KNOXVILLE - Jonathan Kongbo will make his much-anticipated Tennessee football debut in 11 days when the Volunteers open the season against Appalachian State.
Exactly where the crown jewel of the 2016 recruiting class lines up has yet to be determined.
The junior college transfer could play his first Tennessee snaps at his natural position at defensive end or inside as a defensive tackle - or maybe even in some sort of surprise role - in first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop's setup.
"Jonathan's had his best practices outside the last couple of days, too," Shoop said Friday. "He's shown what he's capable of doing. He's really kind of a unique athlete. He definitely has the size and athletic ability to be a dynamic player off the edge, but he also has the size and strength to be a really solid three-technique.
"He brings positional versatility, just like a safety who has corner skills. To me he's still kind of to be determined on a weekly basis how we'll utilize him within the framework of the package, but his conditioning's pretty good. He's done everything that Strip (defensive line coach Steve Stripling) and myself have asked him to do."
Kongbo is one of a few defensive ends who have been sliding inside in practice this preseason, but he's the only one of them tipping the scales at more than 280 pounds, which makes him a prime candidate to make the move more often. There have been rumblings about Kongbo being hesitant about playing inside, and the speculation was fueled a little more when he tweeted it was "time to embrace my role" earlier this month.
Coaches and teammates have downplayed the notion of having to sell Kongbo on playing at tackle.
"The one thing I do try to tell him is just to be positive," defensive tackle Kendal Vickers said this week. "He's a very positive guy. He likes to smile a lot, too, and he has a great work ethic. I try to give him little technique tips (about) stuff on the inside, and I think he's taking it well."
Tennessee's coaches have tried to show Kongbo how they want to use him as a potential matchup problem and where he can be disruptive, rather than talking in terms of the position he's playing. Shoop wants to build his defense on his players' talents and put his defenders in positions to be successful, and for Kongbo it might mean lining up against a guard in certain defensive packages.
"None of those guys have required (selling)," he said. "That's our most consistent and solid unit up front, and they've all been really excited about 'Whatever it takes, Coach. However I can help the team.' And it's not just moving inside, but we've got a couple of different things where we may move to a 3-4.
"I've tried to show him as a 3-4 (end), we can stem him from an inside guy to an outside guy and put he and (Derek) Barnett or he and (Corey) Vereen or he and (LaTroy) Lewis on the same side to make it very difficult."
Tennessee is loaded at defensive end, but it's a different story at defensive tackle. There the Vols may enter the season relying on Vickers, Danny O'Brien and Kahlil McKenzie, with Quay Picou on the fringes of the rotation. The pending returns of the injured Shy Tuttle and the reinstated Alexis Johnson should bolster the position.
Kongbo could get more playing time inside instead of at end, where he's fighting Barnett, Vereen, Lewis, Kyle Phillips, Dimarya Mixon and Darrell Taylor for snaps.
"All (seven) deserve the opportunity to play," Shoop said. "This isn't youth-league soccer. It's not going to be balanced reps, but to get seven defensive ends the reps they deserve is challenging.
"That's why ultimately we're trying to demonstrate to one of the guys why maybe moving to three-technique would be a wise decision for him and for the best interest of the team."
Shoop has previous experience with turning a jumbo end into a successful tackle.
At Penn State he took rotational defensive end Anthony Zettel and played him inside, where the 284-pounder had 17 tackles for loss and eight sacks on the way to an All-Big Ten first-team selection in 2014.
One of four Penn State defenders selected, Zettel was a sixth-round pick of the Detroit Lions in April.
As for Kongbo, Shoop said it remains "hard to tell right now" if Kongbo will play inside only in passing situations or on mixed downs.
"The game's changed," he added. "Everybody's got to be able to run. Everybody's got to be athletic. You watch how dynamic the Carolina Panthers or the Denver Broncos are on the defensive line.
"To me, whoever goes in there has to embrace it a little bit."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com