There is an NFL rookie that Tennessee fans need to keep an eye on to disprove negative narrative about Josh Heupel’s Vols
One VFL is in position to help change the conversation about Tennessee and the NFL.
Josh Heupel has definitely managed to turn the Tennessee Volunteers in the right direction as he gets ready to kick off his fifth season as the team’s head coach this Saturday against the Syracuse Orange at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The program has won 10+ games before the postseason arrived in two of the last three years, made its first College Football Playoff appearance last year, and won its first New Years Six Bowl game in two decades to cap an 11-2 season in 2022.
However, things haven’t gone nearly as swimmingly for Tennessee players on the field when they take that next step to the NFL. There haven’t been many players able to stand out in the league once they’ve began their NFL career, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
And The Athletic senior NFL writer Ted Nguyen believes it has to do with the offensive system itself not setting UT players up for success. Nguyen offered the following opinion on Twitter/X after the announcement that Hendon Hooker was being released by the Detroit Lions.
Nguyen is citing comments that former Tennessee WR and current Las Vegas Raiders wideout Dont’e Thornton, Jr. made during the pre-draft process while meeting with teams.
“That was mostly every team’s main talking point was asking with the offense that we run here at Tennessee if I’m able to run those pro style routes,” Thornton said regarding questions from NFL teams about his route-running ability.
“I had to be very intentional, playing two seasons here at Tennessee, we don’t have the same wide route tree that most pro style offenses have,” added Thornton.
Thornton is in prime position to break out and become an important part of the Raiders’ offense. He’s currently a start on the Raiders’ depth chart. Also, incumbent WR1 Jakobi Meyers has reportedly requested a trade, so he’s not happy at the moment.
The Vols could really use someone to step up and star in the league this year, and Thornton could really be set up to be that guy and start to buck the trend of Tennessee skill position players in the NFL.
