Tennessee football: Strongest metro areas for Vols on 2019 roster

3. Memphis

From the main city representing East Tennessee to the main city representing West Tennessee, Memphis comes in at No. 3. Tennessee football has the second most players from the city overall, and the Vols have three more players from surrounding areas.

However, when you factor in surrounding areas and overall production, they still have to come in at No. 3. That’s because so much of the talent on the Vols is extremely young this year and needs to develop, and it didn’t help that they lost Drew Richmond to transfer in the offseason.

Still, the Vols picked up two commitments from the city this year, and both figure to be major impact players. Four-star running back Eric Gray is an early enrollee and will be the next Ty Chandler once Chandler leaves.

Three-star offensive lineman Melvin McBride, meanwhile, is an offensive lineman expected by Jeremy Pruitt to make a major impact in the future. He’s part of the new elite high school football program in the city, Whitehaven. Back when the Vols were winning titles, the school was Melrose, which produced players like Cedrick Wilson and Andre Lott.

After Gray and McBride, there are guys from the area. Offensive lineman Jerome Carvin and power running back Jeremy Banks were both four-star commitments to the 2018 class. The two were teammates coming from Cordova, which is more Memphis than anything else. Both players figure to be backups in the rotation again this year, but they will be major forces in the future.

So with Gray, McBride, Banks and Carvin, the Vols have some real, young talent from the area. They then have three walk-ons from Memphis and another from Germantown. So there are quite a few bodies from the area. The production will rise in the future.