Even with no players drafted again, Tennessee football still has a lot of NFL talent. Here are the top 10 former Volunteers in the pros for 2019.
NFL season is back! After losing their opening game to the Georgia State Panthers in an embarrassing upset, Tennessee football fans may already be looking towards the pro game to avoid drowning in their sorrows.
Hey, if they’re Tennessee Titans fans, they may have something to be excited about. Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement deflated Indianapolis Colts fans even more quickly than the Vols deflated their own fans, and the Titans could now win the AFC South.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of former Vols still in the NFL. Tennessee football may not have players get drafted too often, but it will still fill up pro rosters with overachievers and reliable starters, including numerous players who go back to the Phillip Fulmer days.
So, with the season set to begin, it’s time for us to begin our yearly analysis of the best former Vols in the pros. This list has been a lot trickier since Peyton Manning retired in 2015, as he was a staple at the top.
However, the retirement of another Hall of Famer in 2017, despite him being back now, and the free agency of a third Hall of Famer this year leaves this list more wide open than ever. And that makes it maybe a bit more entertaining than ever.
It’s still not the same as rooting for Manning each week was back in the day, but there are plenty of people Vol fans can cheer on from all different eras of Rocky Top. And that may make this season super-exciting for all of Vol Nation.
Our countdown includes 10 players, but we also have five honorable mentions. These guys would belong on the list but each have one specific thing holding them back, many of them related to uncertainty. But they still deserve a shoutout. So with the season back, let’s get started. Here are Tennessee football’s top 10 former Vols in the pros for 2019.