Evan Berry brought Tennessee football fans out of their seats every time he touched a kickoff in 2015. He looks to continue it for the Volunteers this year.
Evan Berry caught Volunteer fans eyes during his recruitment. Yes, mainly because of his last name. However, he quickly became a fan favorite with his explosive kickoff returns.
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According to NCAA.org, Berry lead the nation in kickoff return yards per return with 38 yards a return. He was second behind Morgan Burns in kickoff returns for touchdowns with 3. Those are pretty impressive stats.
Now in 2016, Berry may not get a single chance to return one because teams will try their best to keep the ball away from him.
But just how important is he to this team?
Remember a few years ago to the LSU-Alabama “Game of the Century” where neither team could get any offense going? Plug in 2015 Evan Berry into one of those teams and see if the outcome would’ve been different. That’s how deadly Berry is.
Tennessee’s offense should be good enough to stay out of games like that but that’s how important special teams can be.
Every time Berry received a kick, you could feel the stadium waiting to explode. Even if he didn’t score he would still give an already dangerous offense very good field position.
Berry will be relied on to gain back momentum. After the opposing team scores pulling ahead or pulling closer, Berry has the ability to take whatever the opposing team just accomplished and put it to bed. He did this against Kentucky last year after they scored trying to get back into the game. Then BAM, Berry goes 100 yards for six to erase Kentucky’s momentum. That can prove key in some of the big games this year.
If you want another reason to be excited for 2016 then think of this.
With Berry’s athletic ability, most teams would have him in the backfield or playing slot or something. Coaches would find a way to get him the ball in space. However, there is already enough of that kind of talent on offense. That keeps a better chance for Berry to stay healthy along with other star players not having to return kicks.
This proves to show how much talent this Tennessee team returns.
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Also Berry doesn’t even return punts neither because Cam Sutton lead the nation in punt return average and added two touchdowns while Alvin Kamara added another touchdown.
Special teams can win you ball games and Tennessee is doing just fine in the return department. Evan Berry has the ability to help this 2016 team achieve all the hype it’s receiving.