Greg McElroy released a little more than half (25-11) of his preseason top 25 rankings Tuesday morning on his show, Always College Football. The former Alabama quarterback had the Vols at No. 18 in his rankings.

That’s lower than a lot of other early preseason rankings (which McElroy noted are potentially subject to change), but not incredibly hard to understand. Yes, Tennessee was a top team in the country and sniffed a playoff berth last season, but it also lost a lot from that squad.

The most important question for Tennessee this upcoming season will be Question No. 7: Joe Milton. The Michigan transfer has a howitzer attached to his right shoulder but has had trouble in the past with touch. Milton looked stout at the end of last season against Clemson and Vanderbilt, but he still has a lot to prove to fill Hendon Hooker’s shoes from a stellar 2022 campaign.

McElroy noted other losses across the offense as the catalyst for placing the Vols at No. 18. He said Tennessee is bound to have a “come back to Earth” season in 2023, but later clarified it won’t be a “fall off the Earth” year either.

Here’s what he had to say about the Vols’ 2023 outlook:

“I love Joe Milton’s arm talent. I think he played great in the bowl game, I think he played great against Vanderbilt. I’m cautiously optimistic that he will play great all season long this year,” McElroy said. “But there are questions for me. You lose the Biletnikoff award-winning receiver (Jalin Hyatt); you also lose another big-body wide receiver (Cedric Tillman)… This was a crazy good wide receiver corps and an offensive line that I think was really underappreciated. They lose their top 2 offensive lineman, another situation I don’t think I necessarily going to be super easy to replace.”

McElroy went on to say that despite Tennessee’s losses, they have a strong group incoming that should pick up where Hyatt, Tillman, Darnell Wright and Hendon Hooker left off.

He specifically noted that Squirrell White and Bru McCoy highlight a WR room that is still a top 3 unit in the SEC heading into late August/early September. Should Milton hit his stride as anticipated, the Vols offense will still be plenty dangerous.

Check out his full thoughts below: