Here's who replaces Edrees Farooq in Jim Knowles' Tennessee defense

Tennessee football must adjust its secondary after starting safety Edrees Farooq suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice on Aug. 14.

It’s not an ideal situation for new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. The safety position serves as a focal point of his scheme, and Farooq was projected as a starter there.

Michigan transfer TJ Metcalf is projected as the other starting safety. He was All-Big Ten honorable mention at Michigan last season, and he was a starter at Arkansas in 2024.

Tennessee opens the season against Furman on Sept. 5 (3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+/ESPN+), so Knowles has time to transition to Plan B.

Assuming Metcalf starts at the other safety position, here are some potential replacements for Farooq.

Penn State transfer Dejuan Lane seems like a natural replacement. He was likely going to rotate in as the third safety along with Metcalf and Farooq. Now he could step in as a starter.

Lane played in Knowles’ scheme at Penn State in 2025. He logged 290 snaps as a rotational safety, capped by a career-high 66 snaps against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. He had 30 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and one sack in 13 games. 

Sophomore Dylan Lewis made a good first impression on Knowles in spring practice. That was encouraging because Lewis appeared lost in the shuffle in his freshman year, when the previous staff seemed unsure of his long-term position in the secondary.

Safety appears to be his primary position under Knowles, especially after Farooq’s injury. Lewis played only 21 snaps on defense in 2025. He played five games total, mostly on special teams, and made one tackle.

Sophomore Sidney Walton got some time in the safety rotation in 2025. He played 104 snaps on defense last season, including 40 in SEC games.

Walton was a key contributor on special teams. He made seven tackles in 10 games.

Appalachian State transfer DJ Burks is very experienced, which is why UT added him from the portal as a depth piece.

The former Maryville High standout played 40 games at Appalachian State, making 133 tackles and four interceptions in his career.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Here's who replaces Edrees Farooq in Jim Knowles' Tennessee defense