Tennessee football: 5 most important walk-ons for Vols 2018 season

One of the latest additions to the 2018 Tennessee football team, the Vols added Reggie James as a preferred walk-on after preseason camp had already started. But they may have gotten one of the biggest steals out there.

Back in the day, James was already generating buzz as a three-star recruit. He was clearly a potential scholarship guy at a big school who would be able to make an impact. His senior year, he was figuring to go to a smaller FBS school.

However, an ankle injury in the fourth game of his senior season wrecked everything. You should read the full story by Nathaneal Rutherford of Rocky Top Insider on what happened. He got a great scoop on this kid.

Anyway, James’s journey ended up landing him at Tennessee. This is a walk-on who appears to have three-star caliber talent. If he is healed, then he could become a major surprise. And Jeremy Pruitt clearly appears to have a role for him. At 6’3″ 240 pounds, the guy has pretty impressive size. The coaches are trying him out at H-Back and linebacker.

Tennessee football is totally unproven at H-Back this year as it’s a new position. On top of that, they could use some more depth at linebacker. As a result, James has a great chance to make an impact early on, especially if he has that role on offense. In fact, playing there, he’s almost likely to make a role. And that’s why we have him so high on this list.