When I wrote about Tennessee’s strengths and weaknesses last week, one of the weaknesses was at linebacker. After all, there are huge shoes to fill in the middle, a spot vacated by A.J. Johnson.

Johnson was an honorable mention All-SEC pick last year and Butkus Award semifinalist. Johnson led the Vols in tackles with 101 and was third in tackles for loss with nine despite his season ending a few games early due to a rape investigation. He also had five quarterback hurries, three passes defended, two forced fumbles and an interception. Johnson left Tennessee as the school’s all-time leader in assisted tackles with 207, breaking the record of 193 held by Andy Spiva. Johnson is second to Spiva (547) in career total tackles with 425.

When Johnson was out, Jakob Johnson started the final two regular-season games at middle linebacker. But he’s now playing tight end because the Vols were so thin there after losing three scholarship tight ends — Daniel Helm, Kyle Oliver and A.J. Branisel — in less than a year. Johnson is liking the new position, and the coaches are happy as well, so it doesn’t appear there will be a switch back.

So that brings us to Kenny Bynum as the guy most likely to replace Johnson at the “Mike” spot. Bynum started the TaxSlayer Bowl win over Iowa and had two tackles in his hometown of Jacksonville. The redshirt junior has played in 11 games in his career with seven tackles (five solo).

In some respects, the middle linebacker spot isn’t as important at Tennessee as the other two spots — manned by Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Curt Maggitt (also a defensive end at times) — because the Vols play a lot in the nickel with a defensive back essentially replacing the middle linebacker. But when Maggitt does put his hand on the ground, UT needs someone to replace him at linebacker.

Bynum is battling against freshman Darrin Kirkland, redshirt freshman Dillon Bates and walk-on Colton Jumper for the starting spot. Bynum has been getting the reps with the first team.

“I’ve been playing with Kenny Bynum a lot,” Reeves-Maybin said to the Chattanooga Times Free Press recently. “He’s confident about everything. He’ll tell people what to do. Going through spring practice to now, his confidence is just so much higher. He knows that he’s the voice of the defense and he can get everybody straight, so everybody respects that.”

Linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen said the competition will be trimmed to two players very soon. He added that Tennessee prefers smaller, faster linebackers who are able to handle facing the increasing number of up-tempo offenses; Cortez McDowell is the team’s heaviest linebacker at 240. Bynum has dropped 15 pounds from his playing weight of 245 at the end of last season.

“I definitely feel a lot quicker on the field and a lot more agile, being able to keep up with backs,” he said. “(It’s a) big difference. I feel quick coming downhill, and just being able to have more endurance out there and things like that.”

Limited by injury during the spring, Bates still got plenty of practice reps at the position and figured to be the main competition entering preseason camp. But Jumper, the walk-on, has been getting the majority of second-team reps in a moderate surprise.

While teams are throwing more and more these days, the Vols have to have a stopper in the middle of that defense because they will be facing some of the nation’s best running backs this season in Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine (set FBS single-game record with 427 yard vs. Kansas in 2014), Georgia’s Nick Chubb, Arkansas’ Alex Collins (but not teammate Jonathan Williams now as he has been ruled out for the season), LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Alabama’s Derrick Henry.

The UT defense was only ninth in the SEC in yards per carry allowed in 2014 at just under 4.3. You can’t keep giving teams those third-and-short situations. The Vols are counting on a pair of true freshmen at defensive tackle, at least in some capacity. Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle are impressive, but Tennessee needs a middle linebacker behind them that is capable of cleaning up mistakes.

As the season approaches, it looks like Bynum will be that player.