NFL Draft: No Tennessee Vols selected for 3rd time in 5 years

The 2019 NFL Draft is in the books, and Tennessee football was shut out again. That’s the third time in five years for the Volunteers.

From 1964 to 2014, Tennessee football had a player taken in the NFL Draft every single year. But they were shut out in back to back years in 2015 and 2016. They finally restored themselves with a very solid 2017 class, and they had one player taken in 2018.

However, after the 2019 NFL Draft concluded, the Vols once again were shut out. So after 51 straight years of having a player taken in the draft, Rocky Top now has gone three times in five years without a pick.

That’s a major testament to how Butch Jones built the Vols on a Sugar High and then allowed it to crash and burn. Although he recruited plenty of talent, this would’ve been the graduating class from the 2015 recruiting class. The 2018 class was the graduating class of the 2014 class. Both were top 5 recruiting classes, and a grand total of one player between the two was drafted.

To be fair, Jalen Hurd was a member of the 2014 class, and he was drafted as a wide receiver from the Baylor Bears. Meanwhile, with the 2015 class, Drew Richmond transferred, Darrin Kirkland Jr. is still in the program, and Alvin Kamara, a five-star, was indeed drafted in 2017. We didn’t count Kamara, though, because he was a junior college guy.

In this draft, the Vols hoped to have Kyle Phillips taken, a five-star defensive end who was the best player on the team last year. In fact, the whole defensive line had the best chance of getting recognition when you add Alexis Johnson and Shy Tuttle. But Phillips was the star who had the best chance.

But at the end of the day, none of them were taken. So the NFL Draft, which was a staple for Rocky Top back in the day and helped coaches from Doug Dickey to Butch Jones recruit top talent, is now a thing of the past for the Vols.

Among the many things fans hope for from Jeremy Pruitt, one is developing talent again to be ready for the pros. After all, what has happened in recent years with Tennessee football has been embarrassing, and it’s reflected in the draft.

The good news for the Vols, though, is that their history proves there are plenty of opportunities for undrafted free agents to secure a deal. Guys have been doing that over the past decade, and there are clearly talented players who can do that this time. So pay attention to where players land throughout the weekend. Some of them are likely to work out.