All the signs in Rocky Top are pointing up.

The Vols have improved by a pair of wins each season under Butch Jones and are coming off the first nine-win season since former head coach Phil Fulmer’s penultimate season. The team’s four losses in 2015 came by a combined 17 points, and it ended the season on a six-game win streak and a 45-6 throttling of No. 12 Northwestern.

And the team returns 17 starters, which according to Phil Steele, is second only to LSU and Louisville among Power 5 schools. All those injuries that saw 24 players miss the team’s spring game? None of those are expected to carry over into fall.

That also carries a positive as backups got reps during the spring, and that helps to fortify some depth.

The lofty expectations in Knoxville are there, but as elevated as they’ve been, expect them to rise. Just as an example, ESPN’s Football Power Index has Tennessee as the fifth-best team in the country, second only to LSU and just ahead of Alabama.

Some hype is absurd. For instance, Sean Maguire-led Florida State is getting lots of strange love from everywhere. It’s opening as an 8.5-point favorite over an Ole Miss team that’s a sure-fire top 10 squad led by a quarterback who could be the first taken off the board in next year’s NFL draft.

Oh, and the game isn’t even in Tallahassee.

On the contrary, Tennessee’s hype clearly has a lot of good reasons behind it, for some already mentioned but mostly because of all this talent below.

Here’s a projection of Tennessee’s post-spring, two-deep depth chart. We’ll start with the offense.

POSITION FIRST STRING SECOND STRING
QB Josh Dobbs, Sr. Quinten Dormady, So.
RB Jalen Hurd, Jr. Alvin Kamara, RS Jr.
WR Josh Malone, Jr. Jauan Jennings, So.
WR Preston Williams, So. Jeff George, Jr.
WR Josh Smith, RS Jr. Vincent Perry, RS Fr.
TE Ethan Wolf, Jr. Jason Croom, RS Sr.
LT Drew Richmond, RS Fr. Jashon Robertson, Jr.
LG Jashon Robertson, Jr. Venzell Boulware, RS Fr.
C Coleman Thomas, Jr. Ray Raulerson, RS So.
RG Dylan Wiesman, Sr. Jack Jones, So.
RT Chance Hall, So. Brett Kendrick, RS Jr.
K Aaron Medley, Jr. Laszlo Toser, RS Fr.

While LSU is one of the only schools in the country to return more starters than Tennessee, no SEC team returns more on offense.

The Vols bring back four of five starters on the offensive line, but unfortunately left tackle is the spot that needs replacing as Second-Team All-SEC LT Kyler Kerbyson is gone. (He went undrafted but earned a mini-camp contract with the Houston Texans).

Redshirt freshman Drew Richmond, the No. 3 OT in the Class of 2015 according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, is there now, but he hasn’t played a down yet. That’s concerning with the Vols’ tough early schedule.

The team could use its depth at guard to fill that spot until he’s fully ready to hold down the blind side.

There aren’t any concerns with Second-Team All-SEC selection Dylan Wiesman, Coleman Thomas or Jashon Robertson.

Meanwhile, there’s a good chance Josh Dobbs will join Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly as the only two SEC quarterbacks drafted next year, but he has to use newfound deep threats Preston Williams and Jeff George to open up the passing game.

The running back tandem of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara will be a problem for every defense on the Vols’ schedule. WR Preston Williams was the team’s star and most pleasant surprise of the spring. Fellow wideout Jeff George may earn a starting spot sooner rather than later.

It’ll be interesting to see if Dobbs uses tight ends Ethan Wolf and Jason Croom in the passing game. They didn’t exactly get off on the right foot as each dropped catchable passes to begin the spring game.

Now, let’s look at Tennessee’s defense.

POSITION FIRST STRING SECOND STRING
DE Derek Barnett, Jr. Kyle Phillips, So.
DT Kahlil McKenzie, So. Kendal Vickers, RS Jr.
DT Shy Tuttle, So. Danny O’Brien, RS Sr.
DE Corey Vereen, Sr. Jonathan Kongbo, RS So.
OLB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Sr. Quart’e Sapp, RS Fr.
MLB Darrin Kirkland Jr., So. Colton Jumper, RS So.
NB Malik Foreman, Sr. Marquill Osborne, Fr.
CB Cameron Sutton, Sr. D.J. Henderson, Jr.
CB Justin Martin, RS Jr. Emmanuel Moseley, Jr.
S Todd Kelly Jr., Jr. Evan Berry, Jr.
S Rashaan Gaulden, RS So. Micah Abernathy, So.
P Trevor Daniel, RS Jr. Tommy Townsend, RS Fr.

Derek Barnett is the star of the defensive line. After posting 10 sacks in 2014, he posted another 10 last season. Those 10 sacks made up exactly one-third of Tennessee’s total.

While the ends should be fine, the D-line is still the main concern of the unit as DT depth isn’t anything to write home about. However, if Shy Tuttle can pick up where he left off before going down with a nasty injury in Week 6 against Georgia, that would be great for the Vols.

Jones has mentioned that Tuttle could be back in late June or early July.

While Hurd and Kamara get a ton of attention as a running back tandem, how about the team’s duo at linebacker? While there are question marks beyond Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Darrin Kirkland Jr., there may not be another team in the conference with two linebackers as talented on the field.

Reeves-Maybin earned Second-Team All-SEC honors as a junior while Kirkland started 10 games at middle linebacker as a freshman and his 66 tackles were the fourth-most ever by a Vols true freshman. He only got better as the season progressed.

Tennessee will be facing a ton of spread offenses this season, including Week 1 against Appalachian State. That means Nickelback will be even more important than it already is in first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop’s system, and Malik Foreman is a good fit there. Look out for freshman Marquill Osborne, who has impressed early on.

This team is loaded in the secondary.

Senior CB Cam Sutton, who was looked at as a first-round NFL draft pick by many, turned down the riches to return to Knoxville and lead the secondary. He could be one of the country’s best.

Opposite of him, Justin Martin could be poised for a big junior season. Meanwhile, the safeties are stacked. Spring stud Todd Kelly, Jr. anchors one spot while Rashaan Goulden, Micah Abernathy and Evan Berry (working his way back from a shoulder injury) will all likely see the field.