Tennessee football: Ranking every Vols NFL Draft class this decade

No. 8 – 2015, 2016, & 2019 NFL Drafts

Zero players drafted

The 2015, 2016, and 2019 NFL Drafts produced zero Tennessee football players. In fact, 2015 was the first draft in over 50 years where a Volunteers wasn’t drafted. 50 years!

When you take a look back at the rich tradition and success in the draft, going draftless in three different years couldn’t be more surprising. Tennessee had three years in the 1990s where there were multiple first round picks. The 1991 draft displayed three Volunteers in the first twelve overall picks.

The 1998 draft saw three first round picks with Peyton Manning going first overall to the Indianapolis Colts.

But, it has been bad recently. The 2019 NFL Draft was the third draft in five years that there were no Volunteers selected. We all thought the former five-star defensive linemen Kyle Phillips was going to be drafted, but no teams took the chance due to a lack of production in Butch Jones’ system.

The 2015 draft candidates included guys like A.J. Johnson, Marlin Lane, Jordan Williams, and senior quarterback Justin Worley.

It was a horrible stretch of years for Tennessee. However, if Jeremy Pruitt pans out and his coaching staff is able to develop players as they should, the Vols will be heavy in the draft from years to come.