If this were solely by projections, Dominick Wood-Anderson would be much higher on this list. After all, he is a very good receiving tight end who was just limited because of Tyson Helton’s system last year. Even with those limitations, though, he managed to rack up 17 receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
Wood-Anderson was a four-star junior college transfer in the 2018 Tennessee football recruiting class, and Jeremy Pruitt lured him away from Nick Saban. But make no mistake, his rating was due specifically to his receiving abilities as a tight end given the fact there were questions about his blocking despite his 6’4″ 264-pound frame.
This year, though, Jim Chaney is back, and Chaney loves to incorporate receiving tight ends into his system. We keep bringing up Mychal Rivera back in 2012, but that’s a significant storyline. Rivera was a huge reason for the Vols’ offense being historically great.
Now, this year, Eli Wolf is gone, so the only returning tight end who will be in the system with Wood-Anderson is Austin Pope. Wood-Anderson should thrive as a result. That also will help establish a Southern California pipeline for Rocky Top, as this guy comes from the San Diego area.