Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt confirmed that senior defensive lineman Emmit Gooden suffered a knee injury during fall camp and will miss the entire 2019 season.
Pruitt said Gooden will redshirt and return next spring.
News: Jeremy Pruitt announces that Emmitt Gooden suffered a knee injury and “won’t be with us this year.”
“Emmitt is a guy that has another year. He’ll continue to go to school and get ready to come back next spring and next fall.”
— GoVols247 (@GoVols247) August 7, 2019
The loss of Gooden, who tore his ACL according to Pruitt, is significant for the Vols. Tennessee was already thin along the defensive line and Gooden was expected to be a starter.
Last season, Gooden played in all 12 games, compiling 33 tackles and seven tackles for loss.
With Gooden out for the season, John Mincey will have to step up. It also makes the need for graduate transfer Aubrey Solomon even more dire. Solomon still hasn’t heard from the NCAA if he’ll be immediately eligible to play in 2019.
Without Emmit Gooden, who finished third on the team in TFLs in 2018, how young are Vols up front on DL?
They don’t have a single player who averaged more than 10 snaps a game last season.
As a unit, they now return just 4 solo tackles and 1 sack. Yikes.
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) August 7, 2019
Featured image via Getty
