2. There were too many injuries.
We can attribute the limited chances of players to expose their talents to scouts to too many schematic changes and lack of development. But one big thing contributed to that for so many of these guys: injuries.
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Tennessee football suffered back to back years of massive injuries piling up, which was a key to the late-season collapses both years. One year could be a fluke. Two made it an indictment against Butch Jones.
It was clear by his change in strength coaches over three years, even going one year without one, along with the noticeable shortcomings in how he ran practices and questions about player abuse (including lying about injuries) that Jones managed injuries horribly. The result was disastrous.
Numerous players who could have ended up in this year’s draft had their careers limited due to injury. Kyle Phillips, Quart’e Sapp and Shy Tuttle all suffered back to back season ending injuries as freshmen and sophomores. Todd Kelly Jr. and Chance Hall were forced to give up football due to so many injuries.
Alexis Johnson could never quite get into football shape until his senior year, and the one guy who did stay healthy under Jones, Jonathan Kongbo, got hit with a season-ending injury his senior year while playing for Jeremy Pruitt. So it was just a bad break.
All of these injuries limited the ability of the Vols looking for spots on NFL rosters to make enough plays for the scouts. As a result, many things did not work out the way they were supposed to, and it became clear over time. Injuries limited far too many players, and it hurt their draft stock.