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Tennessee Vols Junior Derek Barnett Named a First-Team All-American and All-SEC Defensive End

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 5, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive end Derek Barnett (9) during the second quarter against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive end Derek Barnett (9) during the second quarter against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee football junior Derek Barnett represents the Volunteers as a first-team All-American and a first-team All-Southeastern Conference defensive end.

He got screwed out of the Ted Hendricks Award and a chance at the Chuck Bednarik Award, but Derek Barnett is at least earning respect on a national stage in other ways.

A day after being named to the Coaches All-SEC team, the junior defensive end was named a first-team All-American defensive end by USA TODAY Sports and Sports Illustrated and a first-team All-SEC defensive end by the AP, in addition to the coaches.

Of course, Barnett should have gained way more recognition than he did. After all, he had 12 sacks on the year, tying Reggie White’s school record for career sacks in one less season, and he also had 18 tackles for a loss.

Related Story: 10 Vols Most Deserving of Postseason Recognition

After two great freshman and sophomore seasons that did not warrant him the respect he deserves, Barnett finally is getting national recognition his junior season with these accolades.

His stats alone don’t do his performance justice though.

The best part of Derek Barnett is when he decides to come up big. All 12 of his sacks were in SEC games this year. But that’s the story of his career.

Of his 32 sacks through three years, 31 came in SEC games or against ranked teams.

So we have no problem saying that Barnett is a better player than Myles Garrett, Jonathan Allen, or Jabrill Peppers.

After all, his accomplishments far outweigh those of the other three.

So congratulations to Derek Barnett. He joins Evan Berry and Cameron Sutton as Tennessee football All-Americans.

Berry and Sutton reached that status last year.

Meanwhile, Berry and Barnett are juniors, so there is still a chance for greater things at the college level.

However, it’s likely that Barnett bolts for the NFL. And nobody could really blame him if he chooses to do that.

His playmaking ability is just too great to pass up.

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