By Vince Ferrara / @VinceSports

Tennessee redshirt junior linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr (6’1, 238) announced on Thursday that he is transferring from the University of Tennessee.

Lord please guide me on this journey 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/80WJaxV7Se

— Darrin 'DK' Kirkland (@KIRK_Era) May 24, 2018

Kirkland, an Indianapolis native, missed his junior season in 2017 due to injuries. Injuries played a part in shortening his sophomore season as well, when he played in 8 games with 6 starts. He was not as effective when returning from injury in 2016. Admittedly, he wasn’t fully healthy until before last season when he suffered another injury set-back that kept him out for the entire season..

An all-SEC selection as a freshman, Kirkland played in 13 games including 10 starts on John Jancek’s defense in 2015. He finished second among SEC freshmen in tackles (66) and fourth among freshmen all-time at UT.

In two playing seasons, Kirkland finished with 21 games played (tied for the most among Vols linebackers with Daniel Bituli.) He started 16 games in his time in the orange and white. That’s by far the most among UT’s LBs. The next most experienced starters are Daniel Bituli and Quart’e Sapp who’ve started 8 games at UT. Kirkland totaled 111 tackles in his career, 11.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 2 passes defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.

Purdue (his home state of Indiana near Indianapolis,) North Carolina (former UT coaches Tommy Thigpen and Robert Gillespie on staff there now,) Michigan (one-time commit before switching to Tennessee,) Kentucky (former DC John Jancek is there as a consultant) and Mississippi State (former DC Bob Shoop is now the DC there) could be potential landing spots for Kirkland Jr.. That’s purely initial connecting of the dots though. Kirkland will likely have no shortage of suitors. If healthy, he may have been the Vols’ best linebacker this upcoming season. He could be an impact starter for his new team, again, if healthy.

Here’s hoping Jeremy Pruitt gives him full clearance to go where he wants as a graduate transfer.

Vince’s View

So what does Tennessee do to replace one of the expected starting inside linebackers?

First off, there are now 12 scholarship linebackers left on the team. They have enough numbers, but they lack experience and the quality is still a question mark. The 12 remaining returning linebackers only have 24 career starts among them. 7 of those starts are by converted defensive end Darrell Taylor. As mentioned above, Bituli and Sapp have started 8 games, while Austin Smith has started 1 game.

Daniel Bituli strengthens his hold on one inside LB spot, if healthy. Quart’e Sapp practiced at first-team ILB in the Spring, but he’s still a little undersized to what they ideally want inside. Sapp is smart, can run and could continue to add weight as he already has. Coming out of Spring practice, I believed Sapp was going to be moved back to outside linebacker in the Fall with the return of Kirkland Jr and Bituli inside. That may still happen, if they can find a second inside linebacker to pair with Bituli. Sophomore Will Ignont is a possibility. He played in five games as a freshman last season. He also saw an increased workload with Kirkland Jr and Bituli out for most of the Spring. He started for the first team defense alongside Sapp at ILB in the Orange and White Spring game.

Another name to watch is incoming true freshman LB JJ Peterson. He’s big (last listed at 6’2, 231 but could be bigger by Fall,) physical and athletic. I think he fits the mold of what Pruitt wants in a versatile linebacker that can run. He’s a four-for-four guy as Pruitt has phrased LBs that can play all four positions. I already thought Peterson would shoot up the depth chart quickly before the Kirkland departure. I think this presents an even quicker opportunity for the high 4-star, near 5-star from Moultrie, Georgia.

We’ll never know what Kirkland would have looked like in Pruitt’s defense. This transfer thins another position that actually had some potential to be pretty good this year on paper. Maybe it still will be pretty good, but new “best football players” will need to emerge and show-out to Pruitt and his staff.