Tennessee finally appears likely to end an ugly but telling streak in the NFL Draft in April
The Vols should finally have another linebacker hear his name called in late April.
The Tennessee Volunteers have seen strong linebacker play over the years. Al Wilson, Kevin Burnett, and Jermod McCoy stood out in orange and white before going on to play on Sundays.
But things have dried up at the position as far as top-end talent for far too long in Knoxville. That’s evidenced by the lack of NFL talent the position. You have to go back to the 2017 season to find a Tennessee linebacker that was selected in the NFL Draft.
However, that streak appears on the verge of finally ending in the 2026 NFL Draft in April. Vols linebacker Arion Carter declared for the draft, and he should hear his name called, perhaps as early as the second day.
Tennessee LB Arion Carter appears set to end Vols’ linebacker drought in the NFL Draft
With the transfer portal now so active and so many players moving each year, it’s kind of hard to determine who really claims a school nowadays, particularly where players spend the majority of their careers at one school before finishing up their final year or two at another school.
Former Tennessee linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, who was drafted by and plays for the Houston Texans, spent two years in Knoxville and his last two with the Alabama Crimson Tide, but given he finished his career in Tuscaloosa – and drew the ire of Vol fans for jumping to Tennessee’s primary rival – there’s no claiming To’oTo’o in the Big Orange’s camp for NFL purposes.
Jaylen Reeves-Maybin was the last linebacker to finish his career as a Tennessee Vol and be drafted. Reeves-Maybin was taken in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. Currently on the Chicago Bears’ practice squad, he’s in his ninth season in the league.
Carter fought through a turf toe injury during the season, a debilitating injury, but fought through it to finish as Tennessee’s leading tackler this season with 76 total tackles, along with 6 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
The Vols’ linebacker drought from 2017 until now coincides with some low points in the program’s history, wrapping up the end of the Butch Jones era and the abysmal three-year run under Jeremy Pruitt. However, Tennessee has steadily grown under Josh Heupel in both the talent and record departments.
Carter’s inclusion in the draft isn’t a guarantee, particularly before the combine takes place, but it appears likely at this point and would be a nice end to that streak, and with how Heupel and his staff are recruiting, it shouldn’t be nearly as long before another Tennessee linebacker finds himself getting the call from an NFL team in late April.
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