Tennessee is widely-considered a serious contender in the SEC’s Eastern Division this season, but most believe 2016 is the Vols’ breakout, national title-worthy fall.

Why?

The influx of talent under Butch Jones is still, for the most part, wet-behind-the-ears.

As many as 11 players in the projected post-spring starting lineup will be underclassmen, with nine assuredly landing first-team honors. Throw in a couple other key contributors who have two years of eligibility left (if they don’t leave early) including Joshua Dobbs, Cam Sutton and Jaylen Reeves-Maybin, and you find a team built for the long haul.

It starts up front along the offensive line where youth and inexperience led to a league-worst 43 sacks allowed last season. It could’ve been worse considering Dobbs started the final five games and was considerably more mobile in and around the pocket than his predecessor, Justin Worley.

Three of those now senior starters return — Kyler Kerbyson, Marcus Jackson and Mack Crowder — along with promising sophomores Jashon Robertson and Brett Kendrick who are battling second-year player Austin Sanders and touted freshman Drew Richmond for the jobs at right guard and right tackle, respectively.

Jalen Hurd is one of several standout sophomore running backs in the SEC this season after registering 1,120 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns as a rookie. Paired with fellow second-year projected starters Ethan Wolf (tight end) and Josh Malone (receiver), the trio gives Dobbs a wealth of options in the passing game this fall.

Defensively, Tennessee will have four (possibly five) underclassmen starters headlined by Derek Barnett, a league player of the year candidate on the outside edge. Barnett posted 20.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks last fall and will get help this season in the Vols’ 4-2-5 scheme from freshmen tackles Khalil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle along with fellow bookend/linebacker hybrid Curt Maggitt, who skipped the NFL for a final campaign.

Tennessee’s depth at the line of scrimmage is one of the reasons many expect the Vols to reach the nine-win total this fall, adding to the momentum established by Jones during his second campaign last season.

Junior Cameron Sutton is Tennessee’s most-experienced cornerback who will oversee the Vols’ secondary and most importantly, show a handful of underclassmen the ropes in coverage. Senior safeties Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil are being pushed by two sophomores — Todd Kelly and Evan Berry. They’ll join sophomores Emmanuel Moseley and Rashaan Gaulden as youngster who will see a ton of snaps on John Jancek’s unit this season.

While the 2015 campaign could certainly be the program’s best in nearly 10 years, imagine the hype in and around Knoxville next season when budding superstars return as hungry veterans.