How Tennessee football mulls playing time for cornerbacks Christian Charles and Brandon Turnage

How playing time is given in Tennessee football’s secondary seems perplexing, but not to defensive coordinator Tim Banks.

And his opinion counts at kickoff.

“The reality of it is – and I’ve said since day one – all those guys get what they deserve,” Banks said.

In the preseason, Tennessee coaches said they wanted to play a deeper rotation of defensive backs. That was the case in the opener against Ball State, but that’s because it was 59-10 blowout.

Against Pittsburgh, six players filled five positions in the bulk of the 34-27 overtime win.

Safeties Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough, returning starters, played 86 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

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Tamarian McDonald played 52 snaps at the Star position, which is a nickel back in UT’s scheme. His backup, Georgia Tech transfer Wesley Walker, played 35 snaps.

At cornerback, Kamal Hadden played 86 snaps, and Warren Burrell got 84 snaps. Christian Charles played two snaps, which curiously were the final two plays of the game.

Charles’ lack of playing time was surprising because he entered the season as a potential starter and got significant snaps against Ball State.

“It wasn’t necessarily the goal not to play those guys,” Banks said. “We felt like the corners that were in there were doing a good job. In hindsight, you’d like to have gotten Charles in for maybe a couple more snaps, just because of the amount of snaps that we ended up playing at the corner position.”

Why isn't Brandon Turnage in the lineup?

Charles moved from safety to cornerback in spring practice. He should factor into the rotation when No. 16 Tennessee (2-0) plays Akron (1-1) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).

How well he grows into his new position could determine his playing time in upcoming SEC games.

But Brandon Turnage’s lack of playing time is a bigger mystery.

Last season, Turnage transferred from Alabama and played well as a versatile backup. He played nine games, often at cornerback.

Against South Carolina, Turnage started at Star position in place of an injured Theo Jackson. He made 14 tackles, including two for loss, to garner SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Against Ball State, Turnage played 17 snaps on defense. But he didn’t play against Pitt.

Banks hasn’t criticized Turnage. But he suggested other players are simply performing better.

“Turnage is working extremely hard, but so is Kamal, so is Burrell,” Banks said. “All those guys are working. The thing we talk about a lot is just being ready when your name is called. I know those guys will be ready when the opportunity presents itself.”

How defensive backs earn playing time

Give Banks and his staff some leeway to make tough decisions. After all, the defense made a major impact on the win over Pitt.

The Vols had 16 quarterback hurries, their first double-figure total since the Georgia State game in 2012. And coach Josh Heupel was pleased with the secondary, especially in the second half.

"As the game went on, I thought the coverage on the back end forced (Pitt's quarterback) to hold (the football) for another count," Heupel said. "I thought the combination of what we were doing (in pass rush and coverage) was really good.

"I thought coach Banks and our defensive staff did a great job in game-planning and preparation. They had our guys ready to compete."

So Banks’ plan has worked reasonably well. That makes questions about the cornerback rotation more of a curiosity than a criticism, especially when considering players’ strengths and weaknesses.

Burrell is known to give extra cushion to receivers, sometimes giving up a catch to avoid getting burned for a big play. Hadden is more aggressive, which means he makes big plays but is susceptible to giving them up.

There are pros and cons to both approaches. And those are also generalizations made without knowledge of specific coverages called by coaches.

So which does Banks value more in a risk-versus-reward scenario? He thinks his cornerbacks will play well enough so he's not forced to choose.

“We want guys to make plays. We want guys to be aggressive, but not at the expense of doing their job,” Banks said. “We think you can do both. We think you can have it all.

“The guys that are showing the ability to do that are the guys that will get the lion’s share of the reps.”

Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee mulls playing time for Christian Charles, Brandon Turnage