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Tennessee football: 10 Vols who could leave early for NFL after 2019

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers takes a hand off from Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers takes a hand off from Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images /

Tennessee football had no players taken in the 2019 NFL Draft, but one player left early. Here are 10 Volunteers who may do that in 2020.

With so few seniors on last year’s team who saw significant playing time and then a 5-7 season, it was pretty clear that Tennessee football would be light on the NFL Draft. And they were, with no players being taken.

However, that also means the Vols have a ton of talent coming back. And once again, lots of it is made up of underclassmen. There are also numerous starting spots up for grabs, and all of this makes for an interesting series of questions about who’s going to really step up this year.

But as the Tennessee football coaches try to figure that out, they’ll be looking at a collection of players who are not seniors but will be eligible to leave for the NFL Draft next year. And you can bet that some will be able to make that jump.

Quart’e Sapp was the one junior who left early this past year, and he didn’t get drafted. This year, there will be anywhere from 10 to 15 players who could start for the Vols, will be eligible for the pros after this year but won’t be seniors.

So which players could leave early for the NFL after this year? On Tuesday, we told you players who could leave even before that to join the XFL, but anybody who does that will be a freshman or sophomore. These players we’re talking about will be redshirt sophomores, juniors or redshirt juniors this year.

In this post, we’re going to rank those players most likely to leave. Our rankings are based on how likely they are to see significant playing time, their overall talent and the system they’re in. The Vols are heavier on freshmen and sophomores along with seniors this year, but some players still fit this mold.

Let’s go ahead and break down the players Jeremy Pruitt could lose early this year. Remember, it’s going to be more likely if the season is more successful. These are the 10 underclassmen Tennessee football could lose to the NFL after 2019.

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