Tennessee football: Top 10 out of state Vols for 2019 season
One final staple of Tennessee football’s historical pipelines has been stretching itself into the DMV market better off than most other SEC schools do. Waverly, Va. in Sussex County is in Southeast Virginia, so it’s not quite the DMV, but it’s close.
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And the top guy on our list comes from that state. Darrell Taylor showed his breakout potential last year. Moving from defensive end to outside linebacker under Jeremy Pruitt allowed him to fully wreak the havoc he had the potential to do.
Taylor finished the season with 36 tackles, an amazing 11 tackles for a loss and eight sacks. With three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, he was clearly the stat machine of the defense. But it wasn’t to the fullest extent.
Nine of Taylor’s 11 tackles for a loss came against three teams: the Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores. All eight of his sacks came in those three games, as did all of his forced fumbles.
So this year, the 6’4″ 255-pound redshirt senior has to turn that production into one of consistency across all 12 games. If he can do that, he has All-American potential, and that’s why we have him at the top of this list.
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Pruitt is going national for Tennessee football talent and has a 3-4 system that allows outside linebackers to shine. Taylor fits that mold perfectly, and as the top guy at the position, he should be the star of the defense this year. He’s already a top guy, which is why he’s No. 1. But he has the chance to habitually leap off the screen by making big plays.