
Chubb started in seven of the Bulldog’s last eight games, and finished the season as Georgia’s leading rusher with 1,547 yards on the ground.
Chubb enters the 2015 season with Heisman hopes, coming of his extremely impressive freshman season, for which he received the SEC freshman of the year award.
Out of all the games this season that the Vols will face a star running back, Chubb will pose the greatest difficulty.
Tennessee had a hard time containing Gurley last season, and Chubb will most likely impose some significant damage as well.
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