Ranking Each Of The Vols’ 2015 Signees

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Nov 15, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of Neyland Stadium during the first half of the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

29. Riley Lovingood — Long Snapper

6’1″/240 — Hendersonville, TN (Beech)

247Sports rating: Two-Star

247Sports position ranking: Not rated

Rivals rating: Two-Star

Rivals position ranking: Not rated

Most Vol fans have voiced their displeasure at Butch Jones offering a scholarship to a long snapper.

It’s definitely unconventional, but it’s not as crazy as it looks.

Scholarships are like NFL Draft picks. They’re super important and you want as many as you can get, but not all of them work out.

The Vols have already lost several players from their 2014 class. They’ll likely lose at least one or two from the 2015 class.

And the ones that stick around? Well there’s no guarantee who will contribute and who won’t.

But we do know that Riley Lovingood will play. He’s going to be the longsnapper for the Vols — which is a very, very important position.

On every play there’s a chance for a turnover. That means everyone that touches the ball has to be the best at what they do.

And guess what? Only four Vols touched the ball more than the longsnapper in 2014 (Mack Crowder, Jalen Hurd, Justin Worley and Josh Dobbs).

If you have a guy that’s going to be snapping the ball over 100 times a season, often in Vol territory, don’t you want a player that’s the best at what he does?

When you think in those terms, it’s not such a crazy idea to offer a longsnapper a scholarship.