Former Tennessee coach suggests that a Vols player should move from offense to defense after what he saw in the Arkansas game
Should a Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver move to the defensive side of the ball?
Former Tennessee assistant coach Kevin Steele said on Sunday that he would be lobbying a Vols wide receiver to move to the defensive side of the ball after what he saw in UT’s 24-17 win over Arkansas.
Steele, who is also a former Vols linebacker, said on Big Orange Sunday that he’d ask Radarious Jackson to move from wide receiver to cornerback after seeing the Memphis native chase down Arkansas defensive lineman Quincy Rhodes Jr following a fumble recovery.
The effort from Jackson kept Arkansas from scoring a touchdown to end the first half. It was arguably the most important play of the game (Arkansas missed the field goal attempt as well).
“Huge, huge play,” said Vols head coach Josh Heupel after the game. “It changes the game. It can change your season.”
“I tell you what I’d be doing,” said Steele. “When the season gets over, I’d spend a lot of time as a defensive coordinator just kind of putting it in his ear: ‘Don’t you want to move over to defense and play corner? You tackle well and you give great effort — you’ve got all the traits. We can turn you into a first-round draft pick.’”
Former Vols coach Doug Matthews, the host of Big Orange Sunday, agreed.
“That’s the exact same thing I thought,” said Matthews. “Now, I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not. But (former Vol) Terry McDaniel did that. He was a wide receiver that Kippy Brown suggested we move to defensive back. He was an All-Pro (in the NFL).”
I don’t know if this is something that would actually be on the table for Jackson, but it’s worth noting that he played some defensive back in high school.
“I played safety (in high school),” said Jackson on The Mike Keith Show earlier this season. “I can do at DB. I can go at nickel.”
Jackson added that he wasn’t recruited at all as a defensive back, but it’s still something he’s done before.
We’ve seen some position switches before that worked out well for Tennessee players (Alontae Taylor signed with the Vols as a wide receiver and now he’s a starting cornerback in the NFL), so maybe it’s something Jackson should consider.
