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Tennessee football: Ranking all 9 former Vols in AAF by potential

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, SC - OCTOBER 30: Matt Simms
COLUMBIA, SC - OCTOBER 30: Matt Simms /
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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

Of all the former Tennessee football players who are playing in the AAF, it’s highly ironic that the guy with the best chance to succeed is the one guy who could never keep his starting job while playing with the Vols. But Matt Simms got a raw deal.

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    • Simms went 2-6 his freshman year starting with Rocky Top and looked worse when Tyler Bray came in and got the team to 6-6 and into a bowl game, which they lost to fall to 6-7. However, the untold story is the brutal road Simms had.

    That 2-6 record included the eventual national championship runner-up Oregon Ducks, the Florida Gators, and then the LSU Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks on the road. Oh, and their other home game was the Alabama Crimson Tide. Let’s not forget Simms did his part to beat LSU before that 13-men on the field fiasco.

    Meanwhile, Bray didn’t play one ranked team in that four-game winning streak. The next year, Bray started the first five games and didn’t beat anybody before getting hurt. Simms, then, got benched in favor of Justin Worley two weeks later, who was as useless for Derek Dooley and Jim Chaney.

    But after going to the NFL, Simms still made a roster, playing for the Atlanta Falcons. Now, the son of Phil Simms and brother of Chris Simms is getting his AAF chance. And he’s the only guy on this list guaranteed a starting job.

    Next. 5 takeaways from Vols' 2019 National Signing Day. dark

    Simms beat out former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray for the starting job of the Atlanta Legends. So by that news alone, he has the best chance to succeed among all former Vols. Combine the fact that he had enough talent to be in the NFL, is a smart quarterback and will be playing for a head coach in Kevin Coyle who wants to run a pro-style that he’s more tailored to, and he should thrive.

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