Tennessee football: Vols top 30 players since 1998 national championship

Jason Witten remains the most underused player in Tennessee football history. But even still, his production as a tight end was incredible. There’s just no way to ignore it. As a result, he’s the first guy to make it to the top-five on our list.

Committing to the Vols over the Michigan Wolverines as a defensive end, Witten was very adamant that he didn’t want to play tight end. But after a year on campus, Phillip Fulmer moved him over to that position anyway. It worked out, as Witten had a Hall of Fame career.

In true tight end form, Witten could line up at left tackle or wideout. He ran track in high school and was huge at the same time. You don’t get many people who have his build, his athleticism, his leadership and his understanding of the game.

But after learning the system, he had his breakout game in 2001 at the Alabama Crimson Tide. Coming off a bye week, Witten came out at the same time once Donte Stallworth got healthy at wideout. The two joined another in wideout Kelley Washington, a possession receiver in Bobby Graham and slot speedsters in Leonard Scott and Eric Parker to give Casey Clausen an elite set of weapons.

Witten had seven catches for 91 yards that game along with a touchdown, finishing the season with 28 receptions for 293 yards and two touchdowns. But that year, he was starting alongside John Finlayson, a primary blocking tight end, who helped the running game explode with Travis Stephens that year.

The next season, with the loss of three of the top four receivers and Finlayson, Witten became the star, especially after Washington failed to stay healthy. Even as the injury bug bit, Witten was the star with 39 receptions for 493 yards and five touchdowns, amazing stats for a tight end. His blocking on top of that was incredible.

For his career, Witten’s notable plays included the entire 2001 Alabama game in which he carried defenders, the Citrus Bowl to end that year in which he outran the entire Michigan Wolverines secondary for a touchdown and the game-winning touchdown catch to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in six overtimes the next year. By the time he left for the NFL, only Vol fans knew he was a future Hall of Famer. And it was the easiest call ever to say the Dallas Cowboys got a steal.