Predicting Tennessee football's top performers for 2023 season

Tennessee football will have a new leading receiver this season and a new sacks leader. That much is guaranteed. But, what about rushing yards? Tackles? Will incumbents retain their place on the leaderboard, or will a new stat-stuffer emerge?

Tennessee's season opener against Virginia is less than two weeks away – it's already getting chippy – so we're winding down our final preseason predictions.

On this edition of "The Volunteer State," Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network and the News Sentinel's John Adams and Adam Sparks offer their picks for UT's 2023 leader in receiving yards, rushing yards, sacks and tackles. They also make a prediction specific to Joe Milton's passing total.

Here's their rundown:

Receiving leader

Toppmeyer's pick: Bru McCoy. He was No. 2 last season in receptions and yards behind Jalin Hyatt. He should receive plenty of snaps and targets.

Adams' pick: Squirrel White. He'll take the top off the defense.

Sparks' pick: Squirrel White. He'll be targeted often, and he's a deep threat.

Sacks leader

Toppmeyer's pick: Tyler Baron. The Vols might need to rely more on a by-committee sacks approach after Byron Young's departure. Hard to predict who will lead in sacks, but I'll take the veteran with 7½ career sacks.

Adams' pick: Aaron Beasley. He starred in the Orange Bowl, logging two sacks, after moving to weakside linebacker. Imagine what he can do in a full season playing in that spot.

Sparks' pick: Omarr Norman-Lott. A transfer from Arizona State, this interior defensive lineman is more of a pass rusher than a run stuffer. As defensive line coach Rodney Garner puts it, he's slippery.

Rushing leader

Toppmeyer's pick: Jaylen Wright. He led the team in rushing last season. No reason to think he won't do it again. His durability makes me feel even better about this pick.

Adams' pick: Jaylen Wright. He's an every-down back, and he also has big-play ability. I think Jabari Small will be close behind in rushing yards.

Sparks' pick: Jaylen Wright. Durability, plus big-play capability, results in my pick for Wright, who rushed for 875 yards last season.

Tackles leader

Toppmeyer's pick: Keenan Pili. The BYU transfer will fill the middle linebacker spot, and he should become a fulcrum of the defense. He's no stranger to big games, because BYU plays a legit schedule.

Adams' pick: Aaron Beasley. He led the team in tackles last season, and he supplied a season-best performance in the Orange Bowl. A big season awaits.

Sparks' pick: Aaron Beasley. He'll be even better as a weakside linebacker than he was at middle linebacker.

Passing stats

Question: Will Joe Milton pass for more than 3,000 yards?

Toppmeyer's pick: Yes. Josh Heupel's quarterbacks post big numbers. Drew Lock threw for nearly 4,000 yards while Heupel was Missouri's offensive coordinator. UCF's Dillon Gabriel twice topped 3,500 yards under Heupel. Then Hendon Hooker surpassed 3,100 yards, despite missing two games with injury. Milton is next in line.

Adams' pick: Yes. In Heupel's system, the safe bet is for 3,000-plus yards.

Sparks' pick: No. Total Milton passing yards: 2,998. Tennessee will tilt a bit more toward the run, and a few blowout wins will result in Nico Iamaleava compiling some stats of his own.