KNOXVILLE – Technically speaking, Tennessee’s base defense features a 4-3 front, meaning there are four defensive lineman and three linebackers on the field with four defensive backs.
In reality, the Volunteers spend the majority of their time in a nickel package, which swaps the third linebacker for a fifth defensive back to give the team more speed against offensive sets that include three or four wide receivers.
But make no mistake. That fifth defensive back, or nickelback, is not Tennessee’s fifth-best defensive back.
In fact, the case could be made that Rashaan Gaulden has been the Vols’ best defensive player at any position halfway through the season. The redshirt junior’s 40 tackles rank third on the team, and he has acted as a Swiss Army knife for a defense deprived of depth.
Tennessee’s Rashaan Gaulden (7) brings down Indiana State’s LeMonte Booker (6). Colton Jumper (53) moves in to assist. The Indiana State Sycamores visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium in NCAA football action of September 9, 2017. “I just think with the evolution of football and spread teams and a lot of guys putting some of their best receivers in the slot position, that’s become a very specialized position,” Tennessee defensive backs coach Charlton Warren said this week. “You’ve got to be able to hit and blitz like a linebacker, cover like a corner and have the defensive knowledge of a safety.”
The 6-foot-1, 193-pound Gaulden checks all three boxes. In the season opener against Georgia Tech, he played cornerback. Recently he has practiced at safety in case Tennessee needs help there in the season’s second half.
Whatever position he plays, Gaulden seems to be near the football.
Tennessee ranks near the bottom of the country in turnovers forced, with six, but Gaulden has been involved in the two that were perhaps most important. He forced a second-half fumble against Georgia Tech that changed the season opener’s momentum in an eventual 42-41 double-overtime victory for the Vols. In a 26-20 loss to Florida, Gaulden intercepted a pass to set up a game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter.
Asked about how Gaulden’s teammates view him, Warren responded succinctly.
“As a playmaker,” he said.
Junior defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie corroborated that assessment.
“RG is a guy, you know, he’s done it since camp,” McKenzie said. “Really done it since I’ve been here. Just a guy who just loves to hit, loves to go out and make plays. Doesn’t make mistakes, loves football. He’s a guy who goes and gets the ball, a leader out there. It’s not surprising to see him make plays and not surprising to see him continue to make plays the rest of the season.”
Pro Football Focus, a service that uses advanced metrics to track individual performances of college and NFL players, highlighted Gaulden’s performance in Tennessee’s 15-9 loss to South Carolina last week. The service noted quarterbacks threw to the receiver Gaulden was covering on five occasions, resulting in only two completions for 4 yards.
On one of the two completions, he tackled South Carolina’s Shi Smith a yard short of a first down in the second quarter, which forced the Gamecocks into a fourth-and-short situation they did not convert.
“He was great last week, I thought,” Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said. “His effort, his style of play, whether it’s in coverage, whether it’s blitzing off the edge.”
Shoop said Gaulden will be a key component in the game plan this week as Tennessee (3-3, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) prepares to play at top-ranked Alabama (7-0, 4-0).
“I know maybe right now whatever our record says we are and our defensive statistics are somewhat middle of the road, but there’s a guy who day in and day out and week in and week out has played at an exceptionally high level,” Shoop said. “And he deserves any recognition that he receives.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.