Tennessee football: Walk-on Eli Wolf joins list of overachieving Vols at TE

Tennessee football walk-on Eli Wolf received a scholarship at practice on Tuesday. He joined other overachieving Volunteers tight ends with that reward.

Perhaps we missed one player in our post naming the biggest overachievers on the 2017 Tennessee football team. One guy made that list just by what he did Tuesday night.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Eli Wolf received a scholarship in the midst of a circle of life drill.

Butch Jones offered it to him on the spot, and the teammates all surrounded him in celebration. Take a look at the video here.

The brother of Ethan Wolf entered the Tennessee football program with much less hype in 2015. He had no ratings and no expectations. But he walked on and redshirted in 2015.

Then, in 2016, as a backup, he played in six games and had a modest impact.

More from Vols Football

But this offseason, Wolf began to really turn heads. New offensive coordinator Larry Scott, who doubles as the tight ends coach, could not stop praising Wolf throughout the spring.

With the scholarship, Wolf joins a solid list of overachievers at tight end for the Vols. Just take a look at one of his teammates at the position.

Jakob Johnson was a three-star recruit in high school at inside linebacker. He converted to tight end immediately and was extremely raw at the position. However, now he looks like he’s going to be the co-starter alongside Ethan Wolf this year.

But Johnson isn’t the only guy to overachieve there in the Butch Jones era. Let’s go back to last year.

Jason Croom was a converted receiver who missed all of 2015 due to injury. But despite missing a season and learning a new position, he became a reliable tight end after a few growing pains in 2016.

Then there was Alex Ellis. Before Eli Wolf, Ellis was the walk-on tight end who didn’t have many expectations.

But during bowl preparations of his junior year, Jones shocked him with a scholarship in a heartwarming way…as a bowl gift for how well he practiced.

Ellis then rewarded Jones by becoming a regular in the tight end spot, complementing Ethan Wolf in 2015, and he eventually got a roster spot in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tight end is always one of the toughest positions to predict success because it’s such a unique position. Right now, the Vols have a lot of other guys with bright futures there, most notably LaTrell Bumphus and Austin Pope.

But Bumphus is a converted defensive end. So again, it’s rare to project out a great tight end from high school.

Next: 10 Vols freshmen most likely to play immediately

With Larry Scott’s eye for talent at the position, though, you may find more overachievers here in the future. And Wolf is just another guy in that list. Since Tennessee football has two seniors this year at the position, he’s got a great chance to see lots of playing time in the future as well.

Home/Vols Football

Tennessee football: Walk-on Eli Wolf joins a list of overachieving Vols at TE

By Caleb Calhoun | Aug 15, 2017

Tennessee football walk-on Eli Wolf received a scholarship at practice on Tuesday. He joined other overachieving Volunteers tight ends with that reward.